I disagree not because i disagree with you on their abilities but I disagree that the kings would have had a clue what to do
Stutzle and Zegras would be on ontario's 3rd line right now learning to check
This is just flat out hyperbole, and you know I am not one to defend The Beach Boys/Country Club Crew that run things, they have done an abysmal job evaluating and developing youth here.
But, Byfield played 40 games as a 19 year old, Stutzle, who is multiple levels better than Byfield ever will be, would not be in the minors in LA. Eventually we have to come to the realization that the Kings completely butchered the evaluation part of the 2020 and 2019 drafts and not just the development part (which was also completely butchered). And that is not so much a knock on QB (who I still think can be a PLD player if all goes well) but just great praise for what a special player Stutzle already is at 21, and could develop further into. Myself and many others were given grief here for saying quickly that it was apparent it was a mistake, but it doesn't take 4 years to realize Justin Jefferson was way better than Jalen Raegor, it doesn't take 4 years to realize Kevin Durant was way better than Greg Oden, it doesn't take 4 years to realize Anze Kopitar was way better than (insert any player taken between Crosby and him in the 05 draft). Just as with Byfield, it didn't take four years to realize that Alex Turcotte just wasn't anywhere close to being a Top 5 type talent, it was apparent right away during his freshman season that the pick was a huge mistake. Copp's and Cogliano's are valuable depth pieces to a team, and certainly have value, but you have to get more from a #5 pick in a strong draft.
Rob Blake made two massive franchise altering blunders in back to back drafts and since he unfortunately wasn't fired for it, he was given rope to pivot away from those picks, which by now should both be knocking on the door if not already overtaken Kopitar on the C depth chart. Which is a normal and typical progression for a #2 and #5 picks entering their fourth and fifth seasons in an organization. I don’t blame the scouts for 2019 as I have no reason to believe Rosen is lying, as he has no history of lying, unlike guys like Yannetti, Murray, Emerson who have told clearly verifiable lies to the Mayor of Pravda and Jessie on their podcasts. Yannetti in particular has told so many lies (that can be fact checked with a 15 second google search) that I can't believe that people on this forum take anything he says about anything to do with the Kings seriously.
I hate hate hate hate that the Kings weren't picking super high in the 2022 and in particular the 2023 draft where there were likely franchise players at the top of the board, guys that truly could have been our Aaron Rodgers (if Kopitar was Brett Favre) and we were denied the shot at having these guys because management felt they it was best for the organization to be faux-contenders in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Bedard was unlikely just because of lottery odds, but had the Kings not brought in Danault, Fiala, VA, Gavrikov etc. they could have been in the position to draft a player like Fantilli, and you just watch how good he is going to be, right away. This is the type of player you need to add to a franchise for a rebuild to be successful, and the Kings never did and never tried to correct the fact they didn't.
But I can't change what they did in the summer of 2021, unfortunately none of us can, so I just evaluate the moves made after that, and with this 3 year window to try and win a SC (with Cam Talbot in goal) they had to fix the C position, because you aren't winning in that window with 36 year old Kopitar and 3C Danault as your 1-2 centers. And half-assing going for it in this defined 3 year window by not addressing that gaping hole, would be an even more poor decision than ending your rebuild without a single star forward added during it.