The argument is they havent gotten over the hump and arent retaining talent nor bringing in as much as most
Sure they can definitely do it without changing up but why take that chance? Theres a new draft of picks every year and Carolina is good as producing talent
Some ( not just you, some Canes fans on here as well) seem have an underlying feeling that the Canes can win the Cup if they
just make the right moves and go all in. But each year 31 teams teams
don't get over the hump, regardless of what they do. And if they you think about it, hockey is a sport where, more than any other, random factors can play a major role in the outcome of any game. A rut in the ice, a weird bounce off the boards, 1/2" difference in where the puck hits the post, a ref's call, etc, etc.
Before the playoffs start, what are the highest odds of the best teams to win the Cup, maybe low 20%? That's the likely max a team can get up to regardless of TD acquisitions. I'd bet the Borg looks at how much an acquisition raises the odds of the Canes winning a Cup in a particular year and compares it against how much losing the assets required to get that player will potentially decrease the odds of winning a Cup in the future, maybe across multiple years. Futures can be used to upgrade the roster down the line, you might give up prospects that could have raised it a couple percentage points across multiple years, etc. The Borg does their math and decides accordingly. They decided it was worth it to pick up Guentzel this year. They're trying to bring him back but if their cost/ benefit model suggests that his demands would mean their assets would be better used elsewhere to increase their chances to win the Cup at some point in the future they have the discipline to pass. These aren't real numbers, just throwing them out there as an example to illustrate the principle: 6 shots with a 18% chance of winning the cup are better than 1 shot with a 21% chance and 5 with a 16% chance.
Also, keep in mind that even though they're spending to the cap, one contract can impact the team culture when it comes to salaries. Imo, Aho and Slavin (reportedly about to) accepted a team discount, presumably in large part to allow the team to maximize the talent on the ice elsewhere in order to win the Cup. How willing to you think others would be to do the same if the Canes went all "Leafs" on, say, a Guentzel contract?
tldr: there are a lot of moving pieces the Borg is considering that you may not even be aware of. They haven't been perfect (KK, cough, cough) but overall I like the franchises direction.