Those players went for 1st rounders (Mantha, Foligno etc.), and wouldn't have made the Oilers a contender. Again, what's the point? Use the first at the draft when it's worth more and can get a long term upgrade, not a rental. Or we could go "all in" every year and go into every season with a bad roster, hoping we can shore it up at the deadline.
Also, I believe I mentioned it before but Covid is still a reality. Athanasiou and Green ended up being wasted assets, for just this reason. Seems like a bad idea doing that again.