What's really frustrating about the "build now" approach of giving up picks is that they cannot fluke into a literal and figurative lottery - like, the best upside possible is the JT Miller trade, where a 2nd line forward turns into a top-10 scoring player, or the Kuzmenko signing where a Russian free agent without much prior hype ends up looking like a near PPG winger for the remainder of his prime. Maybe that's what happens with Hronek too, but when these guys end up getting paid market rates within a couple years, you lose most, if not all of that value creation.
There's just no way to replicate the immense value of landing a superstar on an ELC and/or locking them down to a long-term contract before they hit their peak. And we're going down a path that requires competing against teams who have those players in place, while also requiring Allvin to out-do the 31 other GM's through methodical, process oriented, value-generating accretion.
There's only so much value that can be uncovered and I just simply don't see how this management group, with the cards they currently hold, can ever find enough to be an elite team for any period of time.