DannyGallivan
Your world frightens and confuses me
More like the dome of mediocrity. Nashville and Winnipeg are the only good teams in the division and they were more second tier contenders compared to Washington/Pitt/Tampa. Teams like Minnesota, St Louis, Colorado, Dallas are not a threat for anything.
Interesting. Few people picked Washington to make it out of the first round, Tampa Bay finished behind both Winnipeg and Nashville in the regular season, and Pittsburgh showed just how iffy there team defense can be.
I think change comes slowly to some fans. They just get "used" to seeing teams like Winnipeg and Nashville in the NHL's "developing world", and fail to notice when they've arrived and have become true first tier contenders. Other than the three Eastern teams you've mentioned and perhaps the Bruins, there's nothing in the East that's particularly scary.
If anything, Washington was a second tier contender that outlasted the competition when it counted the most. Full marks to them. That means that it's still relatively wide-open next year. Given the current rosters (which will likely be adjusted before the playoffs), I'd take either the Jets or the Preds over anybody in the East in 2019. The proof will be next year.