I get why people say that, and I don't even think they're necessarily wrong, but I think the truth has a little more nuance than that. The Golden Knights beat the Avalanche, who were most certainly a good team. The Canadiens went on to beat both them and the Leafs, who were also a good team, though always a bit hapless in the playoffs.
I was being a little bit of a devil's advocate in that last post, as I made it sound like I think the Canadiens were a good team that year. They weren't, I'm fully aware of that, they just had a hot goalie and got some puck luck. That's sort of my point, though. Covid, as an excuse, doesn't hold weight because the way those playoffs played out wasn't an aberration, it was the norm. It happens every couple of years that a Cinderella team goes far in the playoffs.
People say the best team won most years, but I think that's almost never true. The playoffs are short enough that usually a skilled team (but not necessarily the best team) that has a couple key players get hot ends up winning, and unskilled teams who have a goalie get hot can go far. So why bother with the asterisk? The result was no different than any other year.