5 potential reasons Doug Wilson uttered 'rebuild' in reference to the Sharks

The buzz in the hockey world right now is about the comments made by Doug Wilson, the GM of the San Jose Sharks. He said the words “the rebuild is committed to,” and then some mumbo-Jumbo implying he’d be up for trading Joe Thornton.

I highly doubt he’s serious about that, but who knows...he might be kicking it around.

There had to be a purpose for saying the words he said - I don’t know exactly what it might have been, so I figured we should throw five ideas at the wall and see if any stick.

Motivation

There’s a small chance that he’s disappointed in his top dogs’ post-season performance, and wanted to give them a kick in the backside for summer motivation in the gym and on the ice. By saying it now, he’s in a position where he’s issued a clear warning, so if the job doesn’t get done next year - at least a finals appearance - he can justify a big trade (or trades) easier.

“Hey, I said I’d do this last year, and maybe I should have.”

To at least hear some offers

Some guys are generally assumed to be untouchable. You would think a future Hall-of-Famer, captain, face-of-the-franchise guy like Joe Thornton would be one of those “some guys.” Maybe Wilson doesn’t want to move him, per se, but he just wants the information out there that Thornton isn’t wearing the untouchable tag just to see what some crazy person might throw at him. Lord knows there’s no shortage of crazy GMs, and Wilson knows it.

“Maybe Dave Nonis will chuck me Kadri, Gardiner and 70 years of firsts for a big center from Ontario.”

To prepare the fans for one substantial move

He’s not really going to tear the thing down - because he’s not really going to tear the thing down - but maybe he does feel like they need to make a major move (more on this from Scott Lewis here). Prepare fans for the worst, make one move, and they’ll be all “phew,” wiping sweat off their brow. “We only lost one guy.”

“Big Joe’s gotta go, so lemme just make this easier on the fans…”

To show he’s aware playoff failures aren’t acceptable

It’s “the definition of crazy, right?” Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result? If he says, for the zillionth straight year “we’re just going back into the same fight with the same tools we’ve repeatedly lost with,” maybe he’s afraid it makes him look like an insane person.

At least by claiming rebuild he’s demonstrating that something has to be different and he knows it. See, guys, he’s not a mad man.

“I’m sick of trying to sell the same thing to the same people and acting like it’s different, when we all know it’s not. I’m in on the joke here too.

He’s actually a crazy person

Maybe that’s it. Maybe he doesn’t see how close they are to breaking through, and he’s been reading internet message boards, and he’s ready to move Thornton and Marleau for picks, and Couture for picks, and Pavelski for picks, and Vlasic for picks, and picks for picks and AHAHAHAPICKS PICKS PICKS!

“I WILL DRAFT EVERYONE AND WE WILL DEFINITELY WIN EVENTUALLY!”

I think I’m leaning towards the latter.