Winning the Stanley Cup is a challenging accomplishment. No Canadian-based franchise has won the Cup since 1993, the New York Rangers have one title since 1940, the Toronto Maple Leafs last won in 1967 and the League’s most successful franchise, the Montreal Canadiens, is in the longest drought (31 years) of their illustrious history.
However, there are still 11 teams chasing their first Stanley Cup title, including the Florida Panthers, who are back in the Stanley Cup Final for the second consecutive season. They will face off against the Edmonton Oilers, who last hoisted the silver chalice in 1990.
One of these lengthy championship droughts will end in the next two weeks, which means the Oilers either end three decades of suffering or the Panthers take themselves off this list. Considering that Florida is the only active team pursuing their first Stanley Cup victory, here’s the rundown of those other franchises who must wait until next season for their next shot.
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11. Seattle Kraken (2021) Three Seasons
The Seattle Kraken have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs once in their first three seasons. In 2023, they forced the Dallas Stars to Game 7 of the second round, just 60 minutes away from advancing to the Western Conference Final. Since their inception, they’ve had one winning season and are 107-112-27.
T9. Columbus Blues Jackets (2000) 24 Seasons
The Columbus Blue Jackets have advanced to the Stanley Cup Playoffs just six times in their history, winning a single series in 2019. That season, they finished 30 points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning in the standings. In one of the most shocking upsets ever, the Blue Jackets swept the favorites, who had won 62 games.
T9. Minnesota Wild (2000) 24 Seasons
The Minnesota Wild are a team that routinely qualifies for the playoffs but has yet to skate in the second round since 2014-15. Overall, their first Stanley Cup Playoff experience in 2003 retired Patrick Roy and ended in the Western Conference Final sweep. With the 14th-best record since their inception, the Wild don’t have a Stanley Cup championship to pair it with.
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8. Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets (1999) 25 Seasons
Many Winnipeg Jets fans refuse to acknowledge the franchise’s first 12 seasons as the Atlanta Thrashers. During their time in the South, the Thrashers only qualified for the playoffs once (2007), losing in the first round. Once they relocated, the Jets have had more success, with seven playoff appearances in 12 seasons, including a run to the Western Conference Final in 2019.
7. Nashville Predators (1998) 26 Seasons
Since joining the NHL in 1998, the Nashville Predators have a .560 points percentage. They have qualified for the postseason 16 times, losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2017 Stanley Cup Final. A year later, they won the Presidents’ Trophy as the best team in the NHL. Nashville has only advanced out of the second round on one occasion, with seven series wins.
6. Florida Panthers (1993) 31 Seasons
The Panthers just became the fourth team in the salary cap era to advance to consecutive Stanley Cup Finals, after losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2023. Within three seasons of their debut in 1993, Florida advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in 1996, when they lost to the Colorado Avalanche in four games. In 10 postseason appearances, 2024 will mark their third trip to the Final, where they are 1-8 in the championship series.
5. Ottawa Senators (1992) 32 Seasons
The Ottawa Senators debuted in 1993 and did not qualify for the playoffs during their first four seasons. However, from 1996 to 2008, they were in each postseason, advancing to the Eastern Conference Final in 2003 (as Presidents’ Trophy winners) and then the Stanley Cup Final in 2007. Since losing to the Anaheim Ducks in five games in the Final, Ottawa has won just three series, two of which came in 2017, and has yet to make the playoffs since that year.
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4. San Jose Sharks (1991) 33 Seasons
The San Jose Sharks debuted a season before the Senators and have become one of the more successful expansion teams from the early 1990s. Despite only two playoff appearances in the first six seasons, the Sharks played in the playoffs 19 times in the next 21 seasons, skating in the 2016 Stanley Cup Final. Despite their one chance at winning a title, San Jose played in the Western Conference Final five times and won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2009.
3. Winnipeg Jets/Arizona Coyotes (1979) 45 Seasons
The Arizona Coyotes are now considered a dormant franchise, but no one can ignore that the former Jets franchise, which became the Coyotes in 1996, has never reached the Stanley Cup Final. In 1979, Winnipeg left the WHA, where they were three-time league champions, and came to the NHL, where they won just two playoff series in 17 seasons. During 28 seasons in the desert, the Coyotes advanced to the Western Conference Final in 2012, the only time they won a playoff series. They’ve relocated to Utah for 2024-25.
T1. Vancouver Canucks (1970) 54 Seasons
The Vancouver Canucks became the third Canadian-based team in the NHL in 1970 and have played in the Stanley Cup Final three times, in 1982, 1994, and 2011. Overall, their record in the title series is 6-12. The Canucks have qualified for the playoffs 29 times, never going more than four seasons in between playoff appearances. With Presidents’ Trophy wins in 2011 and 2012, they are only the sixth franchise to be the best team in the NHL in back-to-back seasons since 1986.
T1. Buffalo Sabres (1970) 54 Seasons
Not only do the Buffalo Sabres share an NHL record with the Canucks for going 54 seasons without winning the Stanley Cup, they also haven’t qualified for the playoffs in 12 seasons, which is also an NHL record. Thus far, Buffalo has skated in the Stanley Cup Final twice, in 1975 and 1999, where the latter gave the League one of its most infamous moments when Dallas Stars forward Brett Hull scored the Cup-winning goal with his foot in the crease against Dominik Hasek and the Sabres. Despite many Hall of Famers throughout the decades, the Sabes haven’t been able to win it all.