[PlayfulGenius]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Hard to say really if they will ever become an elite team. A few years ago when the Avs were in the playoffs they appeared to be heading in the right direction and today they are a disaster. Every year there's a team like the Avalanche, Flames, Panthers, etc that break a slump of being out of the playoffs but it's hard to climb that hump and get into the group of perennial playoff teams like the Penguins, Hawks, Blues, Ducks, Rangers, Capitals, Wild, Sharks, etc. The fact is that most of the teams make the playoffs annually means there's really only room for a few teams to get their foot in the door and stay there. Most teams in the Flames situation can never make that move which is why it's typically the same teams in the playoffs every year.

Due to the draft rules, and players aging, there does exist a constant revolving door of successful teams, it's just on a slow timeline ... when the Avs were dominate, the Hawks were a bottom feeder...those roles will reverse again.