The Rangers have a need for a scorer, and Buch has shown flashes. He's inconsistent, but how does a guy like Duclair become an all-star after being cast aside? What finally clicked for Anthony?
I don't think so, I think it can be done. The difference between elite offensive players and middling ones, beyond their physical limitations and skills.... is consistency and confidence. It's a mindset, and it's effort.
MacKinnon was not an elite player until he got the cobwebs cleared up.... he was at that 240 range before, and not scoring 40. He's a special talent. But look at other guys like who were able to take a step into a top tier offensive player by getting more pucks on net. Jake Guentzel, Roman Josi, Cam Atkinson, Brent Burns. Watch Washington develop another great scorer in Jakub Vrana.
None of those guys started where they are today, they all developed into top line guys.
If you are trying to develop a player, do you look at just the results, or do you push a guy to maximize his potential? And how do you measure those outcomes you want out of the guy? If goal setting is something that most professions practice, would the game of hockey not do the same?
Do you honestly believe, a league in which athletes are paid millions of dollars, do not have performance management targets? Can you conceptualize the mere possibility of a team setting goals for individual players?
Or are you merely relegated to the auspices of a report jockey that looks at a table and goes... "Oh over 50% gooooood!"... "Under 50% baaaaad!"?