EDMONTON — So you’re sitting around a table at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, arguing with Dave Bidini over the future of the Maple Leafs.

Or you’re talking Canucks with Michael Buble, crushing a few Granville Island pints at the Black Frog.

The topic: To rebuild or not rebuild?

Do we have what it takes for a retool? Or will it be one of those middle-of-the-road, not-too-good-but-not-too-bad teams, like so many retools produce?

Can our market handle a rebuild? (Answer: Has anyone ever NOT renewed their season tickets in Toronto?)

It’s a topic in Calgary and St. Louis, no more or less than it is for New York Rangers fans. Or in Washington, where the retool looked pretty good 12 months ago.

What do you do when your team bottoms out? Can the owner afford a rebuild? (With franchise values in the billions, the answer is always yes.) Will the fans stomach six or seven years out of the playoffs, with no concrete promise that success will follow?

And what about the players? What’s it like for them?

“A lot of dark days,” said Jason........

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