Maybe, but by 25-26, we should have Bolduc and Neighbors firmly established as top6 NHLers. Stenberg and Dvorsky should be close as well. Dean should have tsken over as the 3rd line C. Kyrou would likely be surplus by then, given that Buch is here for the long term.
I think we are a long way from being able to pencil in both as 'firmly established top 6 players,' especially if we are talking 2025/26 as the timeline.
I'm extremely happy with Jake's step forward last season, but he still has major areas of improvement on both sides of the ice to be a complete top 6 player. There is no guarantee that he takes those steps forward. Look at a guy like Saad. He hit the ground running with a 17 goal pace his rookie year at age 20 in the shortened 2013 season. He followed that up with 19, 23, and 31 goal seasons in his age 21-23 years. His assist rate never improved and he's hovered in the 20-25 goal and 40-50 point range the rest of his career. The defense improved and he carved out a great overall career. But is he top 6 or middle 6? Assuming we call him top 6, is it so good that he makes others expendable? That could be the ultimate career trajectory for Neighbours and it would be a hell of a success.
Bolduc hasn't played a full season yet and he played at a 16 goal, 30 point pace while up here. I was pleased with his game as a 21 year old, but we have a long way to go before he's even knocking on the door as a top 6 player. Even longer before he's making guys expendable and forcing his way onto top 6 lines instead of being a borderline top 6 guy that you have on your 3rd line.
Dean is also a ways away from being a 3C.
Let's say everything goes great and by the start of 2026/27 Neighbours is a 35 goal, 65 point guy who defends at an NHL level. Bolduc is a 25 goal, 55 point guy by then. Dean is a legit 3C, Dvorsky proved it as a middle 6 winger and is now getting his shot at the 2C for his age 21 season. Stenberg is a legit 3rd line LW in his age 21 season. Those are all successful development trajectories over the next couple seasons. You still have an open wing spot in your top nine for Snuggy in this scenario and unless Snuggy has massive success in his first full NHL season in 2025/26 Kyrou enters the 2026/27 season as the top RW on the team by a pretty noticeable margin.
I think our timeline for potentially having this glut of top 6 players is more like 4 years from now than 1-2. And even on that timeline it requires a lot to go perfectly right. I'm all for trading from a position of organizational strength if a D becomes available. And I'm open to trading Kyrou for the right D man. But I certainly wouldn't say that our prospects make him a surplus in the near future. If they do, we genuinely don't need to defend because it will be the best 9 man forward group ever established in the cap era by a wide margin.