Quoting: palhal
Give your fans hope, don't trade the picks. Won't Calgary fans be disappointed this draft, team out of playoffs and not having their top two picks.
If Tavares leaves, gotta spend that money you had allotted for him wisely on other players, not having the 4.5m Halak helps too. But like most teams, the Isles are going to have get better internally. Are those young Dmen really NHLer?. If they are, that's a good start.
If the Isles lose Tavares, which is exceedingly likely, they’ll have two choices.
They can try to use the extra cap space to sign free agents and attempt to make it back to the playoffs next year. Personally, I think that’s a bad idea. There aren’t a whole lot of decently young free agents, so it’d likely involve signing people like Carlson or Stastny; good skaters now who will command big contracts (6-7m at 7 years) and could start declining at any moment. And doesn’t that sound familiar? (Ladd)
The second option is to, as you put it, build from within. The good news is, we’re off to a good stsrt with Barzal, Pulock, Beauvillier, Aho and there’s still hope for Ho-Sang and maybe even a middle 6 role for Dal Colle. Bellows, Toews, Wotherspoon and Soderstrom also look strong. And with two lottery picks this year, that pool of young talent will only get better. The problem is, our AHL team has a terrible track record for developing talent. Nino, Reinhart, Strome, Dal Colle all fell far short of lofty potentials while developing in Bridgeport. Meanwhile Barzal, Beauvillier and Aho, none of whom spent much time in Bridgeport, all make good progress in the NHL.
In short, the Isles will need to change management before they can start deciding whether to rely on Free Agency or internal development and drafting. Neither will work under the current coaching staff, especially in Bridgeport.