We need top-end talent. Desperately.
I think our depth looks better than i'd have expected a while back, given there are lots of options that can grow into good middle-6 players but in terms of bonafide top-line stars or #1 D's, there are none. Leonard is right there on the edge as a guy that can become a top-line winger but him carrying his own line straight after jumping to NHL propably isn't how you want to bring him in. Next season is going to be what it is again, there are no short-term fixes on top-end talent. They'll again be somewhere from really bad team (if goaltending and team D falters) to bubble-team, depending where their goaltending and defense brings them. Leonard joining will help, but as i said, it's a tough ask to ask him to carry his own line. Given where Ovechkin likely is in a year, there isn't much help on the top-line front for him. Strome was really good this season but if it's him and Leonard without a legit top-end talent next to them, they are going to have some really rough nights.
That said we haven't really even started any sort of rebuild yet, so i really like where we are already. It's been somewhere between hanging on to dear life for Playoff spot to re-tooling (selling at the deadlines), and it's worked wonders so far. But that only gets you so far, because it's really hard to find a legit top-line talent later in the drafts. I do like that they seem to have a clear plan of how to approach things. They do have lots of picks in the upcoming drafts too. If there is a clear #1 D or top-line forward available, use the cap space by all means. There just rarely is, so perhaps it'd wiser to use that draft capital to move up in drafts, where there might be some sliders. Eiserman would be a pretty good candidate this summer, along with Catton and Helenius, and perhaps one of the D's.
I'd like to see them identify their FA targets early and go after them in regards to top-end talent. There aren't many available and the ones that make it there, often have some huge red flags. For instance, i wouldn't want to go after Reinhart given that i'm not sold that he's the guy driving his line. He's an elite complementary player but we don't have that Barkov next to him, and we don't have the personnel to feed him 20+ PP goals on the Oshie spot. That contract is going to be an albatross as he's likely to dial back down to 40-40 guy. Worst-case scenario is that he's the next Huberdeau, for the next 7 years. I'd propably move towards the bigger fish that might end up there in 2025. Most of them will likely be re-signed but it's a really good class. Draisatl, Rantanen and Marner are all elite talent that can carry their own lines. Travis Konecny, Nikolaj Ehlers and Pavel Buchnevich are really great players too, and likely wouldn't command nearly as much as a guy like Reinhart would this summer. On defense there is Shea Theodore. He might be available in the summer already, if Vegas fall quickly. Ekblad i'm not sold on as #1 D but he might become available, depending what Panthers do with their D.
That doesn't mean they should sit on their cap space this summer. Use it. Don't go after the guys that will end up being the terrible contracts few years from now. Go after the guys that get left in the no-man's land after the first wave of signings. There are always some sort of really good players that don't get the term they want early and whose options are thin afterwards. Caps should be right there for them. If there is a guy like Toffoli, Arvidsson, Teravainen, DeBrusk, Perron, Tarasenko, Montour or someone like that who doesn't get the term they want then Caps can afford to overpay them for a short-term contract. There is definitely an opening left from Leonard not signing on the top-6. If nothing shakes out (which is doubtful) on deals like that, there is always the option to weaponize the cap space and take back some short-term bad contracts and add picks like that to use to acquire players and move up the draft. Quality over quantity should be their plan going forward.
