Tavares isn't a core piece, he's only paid like one. We're probably better off without him, but again he's re-signing cheap. Said it before, I'll say it again. I have a family member that worked with his wife, he intends to finish his career here and raise his kids here, he has no interest in signing anywhere else. He'll probably be back on a cheap deal, I'm thinking 6Mx3.
If Marner walks, so be it, that's 11M in free cap to balance out the roster and look for a top pairing D-man (Ekblad UFA)
Cowan will be a good middle 6 player at some point, I think Danford will be a fine bottom pairing guy at some point too. Not every prospect is going to be a superstar and that's fine.
Tanev is a great #2 D-man, I'd argue McCabe is a borderline #2 as well. Bonehead play last night on the PK but usually one of our best defenders.
The pick won't be top 10, we got Nylander + Matthews locked up.
Cap is going up, we got money coming off the books we'll be alright. If the core guys were 30+ I might have agreed with you, Matthews/Nylander are in their prime.
What we need to do this off-season, try and move Rielly for a more reliable defender if possible, sign JT cheap as a depth C + try and sign Ekblad.
Oh and 2 years ago Florida unloaded 3 future 1st round picks and almost all their assets, guess what ? They were still able to build a championship team. We'll be ok.