Next 3 teams to rebuild or retool.

 The next 3 Rebuilding or Re-tooling NHL teams.

Now over the past few seasons we have seen teams like the Blackhawks, Sabers, and Coyotes all go through scorched earth rebuilds, we have also seen the Devils, Canadiens, Senators, Red Wings go through rebuilds as well and have recently seen teams like the Sharks, Flyers and Predators begin a rebuild or short retool process, but with all of these teams having a light at the end of the tunnel with Buffalo, Detroit, Jersey and Arizona all already looking close to playoff teams and Montreal, Ottawa and Nashville looking to be better as early as next year, and the other 3 having a bright future, these teams are all most likely to be better and challenge for playoffs over the next few years, and when bad teams become good, there are good teams who have to undergo a rebuild or retool process, so I want to take a quick look at who I think the next 3 teams to either retool or rebuild will be in the NHL. 

Sergei Belski USA Today Sports

1ST: Calgary

Now I think the first and more likely team that would either rebuild or retool next would have to be the Calgary Flames who are currently in no mans land right now. So if you look at the Flames they have tried to win with this current group of players and so far it hasn't worked as they have only made the playoffs 5 times in the last 9 years and have only won 2 games in the second round in that time frame so they haven't been a dominant team and then last year they missed the playoffs and this year they are hovering around the .500 mark so it looks like they will probably miss the playoffs again this year with the odds stacked against them, so given this fact a rebuild or retool may be the breath of fresh air that this team is looking for. 

Now unlike other teams who have a ton of long term contracts on their books, the Flames do not as only Markstrom in net, 2 of their defenders and 4 of their forwards are signed beyond next offseason, so doing either a rebuild or a quick retool is pretty open for them unlike other teams who have a ton of players on long term deals, and they even have a solid amount of UFA's for this upcoming season that they will probably move by the deadline in Lindholm, Hanifin and Tanev as well as some lower end players too, so they have a decent shot here to get some good young pieces at the deadline, and then there is also Mangiapane and Shrangovich who are only a year away from being UFA's and if they don't want to remain in Calgary, then maybe the Flames possibly in the offseason could move those two as well, and if that is the case they could have a relatively fresh slate in the next year or two so whether it is just a quick retool or a rebuild, the Flames are positioned well for it.

Now the other thing that I think may lead this team to a quick retool instead of a full rebuild is they already have some good young pieces in their organization as Zary has stepped in and showed he can be a solid 2C long term, and they also have exciting prospects like Pelletier, Coronato, Schwindt and Honzek who all look like top 9 forward prospects in their system, as well as young guys like Kuzentsov, Solovyov and Poirier coming up soon on the D side and a future starter in Wolf in net, so they already have a solid prospect pool and you add some more young players and draft well over the next year or two, and this team shapes up as a solid playoff contender, so I do think Calgary will probably be the next team to do one although I think they would do more of a retool like Nashville did with all the young prospects they have. 

Brad Penner USA Today Sports

2ND: Pittsburgh

Now next would be the Penguins as I think there is a very good chance that they will also be one of the next teams to rebuild as they had the oldest opening day roster out of all 32 NHL teams, and unlike the Flames they have had a ton of success with this current core as the Letang, Malkin and Crosby core were able to make 14 straight playoff appearances as a group (depending on what your opinion is about the 2020 qualifying round) which included them making it to multiple cup Finals and winning back to back Cups in 2016 and 17, but now this core is in their mid 30's and they seem to be slowing down a bit and don't have the same bite they did 5 years ago when they won their Cup's, and last year their playoff streak ended and this year there is no guarantee that they make the playoffs as they are a bubble team right now and I think if they were to miss the playoffs again this year, it may lead to some sort of retool in the future. 

Now unlike Calgary who has a lot of players on expiring deals in the next year or two, the Penguins don't have as many as Letang, Rust, Rakell, Karlsson, Graves and Jarry are all signed for more then 3 years after this year and there is a ton of speculation that they Want to keep Crosby and sign him to another deal and I think as long as Crosby is with Pittsburgh then this team won't do any sort of rebuild, but they will have decisions to make, as Guentzel is a pending UFA and if the Pen's aren't all in like most people think they aren't right now, could Guentzel not want to sign there, and then in the next year or two Malkin and Pettersson are both going to be up as well, so this Penguins team doesn't have as many contracts they can move in the next year or two and do have a decent amount of long term contracts, but I think they have some big decisions to make that will tell the direction of this team.

Now also unlike the Flames, The Penguins don't have the best of prospect and also don't have a very deep prospect pool or much draft capital over the next few years, as the only players on the teams roster who are under 25 years old right now are Puustinen and Joseph and both are 24, so they don't have a ton of young prospects in their system, while if you look at their prospect pool, they do have a couple of decent prospects who should come up in the next year or two like former first round picks Yager and Poulin on the forward group, Smith, Pieniniemi and Pickering on the backend and even Blomqvist in net, but none of those guys are breathtaking prospects who will give the Penguins a huge boost in the next year or two, so I think moving some pieces to restock the cupboard may be the best move for Pittsburgh, so I think while Crosby is still there the Penguins will try and retool to keep this team competitive, but in 2-4 years when Crosby is gone, I think this Penguins team will go through a full rebuild and they will try to build a young team that can compete for years to come. 

Geoff Burke USA Today Sports 

3RD: Washington

Now as for the Capitals they are also on of the more older teams in the NHL right now as they were tied for the 5th oldest team entering the season this year and sort of like with Pittsburgh, Washington has also had a lot of success with the core group of guys like Wilson, Kuznetsov, Carlson, Backstrom and Ovechkin that saw them have a very long streak of making the playoffs and saw them win the Cup back in 2018, but the last few years this team has looked a ton slower then before and they were the last team to get into the playoffs 2 years ago and had their playoff streak end last year, and then this year thanks to good goaltending they are a bubble team for the Playoffs but they will most likely miss again this year and even Ovi is starting to look a bit slow, so maybe going through a retool or rebuild would be good for them. 

Now as for the players on this roster, they are somewhere in between Calgary and Pittsburgh as they do have a couple of players on longer term deals, but not as many as Pittsburgh as they do have Wilson, Protas and Strome signed for longer then 3 years after this one, but none of their D-Men are signed for three more years after this year and even Ovechkin is only signed for this year plus two more, so you could potentially move Pending UFA's such as Pacioretty, Mantha and Edmundson as this years deadline and then over the next year they could move guys like Oshie, Kuznetsov, Dowd and Lindgren as all still have some pretty good value and depending on where they are in about 2-3 years, maybe even guys like Milano, Carlson or TVR could become trade bait, so the Cap's are in a better position then the Penguins to initiate a rebuild but once again I think they may have to wait a year or two to start rebuilding. 

Now just like the Pen's, the Caps prospect pool is not the best as of right now and could really use some more talent in there, now they do have a few more younger players at the NHL level then the Penguins do right now as they have three players under 25 years old including McMicheal, Protas and Sandin who are all 23, but for the most part they have a older roster and although they do have a few prospects in their system such as Lapierre, Suzdalev, Cristall and Miroshinchenko on the forward group, Iorio on the blueline and Stevenson in net, they don't have as much young talent that they would need to go through a rebuild, so I could see them try to get picks and prospects to help this team long term, but just like Pittsburgh they won't fully go through a rebuild until Ovechkin is gone, so it may be 1-3 years before they go through any lengthy rebuild, but it is coming and once Ovechkin hits Gretzky's goal mark and passes it, I expect the Caps to rebuild.

So these are the 3 teams I feel will be the next three to either retool or rebuild and I think 2 honourary teams who could also be thrown into the mix would be Boston and NYI as both are also older teams with weak prospect pools, so it will be interesting to see but I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments, will Calgary, Washington or Pittsburgh be the next to rebuild or is it someone else, love to hear your thoughts below.