1. Sign a top 6 winger
This could also work if we re-sign Nuge, before I go further, if we do sign one, I doubt it would be Landeskog since they'd be off a playoff run, but Landeskog would make the most sense, he can play an everything role, if we could get him on a raise for around 7 mil, that would be a W. Other players that could also fit the role could be Brandon Saad, Jaden Schwartz, Zach Hyman, Blake Coleman or Tomas Tatar
2. Nugent-Hopkins and Larsson re-sign for Cheap
If we could get Landeskog (I doubt it) for around 7 mil, and then give Nuge and Larsson cheaper contracts, that could save A LOT of cap space. If we could sign Larsson to around 3.75 mil for 3 or 4 years, and RNH for under 5.5 mil, that could make some more wiggle room.
3. Koskinen bought out or traded and we get a solid backup/starter
Buying out Mikko wouldn't be a bad idea, or we could just get something out of him and potentially get a better backup or a starter. Either Korpisalo, or maybe Merzlinkins from CBJ would be our best bet, but there is also a bid going for Darcy Kuemper in Arizona, so he could be an option B, but if we were to trade him, it would probably be to CBJ
4. Getting a defenceman who can play top 4 minutes with Larsson
Assuming that Klefbom isn't ready for the start of the season, we'll need a player who can play top 4 on a pair with Larsson, since Lagesson, Jones, Koekkoek, Kulikov, all of those guys don't fit the role, with the exception of Russel, I believe he and Larsson have good chemistry together from the past, but I think he's a better fit on the 3rd pair. If we could sign someone who can play top 4 minutes, get shuffled around the lineup, and can play a shutdown and offensive role, that would be a big piece to be a contender, someone like Martinez, Oleksiak, or maybe even Ryan Murray.
5. The youth steps up
I believe that McLeod and Bouchard are regulars now, and if Dylan Holloway can get into the lineup and contribute, like Makar in Colorado, Kaprizov in Minnesota, or Pettersson a few years ago in Vancouver, and I'm NOT SAYING THEY WILL BE AS GOOD AS THESE GUYS RIGHT AWAY.
6. An actually GOOD 3rd line right-handed center
Yes, Turris was a total failure this season, 2 goals, 5 points, and I'm pretty sure one of the goals was by accident, and couldn't win a face-off to save his life. We need to find ANOTHER right-handed center who can ACTUALLY WIN FACE-OFFS and can SCORE. Gaetan Haas, he has been good for us this year, right-handed, he is on the smaller side, he can occasionally score and can more importantly, WIN FACE-OFFS, but we need one more... and there are options via free agency, there's a risky option in Derek Ryan, as he's getting up there in age, there's Tyler Bozak, which would cost a bit, there's a Sam Gagner option, that i doubt will happen, there's Jason Spezza, who I think stays with Toronto, and there's Travis Zajac. Honestly to narrow it down, I'd just make it either Spezza or Bozak.
7. Adding to out bottom 6
One thing that we didn't get much of for the final half of the season last year was depth scoring. I can honestly see either Barclay Goodrow or Joel Armia on a line with McLeod and Archibald/Holloway and could SERIOUSLY make an impact on the ENTIRE team