Maybe but who do they knock out of the playoffs? Zero chance they will be better than Carolina, Rangers or Jersey any time soon. And with Buffalo, Ottawa and Detroit on the way up, can they hold those teams off? Or pass the Islanders and Pens? I would think their best chance is next season for 1 last ride and then you have to think rebuild.

Buffalo has found their goalie (Devon Levi). However other teams could figure out how to score on him quickly and neither Comrie or UPL were that good. Detroit and Ottawa have question marks in net. Kuemper is a solid goaltender. The Caps had a lot of injuries last season. If healthy, they should make the playoffs. The Islanders are built for the playoffs, but I think they'll again have trouble making the playoffs and it'll come down to the final few games to determine their fate (Anders Lee is the type of player that could fall off a cliff as early as next season, Bo Horvat has not worked out so far, Besides Barzal and Horvat most of their forwards are 30+ (although mostly early 30s), a long term injury to Pelech could screw their season) and the Pens will probably just miss the playoffs once again (Inconsistent goaltending once again, poor special teams again, poor defence again, useless bottom 6 again, the Top 6 plays great but their efforts are wasted once again).

The top 6 isn't getting any longer.