Hank wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2019 11:35 am
Aqua certainly didn't fire Gillis to rebuild. And he certainly DID NOT hire Torts with a rich 5 year contract to rebuild.
Then he didn't hire Linden the goodwill ambassador to fire Torts with 4 years remaining after a disastrous year to rebuild. And he wouldn't have hired ANY management team to rebuild because the family always has playoff revenues in their sights. Anyone really think that any incoming GM would say "Nah, Francesco, I'm going to do what's good for you and blow this thing up" after he got hired? Seriously?
Do you get hired for a job, then show up to do the exact opposite of the job description?
Then after the terrible Canuck Luck where a weak team managed to eke into the playoffs only to be dusted by the Flames, Aqua was probably very disappointed but still didn't outwardly support a rebuild.
It was only until recently (after ousting Linden) that you heard the horse actually say to the supporters that they like their youth and need to preach patience... the same owner who didn't like Trev's message about patience.
So, if you looked at the real direction (the Aquas)...
That the Little Eagles, or possibly Linden, are the real authors of the "re-tool on the fly" folly is widely accepted here, (except, perhaps, by those who maintain that rebuild
actually started with Benning's arrival), but do we have any evidence to support that idea? Is it not just as likely that Benning, with a canny sense of what his prospective employers wanted to hear, told them in his interview "Don't listen to those other guys; you don't have to do a rebuild. I can get this team back into contention next year with a few off-season moves" ?
Hank wrote: ↑Mon Mar 04, 2019 11:35 am
RE: Winnipeg. That is an incredible record of successful 1st round picks which is definitely not the norm or league average. Something to try to model but who's to say anyone can model that? You have to be both good and lucky... and that's not the Canucks
Overall, drafting 18 year-olds is tricky and fraught with uncertainty, but in the top 10 positions, seemingly less so. Certainly, some teams manage to wiff, but even notoriously poor drafter Mike Gillis got it right in his only attempt. If Winnipeg can manage it consistently, then it would seem to be within the ability of a hockey management genius.