With the start of the regular season just a few hours away, I have to remind myself, "the record does not matter, the record does not matter, the record does not matter."
Traditionally, this is the time of the season when my optimism is soaring. I would have convinced myself that the general manager has constructed a winning roster, that the core is entering their prime, and that the prospects will take that "next-step".
This year is different.
"The record does not matter, the record does not matter, the record does not matter."
The Vancouver Canucks have instituted a rebuild. The goals for the season have been made very clear by the front office and coaching staff. Manny Malhotra recognizes that mistakes will be made but "there is a difference between losing and playing losing hockey." He defines winning not by what appears on the scoreboard but by playing "your system, the tenacity on pucks, the ability to win puck battles, win races. When all those things come together and you become a team that’s hard to play against."
Henrik Sedin on Halford and Brough says they "are not going to talk about wins and losses at all until we have the foundation in place...until the team enjoys playing together and for each other."
"It's the process that matters, it's the process that matters, it's the process that matters."
The Canucks start the season with a home and home against the Edmonton Oilers. They play 15 games in October which includes a six game road trip to the East Coast. Only three (Calgary Flames, New York Rangers, and the Detroit Red Wings) of their first 16 games are against teams who do not have legitimate playoff aspirations.
"The record does not matter. It's the process that matters."
The organization's dilemma
When the organization decided to rebuild, they needed to make changes. They over-hauled the front office with personnel who are consistent in their messaging and focused on the long term objectives. They shipped out the players responsible for fracturing the locker room. They brought in hard-working, culture-carrying veterans excited to play for the Vancouver Canucks. They augmented the roster with young talented prospects. They hired a motivational coach who will implement a structured system and will hold the players accountable.
"The record does not matter. It's the process that matters."
However, the Canucks did not, or perhaps more accurately, were not able to trade as many veterans as most rebuilding teams would traditionally have done. This roster still includes Elias Pettersson (F), Brock Boeser, and Jake DeBrusk. Their uninspired performances for much of the last two seasons have been explained by the conflicts within the dressing room and playing within a system that looked primarily random and chaotic.
Because these veterans are on contracts that don't expire until 2030-31, NHL teams will not relinquish assets and shoulder that degree of financial and term commitment in hopes that the veterans rebound. The Canucks have to re-establish their value.
So here lies the dilemma: for the Canucks to execute a proper rebuild, the veterans must be traded for prospects and draft picks. For the veterans to be traded, their value has to be restored. For their value to be restored, the team must score more. If the team scores more, the Canucks should win more games.
"So, the record DOES matter?"
If these veterans continue to falter despite what the organization accomplished in the Summer, then the Canucks will finish near the bottom of the league and can continue to build slowly through the draft. But these veterans will continue to block prospects from playing in the NHL unless the organization buys them out, retains salary, trades them for far less than expected, or uses the threat of being sent to AHL to terminate their contracts. It's better from all perspectives that none of these happen.
The irony
The Canucks simply have to trade more veterans in order to carry out a proper, efficient rebuild. If these veterans do not rejuvenate their trade value and if the team is so bad that no one is watching them, the rebuild will take much longer and be far more tumultuous.
The best case scenario is for Boeser, DeBrusk, and Pettersson to have quick starts to the season which includes playing well on the six-game Eastern road trip in mid-October. A productive first 30-35 games that fuels the team to a better than expected record would make them high value assets near or at the trade deadline.
" YES, the record DOES matter!"
Once some or all of them have been traded, the demolition will be complete and the true rebuild accelerated. Fans can be satisfied with moral victories while watching the team plummet in the standings and salivating over another top draft pick.
Then, truly, "the record will not matter, the record will not matter, the record will not matter."
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