The mechanics part 1

Trade deadline is the perfect time to look into team building mechanics and the many obvious myths associated with certain methods. I often read seasoned sports journalists who seem to cater to the unrelenting crowd of alarmists that make-up a good part of the Habs fan base. While the former get lost in their entitlement to their opinions forgoing an intelligent analysis, only reinforcing the latter's need to, well, worry. It's all nice and giddy when you want to sell something, as catering to target crowds is the cornerstone of any good marketing scheme, but I on the other hand am not interested in ratings here.

I look at the Habs presently, and all I can do is be very enthusiastic about seeing this team go forward in the next few years. The reasons for this are simple, but aren't inherently obvious for some. My expectations are the same as any Habs fan and I don't even need to say what it is. Since we are not and will never be in a market where we can tank a season on purpose, and such a window of oppurtunity, if it ever existed, was forfeited over a decade ago, then the obvious path is that of long-term team building. This is what the Habs have chosen to do instead of tanking, over a decade ago.

Long-term team building requires patience and flexibility. It all starts with the draft and player development, obviously, but the mechanic goes much further than this. Players have to be cycled/renewed for replacements by youth, or sometimes for need. This is what we've seen from the Habs in the last 5-6 seasons. The building blocks have been added, replacing underperforming or underacheiving players, while filling holes for short periods at positions which they hadn't developed a player yet, and now that we have a constant stream of good players making their way into the team, more and more positions are getting filled internally. The secret of success doesn't lie in drafting a phenom like Crosby or Ovechkin, and mostly only teams who can afford to tank can do that. The secret lies in keeping a focus on the objectives, and keep progressing towards renewing the old with the new and better.

What is truly missing to the Habs? So many answers could be given, always depending on what one thinks is the right formula to win. Personally, I don't think it's as straight forward as many think it is. I look at the Habs, and I let go of my preferences, and rather try to see what is being done, what is their plan. With each year that goes by, I see less and less holes to fill on the team, and the team also seems to be getting younger. It's a process, and so far its going well. People will pretend the opposite, because they only care for their expectations, for results, which have to be immediate, they forget to stop for a second and appreciate what is being done.

When we reach trade deadline, it's the same old story every year. Angry fans who didn't get their candy. A minority of teams get success from deadline trades, and that success is short term at the very best. The reality of the salary cap makes it even harder for teams to make transactions than it was in the pre-cap era. Whatever trade could've happened, to me, would have been nothing compared to the excitement of seeing a player like Subban come up and impress the hell out of most. We are finally at a point where we are adding important players internally at every position. Why screw this up with an overpayment on the trade market right smack in the middle of a transition season?

If there is a need to fill, and since this is a team with a stream of renewal of players with youth who don't cost much, then the obvious way to do so would be through the free agency market, as you don't need to let go of assets you'd rather keep. I've always been of the opinion that the trade market should be used for securing assets for players who you will lose and don't need in the short term, or to fill a need that you can't presently fix with either prospects or free agency. Or obviously, if an offer that is too tempting comes along, which is rare. But for any of those, I don't tend to think that trade deadline is the best time to do so. The off-season offers much more wiggle room.