Parity!

Since the 2009 season, there have been four teams to win the Stanley Cup. The Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Boston Bruins. In these eight years, it is near evenly split between these four teams. The Kings won twice. The Penguins won twice. The Blackhawks have three Cups and the Bruins one, and it came when the Bruins blew it against the Blackhawks in the finals in 2013.

Sure there have been other teams that have contended in this time frame, like the Canucks, Sharks, Rangers, and Lightning. But the NHL definitely lumped together their winners. This in spite of the salary cap trying to correct this problem from the 90s and early 2000s when the Red Wings, Avalanche, and Devils racked up multiple championships apiece.

There are signs there may be a changing of who wins all the time though. The Blackhawks are still dangerous, but not quite where they were a few years ago. The Penguins are certainly loaded still. But the Kings and Bruins have fallen off the map by comparison. Both teams are fighting to even make the playoffs while their division rivals overtake them.

Both teams mismanaged their roster (obviously). Their “cores” still exist, but the depth that made them powerhouses dried up. The Bruins sent away young talent and defensive stalwarts (Tyler Seguin, Johnny Boychuk, Dougie Hamilton). The Kings signed veteran players who haven’t panned out and it’s prevented them from signing free agents (Dustin Brown, Marian Gaborik), and traded away young talent and picks for rentals (Roland McKeown for Kris Versteeg, Martin Jones and Colin Miller for Milan Lucic, Andrej Sekera).

The Kings also had the Slava Voynov debacle, the Jarret Stoll debacle, and the Mike Richards debacle. But hey, a second Cup! Fuck you Boston!

Of course, Boston got that revenge with the Lucic trade, which will probably be the downfall for the Kings for another decade or so. Hm. Shit.

Prediction: I get drunk because of the fucking Lucic trade again. Kings lose 3-1.