I'd like to add one thing to the whole 'team building' debate. The way you give Sid and Geno even more is to TRUST and PLAY the young defensemen.
I've been saying that I'd be perfectly happy to move Orpik and Niskanen and play Despres and Maatta, to wit many will say 'ZOMG, you can't do that'. BUT, that choice frees up almost 4 million dollars.
Are Maatta/Despres better than Nisky/Orpik? No. Are Maatta + Despres + 4 million in cap space allocated elsewhere (e.g., more weaponry for Sid/Geno) > Orpik + Nisky? In a word, yes, and it's not even close
Long story short, there's plenty of money to stack the **** out of the top nine, even with Sid and Geno provided (a) Ray Shero doesn't pay guys north of 2M to be non-descript (see Sutter, Brandon) and (b) the team plays the young guys and lets them learn on the job.
In THAT scenario, Shero's draft defensemen strategy makes perfect sense and then some.
BUT, at some point, the strategy became 'we need vets all over, so use the young guys as trade chips for the deadline'. IMO, that's a weaker short and long term strategy than the one articulated above.