Penguins Update: Building Through the Draft a Cautionary Tale

I was perusing the NHL standings yesterday and considering the plight of some teams. In particular, the ones that stripped themselves down to the studs in order to rebuild.

The Blackhawks, Blue Jackets, Canadiens, Ducks, Flyers, Red Wings, Sabres, Senators and Sharks all are in varying stages of a rebuild. Nearly all are having difficulty climbing back up the ladder to respectability.

The Sabres, who last made the playoffs in 2011 (!!) really jump out as a team struggling to turn the corner. After a decent start to the season, they’ve lost 10 games in a row (0-7-3) and are plummeting toward the Atlantic Division basement, with only fellow tear-it-downer Montréal below them.

Yet the Sabres are teeming with good, young talent. Tage Thompson is an elite goal scorer and Alex Tuch a fine power forward. J.J. Peterka, Dylan Cozens, Ryan McLeod, Zach Benson, Peyton Krebs and Jack Quinn are young forwards of promise. A pair of former No. 1 overall picks, Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power, anchor a young, puck-moving defense. Rangy Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is developing into a solid NHL goalie.

All of the aforementioned players, with the exception of Thompson (27) and Tuch (28) are 25 or younger. Heck, I’d swap rosters with the Sabres in a heartbeat, no questions asked.

Yet they struggle.

With the exception of the Senators, who are finally starting to make a move, it’s the same with the other teams mentioned. After season upon season of falling short, Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman abandoned his youth movement to a degree and brought in a passel of veterans such as Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko to speed up the Yzerplan, even selling off kids in some instances.

The results in the Motor City, where the Wings haven’t qualified for the postseason since 2016? Tepid at best.

In the Windy City, despite the presence of much ballyhooed phenom Connor Bedard, it could be years…years…before the Blackhawks are competitive again.

It’s a far cry from the early 2000s, when the Penguins, Capitals and Hawks all drafted the hub of eventual Stanley Cup champions from rubble.

What’s changed? Why does tearing down and rebuilding through the draft no longer seem optimal?

If I had the answer, I’d be a really wealthy man. Truth be told, I’m not sure anyone fully understands the apparent paradigm shift, and I’m talking about men who have spent their entire lives immersed in the sport.

Perhaps the salary cap has something to do with it, although it was in effect when the previously mentioned champions assembled their respective cores. Counterintuitive in way, since young talent is comparatively inexpensive.

Too, maybe it’s the not-so-small matter of not being a destination team. Established stars generally aren’t drawn to struggling clubs or willing to endure lengthy rebuilds. They want to win now.

Whatever the reasons, it seems harder these days for rebuilding teams to put the finishing pieces of a roster puzzle into place. Part and parcel to that dynamic, total teardowns no longer appear to be the way to go. Indeed, teams that have retooled on the fly (the Bruins, Golden Knights, Kings, Rangers and now the Capitals) seem to be the ones enjoying the greatest success.

While practically eschewing the draft altogether, Panthers GM Bill Zito built a Cup champion through a series of bold and brilliant trades (Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart) and shrewd free-agent adds.

So which path will our Pens choose? At the present, POHO/GM Kyle Dubas has yet to tip his hand. For now he seems to be focused on acquiring draft capital while occasionally rolling the dice on young players of pedigree like Cody Glass and Philip Tomasino who didn’t pan out elsewhere.

Given the aging nature of our core and the lack of quality depth in the organization, along with a dearth of tradeable assets, it would seem a little late in the game for a retool on the fly.

Time will tell which path Dubas ultimately chooses.