Correct. You either go full rebuild or you don't. No dancing in the middle, which is what Hextall did. By year 2 of his tenure, I was confused on what he was doing - he wanted the best of both worlds and the Flyers had a clear identity crisis.
At the end of losing seasons they were trying to win meaningless games, instead of be content with better draft placement. At the very least, Voracek and Simmonds should have been traded for high-end picks, prospects and youth - perhaps even Giroux, if he then said he didn't want to be part of a rebuild.
When you faux rebuild, you end up with picks like Sanheim, Provorov, Patrick and Konecny - who are real nice players, especially Provorov. But when you legit rebuild, you end up with picks like Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, McDavid, Matthews, Eichel, Laine, Dahlin, etc. Big difference. The worst thing to do if half-play a rebuild... you only confuse your team, fans and media. That's what Hextall did. No wonder why Comcast became impatient - they're saying, "how could you perform like this with Giroux, Voracek, Simmonds, Couturier, Ghost, Provorov and JVR on the team?" Also, "why haven't you made ONE impact trade in close to five years?"