Free washer | Tough start to the season for Atlantic rebuilders

Anyone who has been immersed in renovations knows the saying: “You know when it starts, you never know when it ends…”

Impatience is already starting to be felt in Montreal following another disappointing game Thursday night against the Los Angeles Kings. But you need patience when you redo the foundations.

Besides, the season is obviously still very young, but the four rebuilders of the Atlantic section, Ottawa, Montreal, Buffalo and Detroit, would all have liked a better start. They will need a quick relaunch in the hope of being… in the mix.

Analyzing the fate of these four clubs also allows us to put things into perspective. The Canadian has the youngest club in the NHL after Buffalo and is in its third year of rebuilding, half that of the Sabres, Red Wings and Senators.

When we look at the elite rebuilders, the Tampa Bay Lightning missed the playoffs five times in six years between 2007 and 2013. The Colorado Avalanche was excluded six times in seven years between 2010 and 2017. New Jersey Devils, who finally seem to be emerging with a great core of young players, have missed the playoffs nine out of ten springs between 2012 and 2023. There is no miracle or quick solution…

General manager Steve Yzerman chose the good old classic Wings model. We fill the club with veterans so as not to rush the arrival of young people in the NHL. The presence of Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat, Vladimir Tarasenko, Ben Chiarot, Jeff Petry and Erik Gustafsson gives the impression that Detroit aspires to short-term success. But the team will not gain momentum until the arrival of Marco Kasper, Axel Sandin-Pellika, Sebastian Cossa, Nate Danielson and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard to form the next core with youngsters Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond and Simon Edvinsson. Despite hiring veterans, Yzerman didn’t take shortcuts. Not only did he keep his choices, but he also added some. Detroit has drafted six times in the first round and seven times in the second round over the last four years.

It’s difficult to place the reconstruction of the Sabres since there were several phases. We set it for 2018, the year captain Ryan O’Reilly was traded to the Blues and defenseman Rasmus Dahlin was drafted first overall. But we almost reset the counters from 2021 when Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart and Rasmus Ristolainen, all drafted in the top 8 and in the heart of phase two of the rebuild, were traded for youth and choices. The Sabers seem to have been rebuilding forever, but the current phase started three years ago. They don’t have the youngest team in the NHL for nothing. The young goalkeepers are struggling, Jack Quinn, Dylan Cozens and Zach Benson are not finding their momentum and Dahlin is down offensively. We understand the supporters of this club are on the verge of a nervous breakdown. They deserve better.

The fan wants results, the fan hopes for a playoff appearance, but it doesn’t work that way, especially not in the third year of reconstruction, with the youngest club in the NHL after Buffalo. There are always surprises, but they are rare. Let’s just take the defense. Four of the six members of this unit are 23 years old or younger. Arber Xhekaj is the oldest. Of this quartet, Justin Barron, Kaiden Guhle and Lane Hutson are 22 or younger. Guhle is the only one of the group to have played a full season of more than 51 games. Five of the six members of the top 6 on offense are 25 or younger, four of whom are 23 or younger, Caufield, Dach, Newhook and Slafkovsky. Nick Suzuki rightly spoke of immaturity after Thursday’s meeting.

If the fan allows himself to be patient, the three most recent first-round picks, including two in the top 5Ivan Demidov, David Reinbacher and Michael Hage, have not yet joined the club. Patrik Laine, 26, will return one day. The CH also has two first-round picks in 2025, two second-round picks (three if Jake Allen plays 40 games in New Jersey this season) and two third-round picks (three if Jake Allen does not play 40 games in New Jersey). this season).

The Senators may make the playoffs before Buffalo, Detroit and Montreal, but their future core is thinner. Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris and Drake Batherson are 25 or 26 years old. Thomas Chabot is 27. Tim Stützle and Jake Sanderson are 22 and Shane Pinto, 23. Their future lies with this core because the next generation no longer exists, besides the seventh pick in 2024, defenseman Carter Yakemchuk. We sacrificed two first round picks (7^e et 12^e ranks), three second-round picks and a third-round pick for players who are already no longer in Ottawa, Alex DeBrincat and Jakob Chychrun (we recovered a late first-round pick for DeBrincat, who served in the acquisition of goalkeeper Linus Ullmark) and an experienced but supportive defender, Nick Jensen. The 10th^e 2021 pick, Tyler Boucher, represents a bitter disappointment. Do the Senators have the core to aspire to the Stanley Cup? It doesn’t seem so and there is very little hope in the short term for improving this core.