Our first draft of the rebuild happened 26 months ago. Out of that draft, we've added Slaf and Hutson who are 20 years old, and the latter is green as they come.
The actual rebuild has barely started. People give too much weight to the handful of prospects/young players who were already here when the rebuild started.
The fallacy is believing this team will significantly improve simply by having Suz, CC and Slaf magically turn into a real first line that will mitigate all the problems this roster has, and which won't actually be fixed until we add players who go into their proper chair, which needs more time, drafting and developing.
Asking for results this early is just a foulhardy proposition. People need to get comfortable with the fact that Suzuki and Caufield will be between 25 to 30 years old when the team will be much better, and they won't be the team's best players.
By the time we'll be 4 years removed from our first rebuild draft of 2022, so 2026, Slaf and Hutson will only still be 22 years old, heading on 23. Demidov and Hage will be 20, heading on 21. Reinbacher and Fowler will be 21 heading on 22. Those will be a huge chunk of the actual core.
The simple truth is, many here don't have the required patience for a rebuild, but guess what? Better get used to it. This is the shithole Bergevin left us with. There's no miracle trade, no signing or coach that will alleviate our woes. Our asset base was demolished, no matter if a few remnants like Suz, CC and Guhle were a part of it. That asset base won't get significantly raised by trades. There's hardly players willing to sign here to raise that asset base either, and no coach will come with a magic wand to turn frogs into princes.
A simple exercise: What age will those players be when Suzuki is 30 years old? Slaf and Hutson will be 25. Demidov and Hage will be 23. Reinbacher and Fowler will be 24. They will all still be very young and just at the cusp of their prime. The actual core will all be between 23 and 30 years old, with most of them around 25 years old.