Yes that is not a concern but protecting him exposes another piece the issue comes in Cap. Sure the bridge contract at 4 to 5 will keep him a couple more years but if he continues to improve that next contract is going to be 9 mil or more these GM's continue to just throw the wallet at players. At that point you also have Point looking for a raise so one of Kuch, Pointe or Sergi is lost then anyway. This is not the NFL where the cap just goes up crazy amounts.
As to Foote being a longshot most every player is a longshot. There was a time when it was in question if Sergi was going to make it. Its the longshots that you have to fill your roster with when you over commit large contracts that drags a team down. In a non cap league hell yes you keep the band together forever. But now we have Verhage, Stephens, Joseph, Volkov rotating thru the roster because there is not Cap to solidify the 3rd line. Now a couple of those guys deserve the roster spot one is a question mark and the last clearly has regressed to the point where he is a liability.