I sure hope you are wrong, because this would relegate the team to being a contender not the favorite for the cup. Do not get me wrong we will still have a strong core but the depth scoring will suffer and the team is not deep enough right now defensively. There is nothing that points to the CAP increasing for the next two years. Teams lost money last year and will lose a boatload this year. The new TV contracts and the expansion money will not touch the losses of the last two seasons.
Honestly I do not care if Goodrow walks I would like to keep Coleman but not at the expense of losing Gourde, Palat or Killorn. But like everyone I am going to be disappointed when some of these guys are traded. You just can not keep them all, it is my hope that we do not have a roster that has ABB, Colton, Joseph and another ELC forward all in one swoop. We are also going to have Foote learning as well as cost controlled third pair. Honestly we need to move a huge contract out to prevent gutting the depth scoring. But I doubt that happens.
Doubt that I'm that far off. Johnson and Killorn would've been gone this past off season if not for Kucherov's injury(at least Johnson, probably Killorn). Two of Johnson, Killorn and Palat are out, no real way and around it. Since Palat only has 1 year left and would bring a better return than Killorn, maybe they move him, but pretty sure it's going to be Killorn.
It would be nice to keep Coleman, but Goodrow will be far cheaper and has a similar skillset. Even if Tampa has Joseph, Colton and ABB in the starting lineup as regulars, the team will be fine. The primary core will be intact, and they'll still very likely be a top 5 offensive team, if not top 3. This is the way it has to be if keeping McD is a priority, which it should be. Unless JBB has already planned for, realistically, 2 competent low cost replacements for next year(one at 3LD, and one #7 type that could, in theory, play either side), then packaging McD to Seattle or trying to convince him to waive would be a huge mistake.
The cap could easily go up starting after the 21-22 season, and even if it's not until.the summer of 23, it still works for most of Tampa's contracts. They will be fine, and with their usual smart cap management and development of players, should be a strong contender for at least another 3-5 years minimum. What will cripple the team is keeping some of these older depth scorers that are overpaid(if just slightly in some cases) while continuing to stunt young players from getting much of an opportunity and then watching them leave and flourish elsewhere. Or some of your other ideas like shipping Foote off as a sweetener with Johnson or packaging Cirelli with him. Getting rid of the team's quality young players to keep players like Killorn around another year is a very bad long term move. Killorn is a good playoff guy but aside from basically one year, he's a .5 ppg player that is not realistically a vital piece to have to keep.
If Tampa can keep 2 of TJ, Killorn, Palat and Gourde, I'm sticking with Palat and Gourde unless they already know they can't keep Palat after next year. Then sure, get value for Palat and make the choice between Killorn and Coleman. In any case, Joseph and Colton will have bigger roles and likely either ABB, Smith, or Raddysh will see a more regular role as well.