My hot take on the team. I don't expect any of Palat, Johnson or Killorn to waive so we are stuck with them. But we need to freshen up the forwards and bring up some Crunch kids. I would be willing to trade Erne and Paquette. I also would move Domingue while his value is at it's highest.
Erne had just 6 points in his last 38 games. Paquette had a good goal scoring year but his point totals aren't that great. Domingue had 21 wins but his save % and GAA were pretty average at best. We don't really have the hitters like Paquette or Erne in Syracuse but neither of those players did much difference in the playoffs. We can run a Volkov - Verheaghe - Stephens 4th line which would probably be better than Erne - Paquette - Callahan. We can also find a backup goalie who makes similar to Domingue for the same money, someone like Cam Ward for 1 year. We can use those 3 players as bait to dump Callahan or acquire picks that we can then attach to Callahan.
Cooper is an idiot when he thinks he's the smartest person in the room. He got lucky with the triplet line for one year and has been living off that and the fact Kucherov became an MVP player. He needs to hold players accountable for their play and demote them to where they belong. Gourde and Point had great chemistry but he broke them up, Palat sucks but him and Johnson do well together but he broke them up, he always is trying to find the next trio instead of just keeping a strong duo and switching in a new 3rd to find one that fits. This is how I would do my lines.
Gourde - Point - Kucherov
Killorn - Cirelli - Stamkos
Palat - Johnson - Joseph
Volkov - Verheaghe - Stephens
Kucherov can work with almost anyone. Stamkos needs to suck it up and move to the wing, keep the Killorn - Cirelli duo. Palat and Johnson go to the 3rd line where the were good before and where their current play is, Joseph can adapt to them and has speed like Johnson to make that line dangerous. The 4th line isn't a traditional one but 3 hungry kids with good two way games and energy should add another threat for us.