Of course; however, I'm not one to bring it up in an argument about who is good currently because it has zero relevance. I'm not discrediting the Cups and I'm the last person that needs to be reminded about how special and amazing those years were: they are just ancient history when talking about what teams are good right now. Those two Cups didn't stop an expansion team from sweeping the Kings while holding them to three goals in four games.
I dunno, I think it does have some relevance. Winning cups in the cap world is different, and there's a couple ways to go about doing it. The way both the Kings (and Chicago, more or less) did it was to create a core of top players through drafting and trades, who all were of a somewhat similar age and who were designed to grow together and peak at the same time. It worked great for both teams, but there are two major drawbacks.
1. That core ages together, and since they are similar ages their production as a whole will fall off in general. They'll be exceptions, but that's just a fact of life in the NHL.
2. That core will need to be signed to long contracts to keep their cap hits manageable, and since they will all be UFA age or close to it after winning cups it's going to be expensive. This is obviously risky, but you go for it while you can.
To win, your best bet is to sacrifice those future assets to get you over the hump, and most teams do that. But as guys move on like Mitchell, Regehr, or fall off like Greene and Stoll, you can't really replace them, the cap isn't designed that way. Getting equivalent players without giving up assets is going to be far more expensive, and with a good team it isn't affordable.
So really, the Kings getting swept is highly influenced by their loading up to make three runs where they were clear contenders. When the team was loaded, they could roll out a hobbled Greene and Jeff Schultz in place of Mitchell and Regehr and still win a series. They had the all around talent to absorb that. The current team is not at the point of their trajectory where they can absorb that.
Pittsburgh did it differently, building around two generational players and then trying to strike lightning with the supporting cast. They certainly weren't considered top contenders every year, but it works for short bursts when things fall into place.
