Quote:
Originally Posted by FanIn80
I really think the focus this year needs to be on developing the younger players. Wins are secondary to me. Maybe even tertiary.
Play all the kids all the time, and shield no one. At deadline we should have a better idea of their value. Sell the vets for picks, but package the kids we don't want with them to bump the picks up a round. Get more kids at the draft. Let the kids who played this season (the ones good enough to keep) mentor the new batch of kids we just drafted. Now we're learning which second-year kids have leadership potential...
3 years from now, we could have a leadership group from among the third and second year kids that are now wearing the C and As. Plus three solid years of drafting as many players as we can, with at least a few of them being top 10 (or even, heaven forbid, a top 5 with a couple top 10s).
That would be an exciting process to watch unfold. Just imagine... an actual, real, live rebuild.
Anyway, I hope it's Wolf but it will probably be Vladar.
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Playing 'all the kids all the time' and 'shield(ing) no one' is not how you develop kids. Look at BUF, look at the Decade of Darkness. Just because it's a rebuild, doesn't mean you should just abandon structure and abandon the team concept and professionalism.
Have patience, and let the kids be developed properly, at a pace that makes sense for them. The rebuild will take care of itself.