The f*** is this?
Name 3 teams with these proven young guns who the Rangers can't match?
Clearly I haven't expressed myself well on this and my opinion is not liked, so I'll just admit defeat in general, but as to your query...
Jets with Laine (or even Ehlers), Habs with Suzuki, Nucks with Boeser, etc. I was just scrolling down Capfriendly checking and stopped early.
To even be in a conversation for Dubois you know they're asking for Fox+ because all of the rest is just potential talent on paper. The cost of a potential 1C who's young and RFA? Sky high.
And apparently a lot of you see all of our prospects as being absolute studs in the making. I don't see it yet. I hope for it, but it's not there. Kakko has a lot of potential but thus far has not shown it. I know it's only been a year and he's super young, but he wouldn't be the centerpiece in a Dubois trade. It'd be Fox, Kakko and a pick maybe. Chytil? The flashes are there and I think he'll become good to great, but he hasn't put it together yet. Kravtsov hasn't earned an NHL spot yet and hasn't been that hot in the KHL after his debut. Lundkvist and Miller both just potential at this point. Both regressed in their latest seasons compared to the previous.
Look, I like our prospect depth, and I expect (and hope) that most of them will make an impact. But outside of Fox, none of our young guns have yet shown they're going to be a top 6 NHL forward or top 4 NHL Defenseman for a long time. So yes, it's hard for us to match a team willing to give up a young guy for a young guy straight up. I'm not even saying the teams I mentioned would do those trades, but I am saying those are young cost-controlled guys who have shown they can perform at the NHL level. We don't have a lot of that.
I really don't know why this is so controversial. We have cupboard full of POTENTIAL. That doesn't easily buy us a 22 year old cost-controlled 2C/1C player. We'd have to give up several prospects to get that. That's all I'm saying.