I mean, I literally referenced those San Jose teams as an example of what I meant, who made it to the Cup final against us in 2016.
I'm talking about a team who can finish at or near the top of the standings in the regular season, but for whatever reason, just doesn't seem to have that "it" factor when it comes to winning it all.
I know what you're talking about. I just don't agree with your labels or line of thinking.
A "paper tiger" is a team that doesn't meet expectations, relative to the strength of their top tier roster.
This is the Stars 3rd year in the playoffs with this new core. In year 1 they had 98 points and weren't expected to do much. In year 2 they had 108 points and lost in 6 games to the Cup champs in the 3rd round, which is a very successful season.
And this is year 3, where they took out the defending Champs and a very serious contender.
It's premature to talk about what they can't do. It's year 2 of their window to win it all, and they've won 5 of 6 series'. We can talk about this in like 4-5 years, if they fail to win.