I absolutely LOVE this, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit conflicted.

I don't think we have the pieces to out together a Cup-contending team right now, and the most reliable way to acquire those pieces is through high draft picks.

So while I love watching a few of our young guns go on a hot streak, I'd also rather have GREAT hockey to look forward to down the line, rather than just perpetually GOOD hockey (à la Minnesota/St. Louis, etc.), and right now, we're just playing ourselves out of a top pick/potentially elite player.

Every season we waste middling out is one less season we'll have of Larkin/AA/2Z/Mantha, etc. in their primes.

On the bright(er) side, my pessimism about Blashill under-playing AA and Larkin over the past few years seems to have been somewhat unfounded, considering they both just put up 30 goals on a brutal team.

Turns out the professionals really do know a bit more than us armchair GMs sometimes, lol.