Value of youth can also go down, which I know you've accounted for by inserting presumably, but it does come across as a bit disregarded as a possibility with the approach you lay out. As it stands now, the Rangers have many more prospects who have good value attached to them than expected roster spots on the team moving forward. You might agree with me that a large part of the reason you build deep like this isn't to keep them all, but to utilize some of that depth to make trades.
Maybe we just disagree with timing, but I think you leverage some now without breaking the bank. I remember the discussions around Panarin and whether or not the Rangers should sign him, plenty voiced concern that it wasn't time and to save the money for someone else later. It would have been nice to have been able to wait a year, maybe two, before making a free agent splash like that. But sometimes the timeline doesn't fit a perfect model. My point is you are not guaranteed to have a Toews-level center with his resume and experience available for trade next year, but he might be available now. Sometimes you do things when the opportunity presents itself. Later on, it's too easy to force the wrong player in just because the timing is more "right".
