That's a good question. With the level of talent in the current NHL I'm not sure if it would really be applicable these days if a team hadn't. In the West there's very little difference between the quality of any teams that made the playoffs (other than Dallas and Colorado, both weren't that great this year). Any other team has the potential to win after the trade deadline moves.
Also, if they hadn't changed the schedule to make so many divisional games Edmonton would have been higher than 8th.