<p>We’re at the time of year in which the eliminated NHL teams are delivering their year-end pressers, firing or retaining coaches and wondering how they can fix their outlooks.</p>



<p>So, Roundtable:<strong>Among the eliminated teams, which one needs to completely blow it up and start over?</strong></p>



<p><strong>MATT LARKIN: </strong>I like the way Kyle Dubas has spoken about the&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/pittsburgh-penguins/line-combinations">Pittsburgh Penguins</a>&nbsp;</strong>this week<strong>.&nbsp;</strong>It doesn’t sound like he’s planning to patch over his roster with another array of 30-something veterans this time. The Pens actually have 11 picks for the 2025 NHL Draft, and they have three first-rounders and five second-rounders across the next two Drafts.They’re positioned to blow it up at least a little bit if they so desire. If they could buy out Tristan Jarry and explore a sell-high trade for Rickard Rakell, maybe they get even younger next year. Is there any universe in which Erik Karlsson’s remaining three years are tradeable, too? The Pens have one salary retention spot left. What Dubas does is a matter of how willing Sidney Crosby is to go backward to go forward.&nbsp;</p><div class="injected-ad injected-video" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="0" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="177"></div>



<p><strong>PAUL PIDUTTI:</strong>&nbsp;It’s an interesting time in the NHL as there are so many teams in various stages of teardowns, rebuilds, or retools. For me, it’s the&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/new-york-islanders/line-combinations" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York Islanders</a></strong>&nbsp;that need&nbsp;to officially start all over. With a new arena in 2021 and consecutive trips to the final four (2021, 2022), it’s easy to see why the Isles leaned in on an older group in recent years. But the expiry date of this plucky core feels over. The Brock Nelson trade and now the exits of GM Lou Lamoriello and Cal Clutterbuck are the first signs of a changing of the guard. The Islanders have relatively few young or cost-controlled parts to move, but there are plenty of veterans that might be attractive in the summer with a rising cap. Even with a healthy Mat Barzal and a still-in-his-prime Ilya Sorokin, there isn’t enough upside to think Patrick Roy can make this a perennially threatening roster. While it’s commendable from an anti-tanking standpoint, hoping to sneak into the playoffs and upset much better teams remains a nearly impossible road.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="1" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="176"></div>



<p><strong>SCOTT MAXWELL:&nbsp;</strong>I’m going to join Paul here in saying that the <strong><a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/new-york-islanders/line-combinations">New York Islanders</a></strong> should be the team that goes for more of an aggressive teardown. But I’m going to go a step further and say that that teardown should possibly include Mat Barzal and Ilya Sorokin. In an absolutely&nbsp;perfect world, it might take three to four years for the Islanders to rebuild, and that’s assuming they do it very well and hit on almost everything. Going off that window, Barzal will be 30 and Sorokin will be 33, both likely to be outside of their prime years at that point. You don’t want to go full Buffalo Sabres and get rid of every asset that positively contributes to the team, so I wouldn’t say sell them for the sake of selling them, but if the right deal comes around&nbsp;for them, I wouldn’t view them as untouchable. This franchise needs a reset, and by the time things truly turn around, those two might be past their primes (and maybe even Noah Dobson, too), so exploring those avenues wouldn’t be a bad thing.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="2" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="182"></div>



<p><strong>STEVEN ELLIS:&nbsp;</strong>Good choices here – but I’m going with the&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://canucksarmy.com/">Vancouver Canucks</a>.&nbsp;</strong>This season was such a cluster-bleep filled with drama and injuries. Anything they do this summer will feel like patch work. Moving on from Elias Pettersson would probably be a mistake – but at the same time, maybe it’s the right thing to do. Is Thatcher Demko capable of being a No. 1? If not, do they really trust Kevin Lankinen in the long run? If they lose Brock Boeser, whom do they replace him with? What a difference a year made for this club. The team has good pieces, but I think they just need to restart and refocus. Get the bad mojo out of there.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Recent Daily Faceoff Roundtables</h2>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
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