As a GM, I am only signing if I can decide the team's direction within my tenure. If I am only there to execute a plan for the ownership, I am not signing. They can do the job themselves if they think they know better than me.
With that settled, I am having a good look at our scouting department. I don't buy into the stereotype you can only get top talent when you can draft high. Gaudreau is a prime example to that. You can get Pastrnak type of player late first round, you can get Kucherov type early second round and so on. It's about knowing what you are looking for, part of it is psychology too. Pasta slid so far because of the talk with GM's. They thought he was a simple guy who didn't care that much about being the best. Yet he is the guy who lost his father at a very young age, his single mother had to work 3 jobs at the same time so he could afford playing hockey... Guys like this don't mess around.
I would be targeting young talent from western Canada and as far as Europe goes, Scandinavia makes the most sense. This franchise has a great record with Śwedish players. It makes sense because the weather is similar, long nights and no sunlight, they are just more likely to fit in over some American from Florida or Harvard, even if he looks really good.
But you really need to be building through draft. It might take 2-4 seasons of missing playoffs and not looking good. But I am pretty sure most of us would trade our current situations with Ottawa without hesitation. We are one point behind them in standings, but unlike us, they have Brady Tkachuk, Stutzle, Batherson, Sanderson, Pinto... They will probably miss the playoffs, but their future is much brighter than ours. And it's not because they have signed UFAs in later parts of their career. You need to build your young core first, for those signings to make sense.
Anyone saying fans will check out if we go down that route, what does it say about this fanbase? If Jets can do it, if Sens can do it? Habs are doing it too? Why are we supposed to be a fairweather fanbase? Isn't it more likely a narrative of the ownership who doesn't want to risk on missing out on draft picks? Because they don't want to make big changes within the org itself, not just roster moves? This is a reach, but I am having a hard time finding an answer for that question. Why can't we rebuild, if other Canadian franchises with arguably even more diehard fanbase are doing just that?
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