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Originally Posted by 1qqaaz
Couldn't disagree more.
Chances of winning the cup are the highest when you have a long window. To have a long window, you need to have a good track record of drafting and developing prospects.
The last 10 cup winners were all consistently in the playoffs. It's about the number of stabs - not the quality of the stabs. St. Louis, Boston, Washington, Pittsburgh all have made the playoffs in at least 9 of the past 10 years (if I'm not mistaken). Chicago had a decade long streak of making the playoffs as well. Even the Kings had a good run. San Jose and Nashville are really the only exceptions, and even they both made it to the finals eventually.
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All those teams you mentioned also had a near decade of mediocrity (there's a reason why the Hawks got Kane and Toews, and Penguins Crosby and Malkin) with the two exceptions San Jose and Nashville as you mentioned. Same for Capitals with Overchin and Boston was very mediocre for a while. So has the Blues (missing 5 of 6 years before their playoff streak). Kings missed the playoffs 6 years in a row before their run.
The Flames are likely to be consistently in the playoffs (should have made it the last Gulutzan year but it gave us Tkachuk), and are just at the start of this run. People forget it takes time.