The 'dark years' is a difficult analog becuse the league is so different now. In the pre-cap era veteran-laden teams were running the league. There were also way fewer players breaking through in their ELCs and becoming impact players under 23 like we see now.
So trotting out a team led by Jason Wiemer and Todd Simpson and suggesting we were the 'young guns' was a futile exercise when going up against the Red Wings of the world who had two lines of hall of famers with no penalty. And that's an extremely challenging narrative to sell a fanbase that we'll be competitive again soon with a straight face.
I think that era is about as bleak and dark as they come. With the way the league now operates, hitting in one draft can put NHL and impact-ready talent on your roster immediately.
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