There is a plan. It's to draft and develop. The plan takes no account of the slowly closing windows of Price and Weber, of course - two players of an elite standing who appear to have no analogue within the system. (That's to say, we seem to have no prospects likely to top out at their level). But you know, it's a plan.
What I continue to wonder about is the time frame for when all these picks and prospects can reasonably be expected to be contending. Last year we heard a lot of fan talk about the Habs contending after a "three year" transition period. I notice that that talk has gone away now and that the timeline has gotten a lot vaguer, as has the aspiration of building a heavy-duty contender instead of just a "playoff team." When will Caulfield be a scoring star, Suzuki a 60-70 point C, KK a clear-cut top-6 C, Romanov a reliable top-pairing D, this year's top picks taking regular shifts and helping, etc.? Beyond these particulars: when, if current trends continue, will the Habs contend? Three years from now? Four or five? In other words, what are we being asked to expect, after swallowing hippopotamus excrement pretty much non-stop for a half-decade?
Being a senile old man, I remember when Serge Savard took over. He said he had a five-year plan. In Year Five, the Habs went to the Finals (and sadly lost to the Flames). I understand that the league is very different now, but this is Year Two of the reset, and it'd be nice to have a realistic estimate of when to expect a switch from Reset to Contend.