The problem is that Kakko and Laf were supposed to be more than Kreider and Buch. Those players as your best forwards aren't really winning you a Cup as we have seen. They were supposed to be MacKinnon level instant star forwards who were capable of 80-90-100 point seasons repeatedly.
You say the Rangers are "invested" in doing it this way and that when Kreider (who isn't good enough) and company are gone then the kids will take lead roles and that's how the team has done it. That hasn't worked, though. That approach yields you Kreiders and Stepans and a defense-heavy approach that relies on a goaltender to steal you playoff rounds, but a team built that way is GENERALLY inferior (not absolutely, but generally) to a team built with elite star forwards, and that's why the elite forwards win all the Cups.
The problem is that the solutions I endorse to this problem have now mostly gone by the wayside accompanied by the false claims of "Well you can't do x because reasons." You can't trade Kreider. You can't get a better return than a 4th line scrub for Buch. You can't demote vets to give kids more development minutes. Can't, can't, can't.
All false.
What that means is "won't, won't, won't," not can't.
And this team won't, won't, won't win any Cups this way like it hasn't for 100 years.
Other than that one in 1994.
The team's approach is wrong. It's never to late to change, but the apple cart of what "can" and "can't" be done is going to have be overturned. You're gonna have to offend a few veterans. You're going to have to get unconventional. The team is probably going to have to get creative, probably get back into the lottery once or twice at some point whether via tank or trade, and find another high end forward or two, preferably centers. They still need their MacKinnon because I think we've already seen the best of Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin.
