I hear ya, this is my internal struggle also.
The way I see it, once they fired JD and Gorton, to me, that signaled the end of the build and the start of "Win Now". In Win Now mode, by definition, you do not prioritize developing the kids and putting them in the best position to grow. Does that totally excuse the lack of goal scoring from 1OA, 2OA, and 18OA picks? No. However, to say it has nothing to do with it is also not correct. The truth lies somewhere in between.
Fact: If they had more PP time, and 1st or 2nd line minutes, they would probably score more.
Also Fact: The way this team is currently built, and given that they are aiming to win the cup this year, they are not being asked to carry Line 1 or 2 scoring burden.
Now, you can argue all day about this or that, but these are the facts.
At the end of the day, I come back to the fact that these are still 21 (LAF) and just turned 22 year old (Kakko) kids. We've seen more bursts of scoring from Chytil, but he's also older with more time. And he was the old whipping boy until he had those hot steaks. Now it's just Kak and Laf getting whipping boy treatment.
I agree that you want more from 1 and 2 overall picks.
But, at least for the next year or 2, there's still time, still room to grow and improve.
I think the prudent course of action is to be patient, take what you can get from them through the end of this season, and let's see what happens next year.
Personally, I hope all 3 kids remain on the team, at least into next year, and I hope they get expanded roles next year to see if they can grow. I am hoping being around guys like Vlad and Kane, will rub off and they learn a thing or 2 about goal scoring.