That's the thing... the core is not good enough to compete with the best teams.
Even though Bergevin went 4/4 this offseason (Toffoli, Anderson, Allen, Edmundson), this team is still a bubble playoff squad.
You need a few elite players. Otherwise, you're betting that everyone consistently plays at the height of their talent.
We had a bunch of career years a few years ago and we still missed the playoffs , without top talent you need a full team of overachievers ...good luck.