The Huggie Bear Dilemma - What to do with QH43

[Cornuck]

Anybody ready for that??

All good points, but I don't think any of us believe ownership is going to go full rebuild.

Reading your post though, looking at a minimum 5 year plan, plus another year to find out what Hughes wants - and there's a lot of us that over 70 at that point in time. We'll need to start looking after ourselves better! Can they win a Cup by 2050?

Fuckin' depressing, is what that is...

[Ronning's Ghost]

Anybody ready for that??

All good points, but I don't think any of us believe ownership is going to go full rebuild.

Reading your post though, looking at a minimum 5 year plan, plus another year to find out what Hughes wants - and there's a lot of us that over 70 at that point in time. We'll need to start looking after ourselves better! Can they win a Cup by 2050?

5 year minimum on a tear it down to the studs re-build. (At which point Hughes could still be a dominant player, if he's willing to stick around for it. Hughes is a stud .)

But no, none of us believe ownership would greenlight such a program (unless, maybe, Hughes made it a condition of re-signing ?)

So in the no re-build scenario, the question becomes: how long would it take to build a Cup-winning roster without a deliberate re-build?

I think that without a conscious re-building plan based on stockpiling assets, it only happens by the wildest of good luck, and I am not confident of seeing it while I can still tell what hockey is.

I think our only realistic hopes of seeing a Cup in Vancouver involve the Little Eagles selling to an ownership group with a long-term vision, the smarts to hire the right management team, and the wisdom to get out of the way and let the management team implement it.

[Blob Mckenzie]

I'm kind of onside with Mëds Ming. If the team is 6 or 8 points out in early February, have a discrete conversation with the player and/or agent. Body language and dialogue or lack thereof is key. The kicker is the acquiring team gets the player for potentially 110 regular season games and two playoff runs. If said team see's in 2027 that he is going bolt to Jersey to play with his brothers they can sell him at the 27 deadline for 75 % of their purchase price.

Utah is tossing around money and the owner is well heeled.