In my opinion, our single biggest organization level mistake over the last 3-4 seasons has been in basically having zero roster spots available that weren't earmarked for a shitty "veteran" and having our kids need to kick the fucking door in and be significantly better than any random piece of shit we signed to a min deal or fucking PTO, to get them ice.
Player progression doesn't work like that and if your give a fuck level about winning a random tuesday game in fucking November is that high, then you're never going to know what's in your system. Give Robbie a few months to stick, give Gregor a shot to stick, give Cowan however many games he can get before we have to send him back to junior, etc. It's not difficult to find random Lafferty's for fuck all off the waiver wire or on the trade market for cheap throughout the season. We seemed to worry way too much about having our random scrubs locked in for October (won't somebody think about the penalty kill!!!) and not nearly worried enough about 3C's, Muzzin replacements, and top 6 wingers.
I would legit go pants free for a week if they unloaded dead weight veterans and gave the kids a shot. It would be a bit of a bumpier ride in the 1st half of the season, but with the potential for an actual payoff.