How many teams do you think have a legitimate chance at winning the Cup? I'd argue there's like 6 or 7.
In no particular order:
San Jose
Tampa Bay
Winnipeg
Toronto
Pittsburgh
Washington
Boston
Nashville
The other 23 teams are just mediocre, in my view.
At some point, things could potentially shift; one or two of these teams will likely fall out of this class by the trade deadline, and perhaps one or two stealth teams will join the pack of real contenders. But none of the teams that we have played against have any shot at becoming real contenders, in my view. And, so, it’s to be expected that we are well over .500, even
in a fairly poor stretch, given where we should be ranked relative to our competition.
the sharks have not proven worthy of being on that list
They absolutely have. They rank 4th in the NHL with 22 playoff wins over the past 3 seasons; all of which came without Erik Karlsson.
In my view, a (weak) argument could have been made for them as a contender before Karlsson joined the team, but with Karlsson on the team, they are undoubtedly in that elite group of legitimate contending teams. The underlying metrics behind their first 15 games with Karlsson only strengthen that position.