The issue with a complete rebuild is that it's such a gamble. For all the success stories with the tanks, there seems to be multiple teams like Edmonton, Buffalo, Arizona, NYI, etc..teams that are stuck with losing season after losing season but don't look anywhere closer to a cup.
On top of that, out-tanking the seriously bad teams is hard to do. With the new lottery, the odds of actually getting that franchise player are low, even if you do manage to finish bottom 4.
Quite frankly, I'm not even sure the tank does guarantee any kind of success. The idea that you have to have multiple franchise centers to win, seems outdated now. That notion was also heavily skewed by the Crosby era.
At least with the Eichel acquisition, he's somewhat of a known quantity. We know he is the franchise centre.
The main issue with Eichel is his injury. Hopefully the Flames' doctors have done their due diligence on this already. If anyone is going to work through an injury and recover, it's a guy like Eichel. He's ultra competitive and has devoted his life to winning a cup. He's not quitting at age 24.
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