IIRC, our most frequent reply was that we couldn't control what ownership wanted anyways, but if it forced their hand for a rebuild we'd accept that as a silver lining. Many of us also admitted that rebuild wise, it wasn't necessarily ideal, but worked, since those two guys likely would cause us to continue on the wheel of mediocrity vs all out rebuild.
I mean, we were supposed to be a favourite for the Connor McDavid sweepstakes before the 2014-2015 season began. Ownership requested a playoff mandate and the team caught lightning in a bottle. I mean, I'm kinda torn. 2014-2015 was so much fun and it reignited my excitement for hockey. We've constantly retooled since then and the performance has fluctuated between very good and very bad. Stuff that supports ownership's decision, stuff that confirms agains it. I don't think either is wrong, but I think some of us just want to see what a proper rebuild might look like.
It's been brought up before and the answer is the optics is not good. Losing Gaudreau and bringing in a Huberdeau which creates an extra layer of reminder will hurt the hearts of both fanbases. There's some logic in the idea that doesn't make it totally unreasonable, but overall in the end, there's quite a few reasons why it doesn't make sense.