Yeah, Seattle is built sort of upside down right from the foundations. That ridiculous expenditure on the broadcasting crew is at least partially defensible since they apparently don't plan on giving them a watchable team until they grow one organically ... for whatever reason. They squandered the expansion draft almost entirely, choosing almost entirely one dimensional players of all stripes. They didn't commit to proven vets, or promising youth, or anything in specific other than taking a bunch of guys who were good to decent at just one thing ... in a league that is rapidly moving away from specialized roles and towards dynamic, deep rosters filled with guys who can multitask. And then Ronnie choses a coach who's a systems nerd. Hakstol proceeds to drill his first team towards the modern player usage, concentrating on controlling flow and possession ... with a team filled with guys who really aren't equipped for it. Again, it's all upside down. He's got the perfect AHL coach to build system knowledge and depth running the NHL team. And then when it came time to "weaponize his cap space," Ronnie burns most of it on yet more specialist players like Burakovsky and extensions. Look, at least Burakovshy is at least good at the one thing he does well and Francis has largely drafted modern style players like Beniers and Wright. Gourde was a good get as well. But look at their long term commitments to one trick ponies like McCann, Schwartz, Tanev, Bjorkstrand and Oleksiak. I mean, just what is he building towards? He's got well over half his cap space for 24-25 tied up with a core that's gonna look a heck of a lot like what he has now. Even if Wright and Beniers pop off, by the time you pay them you won't have the room to add dynamic parts around them. None of it makes any sense, unless being not fun to play against was somehow the goal. Congrats on that, I guess.
