I had the chance to meet up with Isles GM Garth Snow briefly when they were in town, and talk about rebuilding his team with one of the true youth movements in the NHL. To my surprise, however, he wasn't all that forthcoming in talking about the "rebuilding" part of what's happening on Long Island:

"I don’t use that word rebuild. We’re trying to make the playoffs and win a Stanley Cup like every other team. We don’t go in with the mindset that losing is acceptable, and when that word is used, sometimes winning doesn’t matter. I don’t think I’ve used that word too much and if I have, it’s been very limited. We’re trying to win every hockey game we play in. The group that we have in that locker room, it may be young, but that doesn’t mean it can’t have success."

I'm sure they're sensitive in New York to the perception of how they ended up with John Tavares on the team, but that group last season was decimated by injuries and that certainly contributed to their downfall. And, anyway, as I've said before, I don't think the stigma in the league around losing to eventually win is all that merited.

Clearly the Isles are on a smarter path now than they've been for some time, and what's surprising everyone is how many games they're winning already with their young cast. It's going to be interesting what they do when Rick DiPietro comes back.