Every team that ever does anything in the playoffs always has a guy who comes from out of nowhere to put together an epic post season. It's usually the only performance of the like in his career.
I think the key is about managing personalities and character as much as it is about talent.
It's sort of the same thing as the qualification for Elite. What do we base that on? Success, mostly.
The point isn't that the Hawks or the Kings of the Penguins have elite talent, or that they have abundant high quality depth, it's that the talent and the depth are in lock step together working for the same outcome. It's why a group of otherwise talented individuals can never get it together when it matters, and one of the reasons big acquisitions at the deadline can be so disruptive to an otherwise adept team.
Shean Donovan's 2004 season was a season for the ages, as was Lance Bouma's season 3 years ago.The missing ingredient for those teams was a mix of talent and depth, but the reason they got where they did was the cohesion of the group.
It doesn't have to be all roses but it has to be an organizational, top down philosophy.
The oilers haven't displayed anything resembling that since Sather was there.
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