I guess we'll just disagree on this one... I don't think it's a silly thesis, especially with respect to Faber. Going into this season Faber would've been at best the 3rd best RHD on the Kings depth chart and would've needed to outplay Doughty and Roy to get top 4 minutes. Meanwhile on the Wild (because of injury and lack of depth to begin with), Faber just had to be better than Bogosian and Goligoski to win a top pair RHD role. Obviously it's still impressive that he did that - But the two scenarios are very different. I genuinely do think if the Wild had a healthy Doughty and Roy they also wouldn't have played Faber in a top 4 role.
So it's a valid thesis.... Without lack of depth or injury, it's very rare for young players in the NHL to force themselves up the depth chart. So it's unlikely Faber would've seen the same results if he had stayed in LA and it's likely Faber would've also been held back in other organizations if they were in a similar scenario as the Kings (had strong depth in front of Faber and didn't have injury issues to compromise that depth). There are absolutely other teams in the NHL who choose to play established NHLers over young players - The Kings might be the biggest culprits of this, but they aren't the sole NHL organization who has mismanaged young talent by prioritizing established NHLers / not setting up that young talent for success.
Yeah I agree this is BS and another example of Kings coaching & management fumbling with young talent.
