Quoting: noted
If they are not competing for a cup in 4-5 years - that's rebuilding Mothy...I never said they are going to tear it down, if they trade picks, it will be for younger players with control.
He said in interview on 101 ESPN that they were rebuilding. Basically said next year will be eval to see what they have. If they do not make the growing strides that he is hoping for next year though, the rebuild could take longer. That would mean possibly trading the Binnington's and Buchnevich's. Hear whatever you want but I didn't make anything up...
Sorry if I was rude, I can't even interact on hockey twitter because there are so many negative and rude - I am auto defensive. The term rebuild to me has a very clear definition. A proper rebuild is the replacement of the core through draft and development.
Unfortunately, St. Louis cannot afford a rebuild financially. This is why St. Louis takes the middle-road. This is why St. Louis never (very rarely) picks in the top 10. This is the burden of a mid-market team.
To give you an example of a proper rebuild, see the Buffalo Sabres.
The Sabres had a sub-.500 record for a very very long time. 2014/15-2021/22.
Eight years, as I described in my previous reply.
During that time, they traded multiple core pieces, such as Ryan O'Rielly at the age of 27 for futures. That was 5 years ago.
Presently, the Sabres have 4 defensemen they drafted during this time in their lineup, including two first overalls. The vast majority of their lineup are either players they drafted or players they acquired, such as Tage Thompson, when they tore it down.
They finally now have a record above .500.
St. Louis will not do this. They cannot financially.
Instead they will rotate youth, similar to how Florida dumped Weeger and Huberdeau on Calgary for Tkachuk.
They will trade off their older expiring skaters (Tarasenko, O'Rielly, a defenseman, maybe Saad, etc.) and replace them, as Doug said, with players around the age of 25.
St. Louis' roster will change drastically over 2 years, but they will not be waiting to populate the roster in the fashion of a rebuild. They are going to target skaters such as Provorov from teams who are going to rebuild, and rotate out older skaters. Over time, this years 1st and the previously selected skaters will join the team, and it will become a playoff bound team, and if Doug builds his 3rd stanley cup winner, they will be contenders.
I highly doubt Doug takes any more picks in the draft than any normal year. I feel it is nearly certain the later first picks will be moved for assets.
To identify what may happen, you should look to teams who could be entering a rebuild, see which skaters are 23-27, and put them on a list of "this guy maybe".