from Damien Cox of the Toronto Star,

It’s the NHL that Gary Bettman and the owners wanted.

Presumably, the players are good with it as well, given the NHL Players’ Association now has more say in how the game is designed and played than at any previous time in its 51-year history.

Finally, the guess here is that this is what fans want. The Bettman administration has always liked to survey its customers, and try to tailor the game to their desires.

So if everyone’s good with it, you have to wonder why something just feels a little funny with the NHL circa 2018. Something just not quite right.

The Colorado Avalanche were dead last and doggone horrific last year. A year later, they’re in the playoffs. The New Jersey Devils were worse than every other team except the Avs last season. They’re back in the playoffs, too....

But there’s also something a little nagging about these rapid turnarounds. Maybe it’s that it’s not just one team, but several, all at once. It feels in a way like the rapid transformation from doormat to playoff team, or in the case of Vegas, from Ground Zero to apparent contender, is devaluing the entire process of team-building upon which this sport is built.

It feels a little too much like a fantasy league, with every team starting from scratch every year at the same time.

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