This season was about failure for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sure, it was smart, it was calculated, it was constructed with the bigger picture in mind and better than the alternative of mediocrity - but it was still failure.
We can cheer for first overall draft picks, because we're cheering for a better chance of one day winning the Stanley Cup. We can be patient, but we aren't the ones working for it. We aren't the ones giving it our all through the entire year - from keeping in shape over the summer to a long, gruelling, six-month season for the hope to get to play another two months more.
The players, on the other hand, are. And as much as a first overall draft pick will one day help the collective group, that doesn't mean seeing others celebrate it makes you want it any less.
On the contrary.
One day.
— Nazem Kadri (@43_Kadri) June 13, 2016
Nazem Kadri has only played in seven playoff games (ones that we remember all too well). But that obviously isn't enough.
The Leafs are looking to the future. The fans, the organization - and the players themselves, so they can replicate what we've seen others doing year in and year out.
Here's to that one day, Naz.