Tampa Bay, St. Louis, Boston, Washington...
Literally every current cup contender has went through a retooling phase within the last 5 years where they missed the playoffs or struggled to get into the playoffs and were round 1 exits.
The only team where an argument could be had that they've basically been contenders for a legit 6-7-8+ year stretch would be the Penguins. The one team in the league who had the best player in the game, and the 2nd best player in the game for the last 15 years. Both of which, played the most important position in hockey to fill. AND, they are one of the best drafting teams in the league, especially when it comes to finding NHL talent late in the draft.
The real truth is that very, very few teams in the league actually hold contender status for longer than a handful of years. In a salary cap world it is incredibly difficult to maintain the right combination of high end skill and quality depth without running into significant cap issues after just a couple years with such a roster. The teams with the very best drafting ability are able to push those years longer than others, and in the Penguins case having the best player to play the game in a long time really helps. But otherwise, if your team gets 4 years in a row of being a legit contender(Division winner/Top 5 team in the league sort) and can win a cup in those few years... That's about as good a run as you can hope for.
Literally every current cup contender has went through a retooling phase within the last 5 years where they missed the playoffs or struggled to get into the playoffs and were round 1 exits.
The only team where an argument could be had that they've basically been contenders for a legit 6-7-8+ year stretch would be the Penguins. The one team in the league who had the best player in the game, and the 2nd best player in the game for the last 15 years. Both of which, played the most important position in hockey to fill. AND, they are one of the best drafting teams in the league, especially when it comes to finding NHL talent late in the draft.
The real truth is that very, very few teams in the league actually hold contender status for longer than a handful of years. In a salary cap world it is incredibly difficult to maintain the right combination of high end skill and quality depth without running into significant cap issues after just a couple years with such a roster. The teams with the very best drafting ability are able to push those years longer than others, and in the Penguins case having the best player to play the game in a long time really helps. But otherwise, if your team gets 4 years in a row of being a legit contender(Division winner/Top 5 team in the league sort) and can win a cup in those few years... That's about as good a run as you can hope for.