Quote:
Originally Posted by burnitdown
I think we just fundamentally disagree and that's fair. You think the overpaid free agents were great cause they came in, pushed the young guys, and we had lots of cap room so who cares if we spent way more than needed. Maybe they did, but I think our rebuild has been driven by our young guns and trades...despite the overpaid and/or unnecessary free agency missteps.
Just because we're against the cap now doesn't make us a better team and it certainly doesn't mean the rebuild is moving way faster than expected. It could just mean we spent some money improperly. The progress of our rebuild should be judged on the improvement in our position in the standings...that's why I'm saying this up-coming year is a big one!
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I completely agree with you, the biggest reason our rebuild is going well is the progression of our young talent, and a decent trade here and there. Fully in agreement. The progression of the young talent.............did that go so well just because, or did the strategy to create competition and bring in the veterans we could help fuel just some of that?
Truth is, neither of us know for sure. Things may have been able to go just as well with out those FA, or maybe some of our youngsters would have stalled out the gates without it. To me, it doesn't really matter either way, it's working out.
You could also interpret those deals as simply bad deals, and suggest they had nothing to do with being an intentional part of the rebuild. Unless I'm BT or BB (which I'm not) I can't actually definitively tell you you are wrong. However, what we've seen around the league and the different rebuild strategies employed, and given the very careful terms given out on all the questionable FA signings made by our management, I'm feeling pretty comfortable that those were moves designed to fill roster spots, aid in the rebuild and to be cast off just in time for key young player contract re-signings and freeing up of spots as we get closer to ready to contend.
I'm not going to rake our management team over the coals for any bad deals given almost every single one is expiring in a timely fashion for any key young talent re-signings and the development of our young players has gone so well to date. I'm much more inclined to believe someone had a plan that's working, and we were lucky enough to have an ownership group willing to spend money without needing the subsequent results on the ice to accompany it.
Moving forward, pretty fair to question any FA deal that gets brought in. For example, if you don't like the Frolik or Brouwer deals, I'm not going to sit here and tell you those were made without fear of the cap hit due to a rebuild. Those were both clearly moves meant to supplement this teams needs and try to help them win as they get closer to contention.
