Why not trade picks and prospects for players that can actually help the team now, not five years from now when the other guys drafted years ago are either gone or void of any playoff experience?
The wings are gonna become the sabres stuck in a perpetual rebuild, holding on to youth when the only way out of suckness is to actually surround a young core with players already established and broken out.
Trading Hronek was dumb since the guy you drafted with the pick likely never becomes as good and even if he does thats still 3+ years from now.
Wings fans make excuses for Stevie and his shitty UFA signings, calling them stop gaps. Why not sign or trade for actual good players that can help now and in the future.
Any team that had the tentpole pieces and wings fans say they do, it's at that point you proceed to the next step which isn't relying on the draft, it's uses accumulated picks and prospects to aquire players just entering their prime, or savvy vets.