Why are we so afraid to try and compete next year? Why does this have to be a three-year proh-cess? The rebuild can be over tomorrow if we so choose. Looking at Kovalchuk is absolutely the right decision, obviously assuming his demands for term and AAV are reasonable.
I'm not sure it's a fear of competing, so much as a fear of having the illusion of competing.
I think people want to build it right, knowing that the depth, even after this draft, will likely not be enough for long-term success, even if almost every top prospect the Rangers have/acquire becomes an NHL'er. There are just too many holes.
So I think there's a concern that the Rangers can't help themselves if they're in a position to "compete" --- whether it be a trade, or cutting ice time for a young player, or living with their mistakes, etc. Now whether or not that would happen is unknown, but I think that's in people's heads.
I also think there's a belief, whether one agrees with it or not, that the Rangers need to get higher picks and stockpile young talent with higher percentages of being impact players. That's not to say that impact talent can't be found with lower picks, but I think people are at the point where they'd prefer to have the better odds.
As for me, I'm somewhat cautious about the first point --- the illusion of competing. This team has a lot of holes, and frankly, I don't think they're done trading veterans yet, which is likely to create more holes.