Which NHL teams have the longest current Stanley Cup droughts?

We'd better not hear any Panthers fans complaining for at least a decade. The Panthers have won the last two Stanley Cups, and before that, they lost in the finals. That kind of success is rare in modern sports, and fans should just bask in the glory for a little while.

No, the Mammoth haven’t won a title recently. Yes, this listing is a pedantic technicality. When the Arizona Coyotes moved to Utah, the NHL decided to treat the team as if it were a new franchise. For now, the Coyotes are a defunct franchise, with the potential for the history to be returned to a relocation franchise/expansion franchise. Thus, technically, the Mammoth have only one season without a title, their first season.

The Golden Knights were so successful right out of the gate that the NHL tweaked the expansion rules for the next expansion team. Vegas made the finals in its inaugural season, but didn’t win. That being said, it didn’t take the franchise long to win a title. The Golden Knights haven’t even been around for a decade, so it will be a while until fans of the franchise can be considered unlucky or unfortunate.

The Avalanche found success early, right after the franchise moved from Quebec. After bottoming out, Colorado drafted well and managed to win a title in 2021-22. That being said, they only have one title in the Nathan MacKinnon era, which would, ultimately, feel a little lackluster.

For a team founded in the 1990s, the Lightning have had plenty of success. They won a title in 2003-04, and then won titles in both 2019-20 and 2020-21. They were also the team that lost to the Avalanche in the 2021-22 season. As such, while nobody would consider four seasons a proper drought, given the success of the Lightning within the last decade, fans shouldn’t be feeling restless just yet.

The Kraken are the team that suffered from the recalibration after the Golden Knights made the finals in their inaugural campaign. To be fair, Seattle also hasn’t been built as well as Vegas has. Seattle doesn’t have a title yet, but that’s fair. Expansion teams typically take a little while to get going.

It’s now been six seasons without a title for the Blues. Some younger fans might be getting a little irked, but older fans probably aren’t there just yet. After all, the title the Blues won in 2018-19 was the franchise’s first after being founded prior to the 1967-68 season. Now that was a drought.

Seven seasons is enough for a fan base to start feeling it, but of course, there is more to it than that with the Capitals. Alex Ovechkin is one of the best NHL players in history. He’s the NHL’s goal king, breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record once thought unbreakable. Ovechkin only has one Stanley Cup ring, and he’s now played seven more seasons without adding to that. If this title-free streak continues, Ovi will end up retiring with only one title.

Even though the Penguins have gone a year longer than the Capitals without a title, we don’t feel any sense of sympathy for them as we do with the Caps. The trio of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang has three rings. They’re all set on that front. However, fans of the Penguins had better brace themselves. It seems like it might be a while until the next title.

In fact, the Penguins might want to look to the Blackhawks for a sense of what is to come. Now that we are up to a decade, we’ve gotten to the point where these droughts are truly droughts. Chicago was one of the top teams in the NHL for years, winning three titles this millennium. For the last few years, they have been one of the worst teams in the NHL. Even with Conor Bedard around, we can’t imagine the Blackhawks being title contenders the next couple of years.

While the Kings haven’t bottomed out like the Blackhawks did, they haven’t gotten back over the hump. They won a couple of rings, including the franchise’s first since debuting in 1967, like the Blues, but haven’t been able to reload. Though Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty are still around. The era of these two Hall of Famers is close to over. Can the Kings get them another title before then?

The Bruins won the franchise’s first title in three decades in the 2010-11 season, and it seemed like more would come. You can never assume on that front, though. Yes, Boston returned to the finals twice since then, but neither resulted in a win. Now, one of the Original Six franchises is closing in on 15 seasons without a title.

Alright, 17 seasons without a title is enough for people to have some sympathy for Red Wings fans, right? Yes, between the 1994-95 and 2008-09 seasons, the Red Wings played in six Stanley Cup finals, winning four. Sure, they made the playoffs for 25 seasons in a row. They’ve now missed the playoffs for nine straight seasons and don’t have a Cup in 17. That’s a tough drought on two fronts!

You know you’ve been a hockey fan for a while when the Anaheim Ducks can have an 18-season Cup drought. It wasn’t all that long ago, they hadn’t even been around for 18 seasons, or so it feels. The Ducks have been mired in stalled rebuilds in recent years, so it seems likely the franchise will get to 20 years before the drought ends.

The Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup in 2005-06, the first season after the 2004-05 campaign was lost to the lockout. It was a pretty bleak time for the NHL, with the Canes getting a glimmer of hope. That’s it, though. They haven’t won a title since. Unlike some of these other teams, though, Carolina has been one of the best regular-season teams in the NHL for years. Of course, we have to stress “regular-season teams” here.

We’re into two decades of drought! Now these are some parched fan bases! Of course, before the drought, the Devils were in a period of abundance. They won three Cups in under a decade, the last coming in 2002-03. Of course, owing to the fact that the Devils of that era popularized the neutral-zone trap, fans who remember that time probably still don’t feel any sympathy.

The Wild have yet to win a Stanley Cup title. They have played 24 seasons, and they haven’t hoisted the Cup once. In fact, Minnesota has yet to play for the Cup. Though the franchise has had some good campaigns, they haven’t managed to get over the hump. Hey, the Blues were founded in 1967, and they didn’t win a Cup until 2019.

The Blue Jackets joined the NHL the same year as the Wild. They, too, have yet to win a Cup. However, Columbus has had a particularly dreary history. The Jackets have made the playoffs six times, and they have won two series total.

The Stars closed out the old millennium with a Cup in 1999, one that is still controversial in Buffalo, but that is it. Dallas returned to the finals the next season, but lost to the Devils. The Stars played the Lightning in the finals in the bubble in 2020, but fell short. Maybe the Stars were cursed by Y2K?

Okay, so the NHL has made the mistake of keeping the original Winnipeg Jets’ history with the Coyotes franchise. The current Jets continue the franchise history of the Atlanta Thrashers. Winnipeg’s hockey team should have the entire history of NHL hockey in the city attached to it, and the Thrashers should be a defunct franchise like the Cleveland Barons. Anyway, in Atlanta and in Winnipeg, this franchise hasn’t won anything.

The Predators have a longer drought than the Wild and Blue Jackets, but they can at least say they were contenders for a while. In fact, Nashville played for the title in the 2016-17 season. Alas, the Predators couldn’t win it all, and so the drought continued, and it continues to this day.

Sure, 30 seasons is three decades worth of campaigns. And yet, it feels almost quaint. Famously, when the Rangers won the Cup in 1994, it was the franchise’s first title since 1940. They went 54 years between titles. The Rangers have a long way to go to get near that kind of drought. Not that this isn’t a pretty rough drought for a team with a lot of hockey fans.

Okay, Habs fans have to be losing their mind over this drought, right? Imagine being a Montreal hockey fan under, say, 40 and hearing about the good old days. The Habs have won the Stanley Cup 24 times, a record. Montreal only won one title in the ‘90s and the ‘80s, but they won five in both the ‘60s and the ‘70s. This kind of drought is entirely new to the franchise.

The Senators and the Lightning joined the NHL in the 1992-93 season. Tampa has gone on to win three Cups. Ottawa is still waiting for its first. The Senators had their big swing at it. They made the finals in the 2006-07 season. Ottawa couldn’t make it happen, though, and it hasn’t been particularly close since.

The Sharks were the first team to join the NHL as an expansion franchise since 1979. They built themselves up to being one of the best teams in the Western Conference, though it took a while. Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau joined forces to make the Sharks formidable and to get them to the finals once. They didn’t win, and this drought has grown and grown. With young talent like Macklin Celebrini, there is a chance the Sharks could win that first Cup before this drought hits 40 seasons…maybe.

Not for a lack of trying, do the Oilers find themselves here. They were a force in the 1980s, winning four Cups. Also, let’s not forget the Cup they won at the end of the 1989-90 season. The Oilers have played the Panthers in the last two finals, but lost both times. Of course, people are thinking less about the franchise and more about Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Both are future Hall of Famers. McDavid is the best player of his generation. If he doesn’t get a Cup in his career, he will go down as the best hockey player to never win one.

Hey, at least Edmonton fans can point at fans in Calgary and say, “Our drought isn’t as long as yours!” Plus, the Flames only have a single Cup, which they won in 1989. They played for the Cup in 2004, but lost to the Lightning in seven games. That means Oilers fans can also taunt their rivals by saying they have played for three Cups since the last time the Flames got a chance.

Well, we’ve crossed four decades of waiting now. Sadly, the vast majority of Islanders fans don’t remember when this team was a juggernaut. They won four Stanley Cups in a row to open the 1980s. New York was one of the most impressive collections of talent in NHL history during that time. The Islanders played for the Cup in 1984, going for a five-peat, but lost to the Oilers. The torch was passed, and the Islanders have never been back.

Philadelphia was the first of the six expansion teams to join the Original Six in 1967 to win a title. The Flyers won back-to-back Cups, in fact, in 1974 and 1975. Things were looking good. The Flyers have had the most bites at the apple of any franchise since their last title. Philly has played in the Stanley Cup finals a whopping six times since 1975 without winning one. Due to that, the Flyers are on the verge of 50 seasons without a title, a massive drought.

Being a Canadian hockey team to have never won a Stanley Cup has to be tough. It gets even tougher as that drought goes on…and on…and on. The Canucks are now comfortably over 50 seasons without a Cup. They debuted in 1970 and have yet to win it all. Vancouver has played in three Stanley Cup finals, twice pushing the series to seven games. Both times they lost, and so Canucks fans must wait for that first title.

That goal in 1999 by Brett Hull probably stings more and more as this drought continues. The Sabres joined the NHL the same year as the Canucks, and they, too, do not have a title. Maybe joining the NHL in 1970 was a curse? Or maybe the Sabres have largely been mismanaged as a franchise? Case in point for the latter: The Sabres have missed the playoffs 14 seasons in a row, which is an NHL record.

And now, we arrive at the longest drought in the NHL. It is the longest drought in NHL history. The Maple Leafs, the hockey team in Canada’s biggest city, haven’t won a title in almost six decades. They won the last title of the Original Six era. Literally, to remember the Maple Leafs winning a title, you have to remember a time when there were six professional hockey teams. Lyndon Baines Johnson was President of the United States. The Beatles released “Sgt. Pepper’s” that year. This is an all-timer as far as title droughts go.