Arizona Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong dared a few weeks ago to offer a reconstruction timeline: seven or eight years.
Fellow Alexander Pratt was a little more sanguine for the Canadian who ruled for six years. If all goes well, CH will become an NHL powerhouse in 2027, since the youth turnaround began last year.
Kent Hughes also still pleaded impatient, during Wednesday’s mid-season report, without promising a date for that Connecting.
Six years does not mean six years of misery, in the vault of classification, to sink voluntarily. But five or six years without concessions, without shortcuts, with undoubtedly great battles for a place in the playoffs, without compromising the future.
It continues to trade veterans in their late 20s and early 30s for another year or two, accepting the mistakes of youngsters, before they are ready to race.
To become a powerhouse is to finish among the top 10 teams in the NHL, the same five, for several consecutive seasons, and to have the numbers you hope to win the trophy.
Tampa Bay ended in top ten Seven times in the past nine seasons, three times in the the top five Between 2017 and 2020, he won two cups.
Chicago finished at top ten In eight out of the nine seasons between 2008 and 2017, twice in a row the the top five Between 2015 and 2016, he won three cups.
When you think about it, the Canadian has only finished five times in the top ten From the NHL since 1994, three times in the top fivein 2008, 2013, and 2015, but only once in the top five Two consecutive years, between 2013 and 2015, under Mark Bergevin.
Montreal was also left out top fifteen Total 15 times over the past 26 seasons.
What is a six-year wait when a Montreal fan has gone nearly 30 years without living the same aspirations as supporters in Denver, Tampa, Chicago, and Pittsburgh?
Obviously, there are risks. Edmonton and Buffalo have struggled with it several times over the past few decades, and the Oilers, McDavid notwithstanding, still find themselves in an uphill battle for a playoff berth this season, eight years after McDavid’s arrival.
Photo by Jerome Miron, USA Today Sports Archive
Connor McDavid
Either way, there were poor draft decisions, an inability to find great goaltenders, and a lack of patience, which is essential to the club’s survival.
This danger awaits our neighbors, the Senators, among others. Ottawa is in its fifth year of rebuilding since the departures of Carlson, Stone and Duchin. At the dawn of the fourth, DJ Pierre Dorion announced that his club was ready to move on to the next stage. The Senators finished 26thH ranked in the general classification.
Last summer, to speed up the process, Dorion traded his seventh overall pick to Alex DeBrinkat and offered Claude Giraud $19 million for three years.
Despite the offensive contribution of these two players, the Senators are only marginally better. They found themselves eight points out of last place giving them access to the series and occupying 25thH in the general classification, two points ahead of Montreal.
come from somewhere else at the age of 25H The NHL ranks in goals scored per game with an average of 2.95, despite an energy play efficiency of 25.6%, third behind Edmonton and Boston.
Ottawa was 16-24-4 for 36 points after 44 games last year. They are 20-21-3 for 43 points this season. Four more wins.
Goaltenders Cam Talbot and Anton Forsberg’s save percentage is less than 905.
Whatever the formula, you have to make the right decisions. So far, Kent Hughes has proven he can be trusted. He will have to be true to his plan and not cut corners. Will you be patient too?
Realism of Daryl Sutter
Calgary Flames coach Darrell Sutter was blunt and candid as usual Wednesday night after his club lost 4-1 to the Colorado Avalanche. “We had a little idea of our worth, we are among the average teams, not of their caliber. We prepared as best we could, but they are the champions.”
Heroes approach from another place. They found themselves two points behind the Flames and the last place to make it to the playoffs…with three more games to play. Calgary is two points behind the Oilers and seventh in the West.
For the club that sold the Canadiens in the first round to get rid of Sean Monahan’s salary and thus snatch his second place, Nazem Qadri, 32, from the Avalanche, at a cost of 49 million for seven years, who will pay 84 million. For eight years for Jonathan Huberdeau, 29, from next year, and 50 million over the same period for Mackenzie Weigher, this was not the planned scenario.
We must wish them at least a place in the series…
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