Fans say "rebuild," 3rd year into rebuild, are they finished yet?
Last couple season under Fletcher, trade 1st and 2nd for Risto, trade G for 1st, 3rd, Tippett, trade 2nd, 3rd for TDA. Don't know if you're coming or going, then screw up with Gauthier.
Briere has done a good job clearing up the mess he inherited, dumping veteran salaries, players who didn't fit (anyone miss Frost, Farabee, et al?), accumulating draft picks, trading for players, judicious FA signings (Dvorak), even the right additions to LHV (Kyrou, Pederson). Ended up with Drysdale and Zegras for Gauthier (2nds are a wash, Poehling's 1 yr replaced by Dvorak).
He's a bit cautious, which I think is a virtue, a lot of GMs feel they have to make a splash, especially with an impatient owner, but Jones, Hilferty and Briere seem like they're on the same page.
Fans jump to conclusion on SSS, so far Jett has taken a step up, Nesbitt playing well after a slow start, Martone dominating the NCAA, etc. But part of evaluating prospects is how they progress over a full season, a good month doesn't make a career. So again, patience.
Better to have too many good players than too few, I keep saying the target is 2027-28, and at some point Danny will pull the trigger on a major trade or two. But no rush, he has to know what he has first, is Zegras a LW or C? Do they extend Dvorak? Will Bonk get healthy? How good are Bump, Barkey and Gendron? How far away is Nesbitt? And so on.
