Even without the DeMelo move this team is scary good. The forward depth is insane especially down the middle.

Stephans been better than Verhaeghe. Put him on the third line.

Tampa does need a RD .. then they scary good .. one of HUGE reasons we lost to Columbus last year was Hedmen injury .. he missed last half dozen of regular season last year .. tried to play Games 1 and 2 and wasn't healthy and sucked .. and he missed games 3 and 4 injured of the sweep .. if Hedmen goes down we in TROUBLE .. so another RD to me is essential .. TJ for Harmonic is my orgasm.

Your point on "Tampa scary good up the middle.. " is spot on .. Point Cirelli Colemen and Paquette are FOUR solid 2 way centers .. best in NHL by far.. who also will have over 220 combined points this year .. Paquette 25 Coleman 45 Cirelli 60 and Point 85 .. for a good team defense centers are critical..

Tampa is likely set with the roster they have. I wouldn't have minded DeMelo, but again, Tampa basically never gives up anything for pure rentals, so it's not surprising. I think Tampa could've of beaten Winnipeg's offer of just a 3rd though. In any case, Tampa is fine on defense, especially once McD and Rutta return here soon.

If Tampa was going to try for a RD with term, the likely target would be Martinez from L.A., but there's no feasible way they could afford his 4 million cap hit next year. So unless L.A. retained 50%, which maybe lets Tampa make things work, it's doubtful.

To be honest I want to see Coleman on the top six.

Also, now that we got a new (potential) winger, I'd also like to see this lineup:

Coleman - Point - Kucherov (Coleman is a nasty shooter, physical and fast Would complement the line so well)
Killorn - Cirelli - Stamkos (which was crazy good when they played together)
Palat - Johnson - Gourde (Good, speedy, feisty 3rd line with a good scoring upside. Gourde with better linemates will get more going. Palat drags the line)
Maroon - Paquette - Stephens (Very solid shutdown 4th line)

I'm a fan of the insane 91-21-86 first line, but having Stamkos on the 2nd line gives a whole another depth to this team.
And, for the season Coleman was having while on a dreadful Devils team, giving him some top minutes would get him producing like crazy IMO