I don't know how to appraise this team. I think they played better than we thought, but there's a reason we thought they'd be worse...they're not that good. They got where they got to because of the coach and his structure, and they should've made the playoffs. But I think the ceiling for a good coach with average players is a playoff bubble team to a first round exit. They just need better players.
As for the organization moving forward as a whole, was this season a step in the right direction? I don't think so. Before the season started, we had Hart in goal with Errson as a promising backup. We had Couturier and Atkison coming off injury and thought they could make the team better. We had Walker but didn't know he would do anything. We hoped Farabee and Frost would take that next step.
We ended up with Hart being detained and may never play in the NHL again. Errson was OK but showed his weaknesses. Fedotov came over (didn't expect that) and seemed like he didn't know how to play the position. Couturier and Atkison look like they are cooked. Walker played really well then got traded for a first round pick. Farabee wasn't very good but I thought Frost improved a little. Oh, and I almost forgot, the first key piece of the "future", the one we were all watching closely, the one who is probably the number one or two prospect in the NHL refuses to play for the team, and is traded before ever playing a game for us.
Some positives are
TK is a star (not a superstar or elite)
Tippet can dazzle
Cam York improved
Seeler was better than expected.
Poeling was better than expected.
Drysdale looks like he can play although he looked lost sometimes and got injured.
So overall, I don't think it was a good step in the right direction. I think they should be willing to sell just about anyone, and try to get assets for the draft. The rebuild started this season, but they didn't get too far.