But why would Point take a bridge? What does he have to prove?
With others there is more of an argument for one (Marner proving he was not being propped up by JT for instance), but I don't see it with Point.
He will want 4-5 years minimum

I was thinking he would take it to help team for a couple more years before taking a long term deal, thats what most of our current roster has done before.

That is alot of risk for someone who has all the leverage no?

i agree, this is more of an ideal situation

By that same logic, couldn't we say that Point should prove that he wasn't just propped up by Kucherov? Kucherov had a career year and Point without Kucherov was a 60 point #2C (though he also had shutdown capabilities, and I suppose it's sort of rare to find a shutdown center who can also score a ton, but $6m seemed reasonable prior to this year). Kucherov had similar stats his first couple of years (60+ points as a second line winger), and got less than $5m. Point gets a bonus for being a center, having shutdown capabilities, and signing under a higher cap, but still, a $6m bridge would be within reason considering what our Lightning players have signed.

Point does still have things to prove. First of all, was his poor playoff performance this year (after an outstanding performance last year) a fluke? Compared to players like Cirelli, Cernak, Coburn, Miller, etc., Point was quite bad in the playoffs, and I don't think it's fair to dismiss that just because other star players were too. If Point's easy enough for a wildcard team to shut down, I have trouble sacrificing the future to pay him a massive contract. And second of all, can he maintain his production this season? What happens if we move him from the Kucherov line? Can he still play the shutdown role he so effectively played before he was paired with Kucherov? You may say that Point, given what he's already proven, has enough leverage that the organization can't push him into taking a bridge to further prove himself, but if he wants to be paid like a superstar, maintaining the same production he gave this year with or without Kucherov, perfecting his shutdown role, and exhibiting a dominant playoff performance will warrant a much higher salary than what he could get now.

Most of Point's issues you outlined here he has done before or his progression hasn't just shot up after being a small increase.
To augment the Kuch holding up point bit, JT has a history of getting wingers PAID, Kuch does not. Point also drives his line, which Marner does not. Point has had insane playoff performances, whereas Marner has had a good one, a decent one and a BAD one. Just look at some of these metrics: Here is Marner vs Point, and JT vs Kuch. All are on the same scale and so are directly comparable. JT drove the Marner line hard, whereas Point and Kuch fed off eachother