Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay Random
What were they trying to ‘win now’ when they sold off Iginla, Bouwmeester, and anything else they could move in 2013?
What were they trying to ‘win now’ when they shipped out half a dozen pending free agents last season?
This idea that the team has been following the exact same strategy for 20 straight years is a damned lie, and a very stupid and tiresome one.
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From 2006 to 2012, the organization was stuck in a win-now mentality, despite ample evidence that it wasn't working. In 2013, they sold off their vets when things got so bad that they could not make the playoffs even when hanging on to those vets for dear life. The team's core players moved into their mid to late 30s and it was clear that the team wasn't good enough to compete. At that point there was no choice left but to sell.
In other words, those changes were made reactively, not proactively.
Then at the very first sign of playoff success (winning a playoff series vs a mediocre Canucks team), they moved a bunch of futures to try and build a contender in a frantic rush. This was the wrong approach, and hurt the team in the following years.
Things eventually got better, and things arguably would have worked out if not for Monahan's injuries and Bennett not panning out here. But at the end of the day, were we a Monahan or a Bennett away from beating Colorado in 2019? or the Oilers in 2022? No. The team has always been further away from contending than it ever would admit.
Johnny and Chucky ran for the exit as soon as they could, and now we're here. I'm happy with what Conny did last season, shipping out our pending free agents and focusing on building up the team's pool of prospects and picks. We're now finally on the right track, and although it will take some time, things should be trending upwards before too long.