what capital are they supposed to use to get more help? THey are at the cap. Things are only getting worse in Edmonton. Let's assume they are going to Drai, McDavid and Bouchard. That cap hit alone is $35-38 on 3 players. Now include Nurse's contract and you have $45 mm on 4 players. You can't afford to back that up. Look at the LEafs. They have been there for 8 years now. All that money tied up in the big 4, they can't afford to support them. Edmonton is in the same boat. They wasted McDavid's prime and now they can't afford to build a team around him.
They have 1 more year of those "big" 3 making only 24.9m against the cap.
That's the last year they can realistically go for it, they need to get out of Campbell and Kane, They're stuck with Nurse nobody is taking that contract from them. They have 2 of their next 3 1st round picks likewise with 2nd rounds.
They can augment their team, but they need a GM who's career, wasn't built around inheriting a roster with Yzerman & Lidstrom and no salary cap to work in.