I agree that Akatieva is better technically then Shcherbakova at 14, but (and I believe the point that was being made) is that the talent 14 year old Shcherbakova was going up against at Senior Nationals, excluding Trusova, was not doing the quads/triple axels; Akatieva is going to be going up against skaters with pretty equal technical jumps. It would be more advantageous for Akatieva to acquire the quad flip and substitute out the quad salchow - the quad salchow is a low scoring jump even when well executed in terms of quads.
Out of curiosity, I pulled the BV from Shcherbakova's FS at Nationals, where she only did the quad lutz and quad flip once a piece, neither in combination and her BV is 81.88 - I subtracted out 1 spin to be equal elements vs. Akatieva's FS at JGP Poland, so Shcherbakova's FS BV less 1 spin I put at 78.68 vs. Akatieva's FS BV of 83.07 except Akatieva's FS had in a triple axel, a solo quad salchow and a quad toe repeated twice in combination one of which was back-loaded.
And if Shcherbakova is able to get back to 2020 Russian Nationals where she repeated the quad lutz in combination (and the Flip in combination would only be a half point less if she repeats that vs. the lutz - which I think will end up being her repeat as it seems to be her stronger quad now) her BV would be higher than Akatieva's doing less quads/triple axels.
So don't get me wrong, Akatieva is a strong competitor, she'll give the senior ladies a run for their money, but she's not exactly putting out anything that's not insurmountable by well-executed elements from Shcherbakova, who is the defending medalist from nationals last year with the least amount of quads/triple axels in her arsenal (though this is based off consideration that Shcherbakova gets her quad lutz back), especially if we anticipate some of the seniors having a PCS advantage over Akatieva.
JGP Poland FS Protocols
2021 Russian Nationals FS Protocols
2020 Russian Nationals FS Protocols
Well my question on that front is how does junior podium placements at senior Nationals, potentially winning, affect the team selection? Are the top 2 age-eligible finishers guaranteed a spot on the team or does everything get tossed to the coaches council?