Big Friggin Dummy
Registered User
- Feb 22, 2019
- 24,640
- 23,297
Yeah, I worded it a bit weird. I didn't mean to imply this team would be a Cup favorite again within a decade. I mean this team will be in the conversation again, probably to the degree of somebody like the Canes. Kinda just hovering around contending, more relevant than an annual 1st round exit but not as much of a threat as somebody in the next tier up.This is exactly how I feel, with one exception:
We're so spoiled that we say things like, "we won't be a threat for a Cup for 10 years." I would actually be thrilled if we were threatening for a Cup inside 10 years. Let's say the last of Crosby, Malkin, and Letang retire in five years. It's totally possible (in fact, likely) that 5 years after that the team will be garbage. Heck, I'm from Vancouver - the Canucks have "threatened" a Stanley Cup precisely 2 times in 52 years of existence (I don't count being swept by the Isles in 82).
I think it takes a whole lot of ineptitude and comical, nearly purposeful incompetence to really be mired at the bottom of the standings for a long time anymore. It doesn't take much to be a borderline playoff team, imo. That can be accomplished pretty easily if that's all a team really wants. It takes a lot more luck, and a singular focus on building from within to really build a foundation of long-term, perennial Cup contenders.