The field is set for the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, as the top 16 teams look to compete to lift Lord Stanley's Cup.
The Florida Panthers, the defending champs, are looking to make it back-to-back titles for the franchise after winning the organization's first-ever championship in 2024. The rest of the league is looking to snap a title-less drought, though the length of those droughts vary. Some teams have gone just a handful of years without hanging a new banner, while other teams are getting more desperate as they've failed to win it all for quite some time.
We're going to take a look at how long it's been since each playoff team last won the Stanley Cup, and how many total championships each side has.
1. Florida Panthers: Reigning Champs
The Florida Panthers are the defending champions, having won the 2024 Stanley Cup in a seven-game series against the Edmonton Oilers. That is their only Cup title in franchise history, though they've made three total appearances in the Stanley Cup final.
2. Vegas Golden Knights: 1 year (2023 title)
The Golden Knights only joined the NHL in 2017, but they've already been to two Stanley Cup Finals. They won the organization's lone championship in 2023 after defeating the Florida Panthers in a five-game series.
3. Colorado Avalanche: 2 years (2022 title)
The Colorado Avalanche are a perfect three-for-three in Stanley Cup Final appearances, having won as recently as 2022––a 4-2 series win against the Lightning––as well as 1996 and 2001.
4. Tampa Bay Lightning: 3 years (2021 title)
The Lightning won back-to-back Cups in 2020 and 2021, falling short of the three-peat in a loss to the Avalanche in 2022. Tampa Bay has three titles in franchise history, the consecutive wins in '20 and '21, as well as a championship in 2004.
5. St. Louis Blues: 5 years (2019 title)
The Blues have won just one title, their victory over the Boston Bruins in a six-game series in 2019. They've made four trips to the final in their history, including three straight from 1968 to '70, though none of those three appearances resulted in a win.
6. Washington Capitals: 6 years (2018 title)
Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals won the franchise's lone Stanley Cup in 2018, taking down the Golden Knights in a five-game series. Their only other Finals appearance came in 1998, when they were swept by the Detroit Red Wings.
7. Los Angeles Kings: 10 Years (2014 title)
The Kings won two Cups in a span of three years in 2012 and '14. In their most recent Cup win 11 years ago, they defeated the New York Rangers in a five-game series. Their only other appearance in the Stanley Cup final was back in 1993.
8. Carolina Hurricanes: 18 Years (2006 title)
The Hurricanes have made two Stanley Cup Final appearances in their history, one in 2006––in which they defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4–3, and another in '02, when they lost to the Detroit Red Wings. Of course, the captain of that Cup-winning squad in '06 was current 'Canes head coach Rod Brind'Amour.
9. New Jersey Devils: 21 years (2003 title)
The Devils have four appearances in the Stanley Cup final in their history, including three victories (1995, 2000 and 2003). Their most recent appearance came in 2012, when they lost to the Los Angeles Kings, 4–2.
10. Minnesota Wild: 24 Years (Never Won)
Since the team was founded ahead of the 2000-01 season, the Wild have never won a Stanley Cup, nor even made a Stanley Cup Final. Minnesota's deepest playoff run came back in 2003 when they reached the Conference Final, but have since struggled to get back to even that point.
11. Winnipeg Jets: 24 Years (Never Won)
The Jets have never won a Stanley Cup, dating back to the days when the organization was the Atlanta Thrashers. That means their drought extends to the year 2000. This is the franchise's ninth trip to the postseason, but they've never advanced past the Conference Finals, and haven't even made it that far since 2018.
12. Dallas Stars: 25 Years (1999 title)
The Stars have only won one Stanley Cup Final in franchise history, despite having made the title round five times, including two as the Minnesota North Stars. They won in '99 against the Buffalo Sabres in a six-game series, but lost in 2020, 2000, 1991 and 1981.
13. Montreal Canadiens: 31 Years (1993 title)
The Canadiens are the winningest team in NHL and Stanley Cup Final history, with 23 Cup titles to their name. It's been more than three decades since they won a championship, however, having not won since 1993. They remain the last Canadian team to have won a Stanley Cup, and have made 33 total Cup appearances.
14. Ottawa Senators: 32 Years (Never Won)
This iteration of the Ottawa Senators has never won a Stanley Cup, despite making 16 playoff appearances since the team was founded in 1992. The original Ottawa Senators won 11 championships before leaving the NHL in 1934. But since the current Senators started up in the 1992-93 season, the organization has yet to hang a banner and has made just one Stanley Cup final appearance, a 2007 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.
15. Edmonton Oilers: 34 Years (1990 title)
The Oilers narrowly missed out on snapping their Stanley Cup drought last season when they lost in a seven-game series to the Panthers. The team has won five Cups, but none since 1990 when they defeated the Boston Bruins in five games. With a team consisting of two of the greatest offensive superstars in recent memory, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the desire to hang a new banner is strong in Edmonton.
16. Toronto Maple Leafs: 57 Years (1967 title)
A drought spanning nearly six decades is particularly excruciating. The Leafs have made the playoffs 73 times in their existence and won 13 Stanley Cups, but haven't won a Cup in nearly 60 years. No team in the NHL has a longer Stanley Cup title drought, and there's certainly a sense of desperation from the fan base as they hope the streak comes to an end.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Listing the Stanley Cup Title Droughts for Every 2025 NHL Playoff Team.
