It will catch up to them.....
they have cernak, sergashev, and Cerelli to sign next season. They have 9 slots and $&M+ cap raise to do it.
Sure--they get Seattle to take one of those 4 $5M forwards from them and use that many on one of the 3 young kids after doing a LeBlanc deal and they trade another then they could get better.
The cap crunch means they couldnt resign players and had to trade players. They got a patsy GM who gave up a 1st.
Even if it does, I don't think it really hurts them all that badly.
The thing about having players like Point, Kucherov and Hedman is that that they elevate everyone around them. The team simply won't ever be middling with those 3 talents.
The only way I see Tampa ever becoming if San Jose East (sorry sharks fans, nothing personal) is if they lose their ability to restock the pipeline. If they have a few really bad drafts in a row, that's when they could see a slight dive.
Otherwise, I just don't see them finishing short of a division spot within the next 5 years. I expect them to become a dynasty here soon, with multiple championships in that 5 year span.
I am glad we are not in the Atlantic because I could see TB, Toronto and Boston all finishing top 5 in the league repeatedly over the next 5 years.