the SC winners since 2008 I think everyone can agree were elite because they were way up in the standings both before and after their championships. but if we're looking at the last decade, you'd have to include NJ (03), TB (04) and Carolina (06) for the analysis as well.
The Devils I can see as being elite up to that point since they were a consistently excellent team since the mid-90's. but TB, Carolina and Anaheim kind of appeared suddenly, won a cup, then fell off the face of the earth soon after. this topic of elite is stupidly subjective, and yes winning a cup is probably the one biggest factor, but I think these 3 teams are evidence that it's not the only factor.
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