Entitlement? The guy was 24 years old and just destroyed a league better than the AHL. We had no idea what we had in Kucherov on the other hand. The guy was nothing more than a prospect with a chip on his shoulder. What kind of sales pitch would it be if the Angels told Ohtani, who was the best non-MLB player in the world, "We know how good you are. But we want you to start in AAA. But wait! Wait! Then you're gonna be a featured member of our team!" No dude. Stop. Players are perfectly capable of developing outside of the AHL and North America itself. The fact that Gusev did so to such a degree is what made himself special in the first place. I know Ohtani is not the best comparison but I know the guy wasn't gonna come from the other side of the world for bus rides in the minors. When we didn't come to an agreement, Gusev hedged his bets on himself, went back and did EVEN BETTER.... and now the guy is worth even more than what he would have been years ago. For as much as an organization may not like it, when players prove themselves to that level you have to treat them differently. For a guy that played with the likes of Fedorov I would've thought Yzerman knew that and understood that. Dude went straight to the Wings and NEVER looked back. Amazing how he was good enough eh?
For as long as Yzerman tells the Gusev's of the world "Yeah so you're gonna have to play in Grand Rapids first" he's gonna get the finger. If the guy pulls a Panarin we're gonna look like total idiots. If he pulls a Plotnikov not a soul on earth is gonna be crying about it, they'll be surprised because he's better than Plotnikov could have ever hoped to be.
Re: the bold part: You have to consider draft position (= scouting reports), the time line and some other factors though. I'll try:
Kucherov was a 2nd round pick in 2011 after one season in the KHL. He played 2011-12 in the KHL, then 2012-13 in the QMJHL and in 2013-14 he played in the AHL. After 17 games he 'earned' a call-up and ultimately became a regular on the Lightning lineup (on the bottom-6 mind you). It wasn't until 2014-15 when he eventually fought his way onto our top-6 and became part of the notorious Triplets / TKO line.
Gusev was a 7th round pick in 2012 after two seasons in the KHL. He didn't really break out as a star in the KHL until maybe 2015/2016. Four to five years later. A small kid with lots of skill and potential, but also with lots of open questions surrounding him. Efforts by the Lightning to bring him over to North America failed. In 2016-17 he broke the point-per-game plateau in the KHL and established himself as one of the best active players outside of the NHL. That's also when Yzerman & Co. again failed to lure him over to NA and eventually traded him to Vegas to keep their actual roster intact during the expansion draft.
Even with Vegas holding his rights he stayed in Russia until April 14, 2019 - so not even three months ago - when Vegas signed him to a 1-year ELC. In their seven playoff games he did not dress though.
Judging from draft position alone, Kucherov was easily the safer bet between the two. Kucherov also almost immediately came over to NA and fought his way thru the QMJHL to the AHL and eventually to the NHL and then up the lineup. Gusev never showed that kind of determination or even willingness until a mere three months ago. And even then he was a big enough question mark for Vegas to not play in a single game for them.