[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

2007 Anaheim Ducks
2008 Detroit Red Wings
2009 Pittsburgh Penguins
2010 Chicago Blackhawks
2011 Boston Bruins
2012 Los Angeles Kings
2013 Chicago Blackhawks

Those are your elite teams of the last decade. Elite teams win Cups, good teams win games.

The Canucks while good, were only truly great in one season (2011). Then the playoff debacles the following two seasons prevented them from ever taking the step to being truly elite.

If you say the Canucks are elite, then you would also have to build a similar argument for the Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks, Washington Capitals, and Buffalo Sabres as elite. All have had decent playoff runs, Conference titles, and no cups since the lockout.

I would say those teams are elite. I do not agree that winning the cup is the minimum requirement to be an elite team. To me the elite teams are the ones who are consistently at the top of the league and considered by many to be tre cup contenders. The Pens have only won 1 cup in the Crosby era and have not made the finals since then but they have been elite for 6 years IMO. Vancouver was an elite team for much of the past 5 years but the roster has aged and has been managed poorly from a prospect/development perspective that they are no longer a top contender. Some may call them a bubble team but for now I think they are a 4-6 seed in the west and a 1st/2nd round playoff team and no longer elite/contender