When the Dallas Stars went to the Stanley Cup Final a few years ago, it felt very much like a fluke.

First of all, it was in the bubble playoffs and half the teams they played during that run had serious injuries they could not overcome. Second, that was a team that finished fourth in the West – certainly not bad – but powered very much by unsustainably strong goaltending (a team mark of .924) and a great system. Their leading scorer that season was Tyler Seguin, with 50 points in 69 games. The next-closest guy, Jamie Benn, didn't even clear 40. Their leading scorer had just 20 goals.

Plus, many of the best players on that team – Seguin, Benn, Alexander Radulov, Joe Pavelski, Ben Bishop – were getting up there and had a lot of miles on the chassis, and while that great system allowed for ple