That's the way it usually works. It doesn't mean it's the way it's always going to work that way.
Hughes has done something few GMs have done in the past. He's gone ALL IN on trading away vets and garnered a crap ton of prospects either trading for them or picks. By doing this he's accelerated the rebuild signficantly. In three years he's gotten:
Dach (trade)
Newhook (trade)
Demidov (draft)
Barron (trade)
RB (draft)
Slaf (draft)
Mesar (draft)
Hutson (trade)
Beck (draft)
Engstrom (draft)
Hage (draft)
That is a shitload of great young talent to amass in three years. You don't normally see that kind of volume or quality in such a short period of time. And we already have two more 1sts in the next draft.
That's not to say more trades won't come. For sure they will. And some of the guys here will probably be moved. But the drafting for picks and prospects has been incredible. This is not a normal rebuild, it's one that's been done very aggressively. And that bodes very well for us. Especially considering that there were young pieces (Suzuki, Guhle, CC, Mailloux) already here to begin with.
And (just as importantly) he's also hired somebody who's great at development. So we're maximizing those assets as well.