Canadian fans probably swallowed their breakfast the wrong way, Monday morning, if they read the words of the head coach of the Arizona Coyotes, André Tourigny, published in our pages.
A reconstruction would not take five or six years to complete, but between eight and thirteen years, according to the calculations of Tourigny and its general manager Bill Armstrong.
Rest assured, the Canadian does not have until 2034 to be outrageously dominated as he was on Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes…
The term reconstruction is now used in all sauces in the hockey world, but it has many variations.
A wild rebuild, like the Chicago Blackhawks’ most recent one, which even trades its best young 21- and 24-year-olds, will take a lot longer, and may not even happen if the right decisions aren’t made. .
That of the Canadian could be described as semi-aggressive. Kent Hughes is accumulating draft picks by avoiding retaining veterans at the end of the contract, he even dared to trade a good attacker in his early thirties, Tyler Toffoli, for an additional pick and a prospect, but he also used a pick first round for Alexander Romanov to get 21-year-old center Kirby Dach to speed up that rebuild.
And despite the evil that some may say of his predecessor Marc Bergevin, he left a good succession in the hands of the new administration. Gorton, Hughes and co. weren’t starting from scratch in 2022. There was Nick Suzuki, 22, Cole Caufield, 21, who already had solid playoff experience, Alexander Romanov, 22, who helped getting Dach, Josh Anderson, 27, finally retained by the team, and youngsters Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris, Arber Xhekaj, Sean Farrell, Jesse Ylönen, even Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, against all odds, in the antechamber.
The calculation of André Tourigny and his boss is generous. In the case of the Avalanche, the starting point is 2009, the first disastrous year since the Nordiques’ move, with a 28th place finish overall, and the selection of Matt Duchene in third place a few months later, at the winning the Stanley Cup in 2022.
For the Lightning, the first year of rebuilding was set at 2008, with that ranking 30th overall and Steven Stamkos being selected No. 1 in the first of their two Stanley Cups in 2020.
But to reassure supporters of the Canadiens, the Avalanche and the Lightning did not spend a dozen seasons getting screwed over by the opponent.
Tampa had two difficult seasons after the arrival of Stamkos, the owner changed, the management too, with Steve Yzerman and Julien BriseBois, we even reached the four of aces in 2011, with coach Guy Boucher, missed the playoffs in the next two years, but appeared in the playoffs five times in six springs between 2014 and 2019, and even reached a Stanley Cup final and two other semi-finals during this period, included in the twelve years of reconstruction mentioned by the management of the Coyotes!
The course is similar to Colorado. The Avalanche surprised in 2009-2010, so Year 2 of reconstruction, with a record of 43-30-9 and a 12th place overall.
Four years later, galvanized by the arrival of coach Patrick Roy, Colorado finished third overall with a 52-22-8 record, before losing in the first round of the playoffs.
Three difficult years followed, including a 30th-place finish overall in 2017, the year Cale Makar was selected at No. before the first Cup last year.
It is therefore necessary to calculate four or five years for the constitution of a solid nucleus, a second phase of four or five years of participation in the playoffs, and some cruel eliminations, before aspiring to lift the Cup and also, above all, hoping to repeat exploit for the next five or six years.
The Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks went through a long stretch before winning a few Stanley Cups. But unlike the Lightning and the Avalanche, the second phase, that of educational defeats in the playoffs, did not last long.
Pittsburgh reached the Finals in 2008, just a year after their first playoff appearance since 2001, and then won the Cup the following year.
Chicago reached the semi-finals in 2009, its first playoff appearance in six years, the second time in ten years, then won the Cup the following year.
Kent Hughes must have the same calculation method. The Canadiens would take two or three years before they could reach the playoffs on a regular basis. The reconstruction began a year ago, but the CH won a few seasons with a young nucleus already in place.
It will then take a few cruel defeats in the playoffs, between 2025 and 2030, before hoping to constitute an NHL power like the Avalanche or the Lightning.
Only five clubs, Chicago, Tampa, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and Detroit have won the Stanley Cup more than once in the last twenty years.
The first four had to undergo long reconstructions. Detroit, whose last conquest dates back to 2008, and the penultimate to 2002, benefited from a core formed at the beginning of the era of the salary cap.
And then there are the Bruins. Only once champions, in 2011, but finalists in 2013 and 2019, excluded only twice from the playoffs, in 2015 and 2016, after a reset, and once again serious contenders this season with their old wolf Patrice Bergeron in the lead.
But who has the pretension to successfully imitate those damn Bruins, an atypical model?
With the absence of Juraj Slafkovsky, injured since January 15, there is only one representative of the 2022 vintage of the NHL Draft, and it is not Shane Wright or Logan Cooley.
Marco Kasper, an 18-year-old Austrian center drafted eighth overall, has just been recalled by the Red Wings following the elimination of his team, Rögle, in the Swedish Premier League (SHL) playoffs.
Kasper, 6-foot-1, 192 pounds, teammate of Canadian defense prospect Adam Engström, had 23 points in 52 games at Rögle, a very interesting production for a youngster his age.
The youngster didn’t get a point in his first game Sunday in a 5-2 win over Toronto, but he played 14:59 in the center of the second line between Andrew Copp and Lucas Raymond, the highest total among forwards after Dylan Larkin, Copp and David Perron. He left a very good first impression on coach Derek Lalonde.
Detroit had another 20-or-under roster in their roster, Simon Edvinsson, a 6-foot-6, 209-pound defenseman, sixth overall pick in 2021. Edvinsson went 22:25.
The Wings will be one to watch over the next few years…
1- A former Saguenéens de Chicoutimi, Carl Latulippe, recounts his hell at the hands of the veterans of the team in 1994, at a time when morals were not the same in the world of hockey. A disturbing text by Ariane Lacoursière and Simon-Olivier Lorange.
2- CF Montreal suffered a 5-0 thaw in Vancouver on Saturday. Justin Vézina’s analysis.
3- Hugo Houle slipped into the breakaway on Sunday at the Tour of Flanders, but the 24-year-old Slovenian phenomenon Tadej Pogacar won in the end. Simon Drouin tells.
