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Originally Posted by Strange Brew
How would you determine whether he "actually should be"? This is an opinion poll after all (at least one of the two questions).
There is some revisionist history going on for sure. But I'm also seeing a healthy amount of rationalizing his performance, which from an on ice perspective has been mediocre or worse. Not dissimilar from how some rationalize Gaudreau's performance based on linemates etc.
Like you said earlier, the ownership may not meddle but they certainly would be setting expectations. In thinking about that, I'd say my expectations from that point have not been met. If ownership was looking for a club that consistently made the playoffs they aren't getting that either.
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The ownership expectations are important because they would significantly influence the approach taken.
For instance of the owners said "you can re-build but we expect to be in the playoffs 1 year from now" then it puts a great deal of restraint around the approach and incentivizes the precise behaviors that we saw from the management team.
The degree to which a management group is incentivized by short-term thinking v. long-term thinking is critical to make sure the right balance is achieved.
Time and time again this franchise has shown itself to be largely short-term in its approach. Seems reasonable to ask why.