Even if you do stockpile the picks, all of your picks could also failed miserably rendering your trades ability useless if you cannot make a right pick from that trade. Look at NYI drafting from 2012 when they focused on all defence in hoping that at least one of them would pan out. Also you failed to take this in account, the value of giving away veterans for picks that is not guaranteed to improve our own club. The only time I would give away veterans is if they refused to extend their contract at the deadlines. With veterans, you do know exactly what you are getting out from him even if you knew that he would cost us a few games. You never want any of your own rookies to cost us a few games and ruin his confidence while you are trying to develop him properly.
Yes, they could all fail (and if that's the case then you have to seriously revamp your scouting department), but that's how you rebuild. What you're suggesting is to build a team full of veterans; however, what you fail to understand is that good veterans aren't readily available. If we could go out there and just randomly add Nathan MacKinnon or Taylor Hall then great, go for it. But to get these guys you're going to have to give up something those teams want (if they're even available at all), and teams like the Canucks that build around veterans don't have anyone good that teams want. Nobody wants Del Zotto or Gagner. Nobody wants to give up anything good for Sutter. Eriksson has negative value. So at the end of the day you're stuck with a veteran group of players who aren't very good, who keep the team in the basement for several years.
You're suggesting we do exactly what the Leafs, Flames, and Oilers did for several years. I want to see the team get better and win the Cup. You prefer a veteran team that's at the bottom of the standings. To each their own I guess.
If you hope to get a superstar players from the draft, the highest percent seems to be the first round and rest of the rounds are in low percent of seeing one coming. That is why you stay put with your picks if you consider 50 contract limit to account as well. You cannot give away veterans for picks that might not see the ice at all unless you knew that he doesn't want to come back at all. This would be your only opportunity to get some kind of return. Let's say, you get 20-25% of superstars coming out of draft at any given year, and there's 31 teams in the league and your percent of snagging one from the draft are at 0.06%. That is a bad value of stockpiling the picks when you are giving away veterans. The best move is trading the veterans for the youth whose stock is on rise but not enough to make the team, examples such as Goldobin, or Dahlen. 19-years old or even 20 years old shows more than their junior years. You know what you are going to get out from both, a potential as proven in AHL but better chance of translating into the NHL once they figure out the defensive side of the game than any stockpiled draft picks ever will.
This is pure nonsense. Not only is your math horribly wrong, but the fact you fail to realize that you can get useful players outside of the first round is completely laughable.
Goldobin was not a player who's stock was on the rise. His stock was declining because he was an older prospect who wasn't good enough to make the team that drafted him. Those are awful trades. Just like the 2nd round pick for Vey was awful and didn't work out (and look...we could have drafted Brayden Point with that 2nd round pick). You're saying it was good to trade essentially Garrison for Vey instead of Garrison for a draft pick that could have led to Point.
Too often that 18-years old players showed promises pre-draft then regress in their +1 years and does not pan out at all. It is too risky of a draft to give away veterans just for 18-years old. Let's say, if the draft age is raised to 19 or even 20 years old then it all makes sense to stockpile picks because their bodies are at the near peak and more matured than the 18-years old bodies to make it easier to evaluate their potentials than the 18-years old players. Perfect example: Sam Bennett. The best move is to not move their draft position and stay put in order and take their picks accordingly.
That's why it's up to your scouting department to determine which players skill sets will translate to NHL success, and which won't.
If our prospects are better than Gagne and I would bet you that Gagne would be put in waivers or trade for any returns they could take. The management are looking for ways for their own prospects that they are better than the veterans they brought in and kick the veterans out. Unfortunately, our own prospects in recent years are not able to do that, therefore they didn't make the team. What makes you think that they would shake the world upside down if they couldn't even beat the recent free agent veterans? That is what Utica is for and to give them time to work their kinks out and become better than the veterans whether it's in-season with call-up or next training camp. Eventually, the cream comes to the top for the prospects. Once this happens, the team would be better for it. Then the team would be more equipped to handle the best of the best in the league in any hockey games. You want to be careful on how you handle the roster as you do not want too many holes in the line-up and finally fill it up 10 years later if your prospects don't pan out.
Nobody is going to want Sam Gagner, especially with his contract. You're suggesting that putting him on waivers and eating his $3.2M salary (would be $2.3M in the minors) is a smart business move? You're saying that's smart cap management?
The points you are making (summarized):
-draft picks are bad because those players could bust.
-stockpiling draft picks are bad because you don't know what you can get, and if you sign everyone you draft you'll run out of contract spots.
-stockpiling veterans are good because you know what you're getting (and if they're bad you know they're bad).
-Utica is so you can waste cap space on players who aren't good enough for the NHL.
I get you might not know much about how the league operates, or how successful teams rebuild, but I strongly urge you to look around the league at those successful teams and how those teams rebuilt. It might help.