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Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814
It’s far from complete - but they were bad again this year, and they’ll get to add another top-5 pick.
They’ll probably get to do that next year too.
Caufield is much faster and shiftier than Toffoli - I like Tyler, but Caufield has 40 goal potential. And Suzuki is very good. Add Berkeley Catton or Lindstrom to Nick Suzuki and that could be a foundational pair of centres.
Slaf had the highest ceiling of any player at the top of the draft, and it looks like he’ll be a star player as advertised.
You don’t just turn down stars because they’re wingers.
Stockpiling talent over a 4-6 year period - that’s clearly their goal, and it’s what ours should be too.
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6 years is just too long to be stockpiling talent. Even 5 years is too long. At that point you should already be adding through trade and free agency to build around the core you drafted. If you aren’t, you’re likely looking at another rebuild or retool.
By that point, you’re in danger of ruining players, whether by developing them in a losing system or by making them want out. You’re also flirting with cap hell as the core you presumably drafted is out of their ELCs and making the vast majority of your cap. It’s really no surprise that as soon as teams have to pay their star players full ride they start to struggle and fall off. The rare exception is having franchise/generational players as part of that mix.
How many teams were garbage for 6 years from the point they made their first high pick and went on to win the cup or even become contenders with the core they drafted? Genuine question, but my guess is few if any.