I, for one, am nowhere near the defeatism of last year. Last year we looked like shit, full stop. This year we were in a playoff spot before the hockey gods opened the injury flood gates. We lost Drysdale and that's a gamble, but we got a very talented scoring prospect in return and are in prime position to draft someone really good yet again.
As long as the media mouthpieces are wrong and we don't actually deal Zegras away, whatever happens going into the deadline and the draft are likely going to finalize our rebuild. I welcome a high draft pick, but for once it happens with some semblance of realistic expectation of better to come.
As long as Cronin shows he's actually a good NHL coach, that is. We can't have another coaching disaster.