there is like 4 people in the league at that level....
There are others you can throw in that category in terms of being good enough to build around to compete but the Sharks just don't have that. The closest they have is an unreliable Erik Karlsson, Tomas Hertl, and Timo Meier. That sort of core would need to go the Blues model to have a prayer and with so much dead money already committed, the odds of them building such a team are next to none. By the time the dead money expires, Meier may be gone, Hertl will be in decline, and Karlsson will be expiring as well. We're talking about a complete overhaul of the team's current core by then. I don't see what good can come of pretending like a culture change is going to do anything. They lack talent. Talent that this team is going to get predominantly through the draft. The draft is what they need to make their primary focus to have a hope of having a foundation of a team when this current iteration is done. These draft picks will need development which I think they've done a commendable job of addressing thus far but it's still a matter of results after a certain amount of time so we'll see.
I just think that the team needs to spend its resources maximizing their pick and prospect collection rather than waiting out underwater contracts. This team needs to start on the right path now to have a chance at a competitive team in five or six years. Using cap space for depth filler in the short term is going to be a waste even if they get the most out of guys like Kunin, Sturm, Benning, and the rest.