Uh, yes they are. When you have about 11 forwards drafted in the first two rounds of the last five drafts, seven of which are from the upper half of the first round, alongside still youngish players like Thompson or Mittelstadt, a 23 year old who isn't setting the world on fire in the AHL is not going to have much of a chance to get anywhere. Even if some of those prospects will fail - and it is pretty much a given that some of them won't make it, because no one hits at a 100% rate - they will all be given every chance to make it ahead of a someone like Cederqvist. Just the sheer number of high-end prospects at forward means that Cederqvist can't even get a big role in the AHL, so how is he supposed to make it to the NHL under such circumstances?
Buffalo's problem isn't that they are lacking talent. It's that their talent is for the most part too young to be consistently great yet, while they lack veterans that are skilled enough to carry the team or lead the talents the way they need to be led.
