Turnover and the Stanley Cup Champions

Photo by George Bridges/MCT/MCT via Getty ImagesWe are now one year removed from the Capitals winning the Stanley Cup, and as we all know, they failed to repeat as champions in the season just completed. This is hardly surprising, since only one champion since 1998 repeated the feat – the Pittsburgh Penguins, who followed up their win in 2016 with another in 2017.

It seems unlikely that there is one single reason for this inability of champions to repeat on a more regular basis. General parity, injuries, playoff seeding and draws that beget difficult matchups, more recently the salary cap, and perhaps the salary cap’s offspring, roster turnover — all are factors behind why it’s so hard to go…