The better question is, is 26th the lowest we'll finish in the next 10 years. We could trade for a draft pick or win a lottery and pick high and it is not really relevant to what you're asking, which is, is this the worst team we'll see for the next 10 years.
To answer your question, yes, probably. As you point out, we have a young core that should be around for the next decade, or close to it, and should improve. And teams that are bad now are really bad because of the importance of young players on ELCs. We might have some middling years but not bottom 5 bad years. Hell, this year shouldn't have even been this bad but for historically putrid goaltending.
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