«One medium-to-big-name player comes in, like
Brock Nelson,
Yanni Gourde, or
Scott Laughton, while they also bring in a depth D-man to shore up the back-end.
In this scenario (player-dependent), the team would be better-probably about as much better as the teams around them. That leaves them with a fighting chance, rather than an advantage. And with that, I suppose they could then start talking about how
Calle Jarnkrok is an upgrade, etc.
As much as I'd love for them to land Parayko, or
Dylan Cozens, or do something crazy like find a way to get
Mikko Rantanen with crazy retention, it's hard to see it happening. The salary cap is going up, but things are still tight, and their asset list is pretty short. (I can't shake the «But, boy, Vegas always seems to find a way» voice in the back of my head.)
The mandate for the front office is clear, thanks to the soft division I mentioned off the top. They're not surrounded by Olympic-level sprinters for once, so they need to get the best player or two they can-because they have a legitimate chance to outrun this somewhat flawed group around them.»