..... Is this supposed to be a hot take?

You're probably right. That's not really a problem though. Half the teams in the league don't make the playoffs, and this team got hit by the Buff bomb to open the season. This isn't exactly a sky is falling scenario. They now have 8mill in cap space that they didn't have before, get a high draft pick, sign a big UFA and pay anyone that needs to be paid big money, and rebound next year. These aren't the oilers, the sens, or the panthers

Good job pointing out the obvious! Lol

Depending on health and buffy, this team is a cold streak or hot streak away from bubble or wildcard. Lottery pick wouldn’t hurt this young squad, so win, win, not sure if they got the horses to pull a blues run, but a happy healthy buffy could make this team relevant yet.

I tend to agree with these guys at a high level. I mean just look at how many players you have including Big Buf. I agree that their D is looking like a bad mess, but If Buf is refusing to show...suspend his contract...send Gus down (because sitting on the bench is NOT developing him) Sign Jack on what would theoretically be a down year. Take on a bad contract or two that are really short term 1 or 2 years and retool. This team is FAR from needing a rebuild. They're just in shock right now from losing soo much on the back end.

Heck there could even be a silver lining...if this team doesn't play well this year...you may even get Laine to sign a long term deal on a friendlier AAV.