Every team prefers to retool over rebuild, if they must decide between the two, that is. It’s why every general manager (GM) prefers to avoid the word rebuild and mention that the team is rebuilding, even if the signs suggest that they should do so. The thing is that there are not a lot of teams that successfully retool, and in the long run, rebuilding is more effective to turn a team into a Cup contender.
The New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, and Washington Capitals proved that it can be done. The Capitals and Senators, in particular, had successful retools, and the Islanders are in the middle of a promising one after a strong offseason.
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There’s not a lot of overlap with the three teams, and each one took a different approach. The Capitals never moved on from key players like the other two teams, and the Islanders had some luck involved by winning the draft lottery (which doesn’t provide much of a lesson for other teams to follow). That said, these three teams provide lessons for the retooling teams around the league.
Trading Away One (Not All) of the Star Players
The big difference between a retool and a rebuild is how far teams decide to tear it down. Trading one or two players at the trade deadline or in the offseason signals a retool. Trading everyone and tearing it down sends the message that the team is rebuilding.
The Senators realized their core wasn’t going to make the playoffs, and instead of moving on from everyone, they moved on from the few players who didn’t fit in with the rest of the roster. Alex DeBrincat was the star player in the 2023 offseason, whom they traded away, and Jakob Chychrun was the one they moved in the 2024 offseason. It allowed them to still build around Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk while also remaining competitive each season.
The Islanders entered last season with a chance to tear it down. They had multiple players on the trade block, and moving on from all of them would have turned a depleted farm system into one of the best. Instead, they traded Brock Nelson at the trade deadline and then Noah Dobson in the offseason. It left the Islanders with a core to still build around and also added Calum Ritchie, Kashawn Aitcheson, and Victor Eklund, three blue-chip prospects, to the farm system.
There’s a fine line between retooling and rebuilding in the NHL. The Islanders and Senators toed that line but never went into a full-scale rebuild, and it allowed them to remain competitive while adding new players to the roster.
Making the Big Moves in the Offseason
The Senators entered last season as a borderline playoff team and just needed a reliable goaltender to round out the roster. They made the big move to acquire Linus Ullmark and make him their primary starter. The move paid off and then some as Ullmark put together a great season and helped the Senators get to the playoffs. On top of that, he’s one of the elite goaltenders, and as a team on the rise, he’s one of the reasons they have Stanley Cup aspirations.
The Capitals, meanwhile, went on a heater in the 2024 offseason. They made a big trade to land Pierre-Luc Dubois and then acquired Chychrun from the Senators, and to top it all off, they brought in Logan Thompson. In one summer, they addressed their forward unit, defense, and goaltending to go from a borderline playoff team to one of the best in the Eastern Conference.
Multiple bubble teams in the NHL can make the playoffs if everything goes right and miss it if things fall apart. What often separates these teams is one or two moves in the offseason. They make the difference, and for the Capitals and Senators, the moves put them ahead of the other teams that were in their tier heading into the season.
Patience With Talent
My colleague Justin Giampietro wrote a deep dive on how the Islanders turned around their farm system, which can be viewed here. A lot of factors played into their turnaround, but one of the ways they helped themselves out was by drafting the best players available. Cole Eiserman was one of the best players in the 2024 Draft and fell late in the first round, allowing the Islanders to take him. When they had the top pick in the recent draft, they took the best player on the board as well, with the Matthew Schaefer selection. The Eiserman pick didn’t address a need at the time. It didn’t matter, since they wanted the talent and expected everything else to fall into place.
The Capitals were also patient, but with a different approach. They bet on Dylan Strome after two teams had already given up on him. He was a talented skater but needed time to develop, something the Arizona Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks wouldn’t give him. The Capitals took a chance on Strome, and he’s hit his stride as a top-line skater and a leader of the offense.
Other Lessons From These Retools
It’s one thing to have a great farm system; lots of teams have that. It’s another thing to utilize it correctly and get the most out of the prospects who are in it.
The Capitals allow their prospects to develop before calling them up to the NHL. They play for the Hershey Bears in the American Hockey League (AHL), where winning is paramount, and the standard is a Calder Cup. It allows the prospects to join the NHL roster, ready to compete and win games. The Capitals have depth and young skaters adding firepower to their forward and defense groups, something that can be credited in part to their prospects coming in ready from day one.
The Senators also had a great farm system for a while. However, they eventually needed to put those prospects on the team. It led to growing pains as Ridly Greig, Shane Pinto, and Tyler Kleven struggled at times, but it paid off last season, and now the Senators have young talent in their core and with their depth.
The Islanders, for a while, didn’t use their farm system correctly. The cliche around the AHL was that nobody killed AHL teams like the Lamoriellos, and the previous NHL GM, Lou Lamoriello, ran the team into the ground while shattering the confidence of the prospects. With Mathieu Darche in charge, the Islanders are expected to build a great team through the pipeline.
What do you think the retooling teams can learn from the Capitals, Islanders, and Senators? Let us know in the comment section below!
