Paid the price for the success.
Mike Richards cost them Simmonds and Schenn.
Jeff Carter cost them Johnson and a 1st in 2013
Sekeras cost them McKeown and a 1st in 2016
Lucic cost them a 1st in 2015, Jones, and Miller
Bishop cost them Cernak.
Combine that with some bad signings in Brown, Gaborik and you have what you have.
When you front load contracts to players and they decline as they age, then it's not likely a contending team wants to acquire them unless there is retention. But, some of those guys like Quick and Carter have term on their deals. Less incentive to take that on.
So, they are stuck. Since winning their first cup in 2012, how many new players have they acquired/developed who are now 25 and under (Their own 2012 picks would be 25 this year).
Doesn't help them that Vilardi has a bad back and missed basically all of last season. No idea where he is at now.
But, they did win 2 cups. So, if they have to deal with a few years of rebuilding, that's life. I'm sure we'd take it too.