As of the 2026 season, 10 of the NHL’s 32 franchises have never won a Stanley Cup — meaning roughly 3 in 10 teams in the league are still chasing their first championship. Below is the full list, along with how close each team has actually come.
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Which NHL Teams Have Never Won the Stanley Cup?
| Team |
Joined NHL |
Furthest Result |
Cup Final Appearances |
Total Playoff Appearances |
| Buffalo Sabres |
1970 |
Stanley Cup Final |
2 (1975, 1999) |
30 |
| Vancouver Canucks |
1970 |
Stanley Cup Final |
3 (1982, 1994, 2011) |
29 |
| San Jose Sharks |
1991 |
Stanley Cup Final |
1 (2016) |
21 |
| Ottawa Senators |
1992 |
Stanley Cup Final |
1 (2007) |
18 |
| Nashville Predators |
1998 |
Stanley Cup Final |
1 (2017) |
16 |
| Minnesota Wild |
2000 |
Conference Final |
0 |
15 |
| Columbus Blue Jackets |
2000 |
Second round |
0 |
6 |
| Winnipeg Jets |
2011 (relocated) |
Conference Final |
0 |
9 |
| Seattle Kraken |
2021 |
Second round |
0 |
1 |
| Utah Mammoth |
2024 (relocated) |
Conference Final |
0 |
1 |
Three of these 10 franchises are Canadian: the Vancouver Canucks, Ottawa Senators, and Winnipeg Jets — meaning no Canadian-based team has won the Stanley Cup since the Montreal Canadiens did in 1993, despite several coming close since.
Teams That Reached the Final and Lost
Five of the 10 teams above have actually played for the Cup, only to fall short:
- Buffalo Sabres — reached the Final twice: a loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in 1975, and a controversial Game 6 loss to the Dallas Stars in 1999 that’s still debated by Sabres fans due to a disputed overtime winner. Notably, Buffalo ended an NHL-record 14-year playoff drought by qualifying for the 2026 postseason, snapping a stretch that had stood as the longest active drought in the league.
- Vancouver Canucks — the only team on this list to reach the Final three times: swept by the New York Islanders in 1982, a Game 7 loss to the New York Rangers in 1994, and another Game 7 loss to the Boston Bruins in 2011. The Canucks also strung together strong regular seasons in the late 2000s and early 2010s, including multiple Presidents’ Trophy-calibre campaigns, without ever finishing the job.
- San Jose Sharks — one of the league’s most consistent regular-season teams for nearly a decade, with seven 100-point seasons between 2003-04 and 2013-14, but the Sharks have reached the conference final four times and the Cup Final only once, losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games in 2016. They remain the only California-based NHL team to have never won a championship (both the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks have).
- Ottawa Senators — the modern Senators (founded 1992) put together an 11-season consecutive playoff streak from 1996-97 through 2007-08 and have reached the conference final three times, but their only trip to the Cup Final came in 2006-07, when they lost to the Anaheim Ducks.
- Nashville Predators — Nashville Predators — made a surprise run to the 2017 Cup Final on the back of a first-round sweep of the top-seeded Chicago Blackhawks (the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed, though not that year’s Presidents’ Trophy winner), ultimately losing to the defending-champion Pittsburgh Penguins, who went on to become back-to-back champions for the first time since the 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings. It remains the franchise’s only Final appearance in its history.
Has Any NHL Team Never Been to the Stanley Cup Final?
Yes — five of the 10 teams without a championship have never even reached the Stanley Cup Final, let alone won it:
- Minnesota Wild — reached the conference final in just their third season (2002-03), but were swept by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and haven’t been back since. Their best regular season came in 2021-22, with 113 points, though it didn’t translate to a deep playoff run.
- Columbus Blue Jackets — didn’t qualify for the playoffs until their eighth season (2008-09), and have advanced past the first round only once, sweeping the heavily favoured Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019. That remains the franchise’s only trip to the second round.
- Winnipeg Jets — the current franchise (relocated from Atlanta in 2011) has made the playoffs eight times, including a run to the 2018 conference final where they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights (who went on to lose the Final that year to the Washington Capitals), but has never reached the Cup Final itself. The Atlanta Thrashers era before the move made the playoffs just once in 11 seasons.
- Seattle Kraken — after a rough inaugural 2021-22 season (37-46-6, missing the playoffs entirely), the Kraken reached the second round in just their second year, falling one win short of the conference final in a seven-game series loss to the Dallas Stars.
- Utah Mammoth — this franchise’s lineage traces back to the original Winnipeg Jets (1972 WHA/NHL), which never advanced past the second round, and later the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes, whose best season came in 2011-12 with a trip to the Western Conference Final before losing to the eventual-champion Los Angeles Kings. The team relocated to Salt Lake City for the 2024-25 season, playing as the Utah Hockey Club before adopting the Utah Mammoth name in 2025.
Why Some Franchises Go So Long Without a Cup
A few recurring factors explain why certain teams end up on this list for decades:
- Expansion timing — several of these franchises (Nashville, Minnesota, Columbus, Seattle, Utah’s current era) are relatively young compared to the Original Six clubs, so they’ve simply had fewer chances at a title.
- Small-market challenges — teams like Nashville and the former Arizona Coyotes have historically dealt with tighter revenue and attendance compared to larger markets, which can affect roster building over time.
- Bad timing against dynasties — the Buffalo Sabres’ two Final losses came against Stanley Cup-winning dynasties (the mid-1970s Flyers and the 1999 Stars), a common storyline for teams that get close but run into a historically strong opponent.
- Relocation instability — teams like the Coyotes/Utah Mammoth and the Jets/Thrashers dealt with ownership uncertainty and relocation at points in their history, which can disrupt long-term team building.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which NHL team has never won a Stanley Cup?
There isn’t just one — 10 current NHL franchises have never won a Stanley Cup: the Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks, Ottawa Senators, Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild, Columbus Blue Jackets, Winnipeg Jets, Seattle Kraken, and Utah Mammoth.
Has any NHL team never been to the Stanley Cup Final?
Yes — the Minnesota Wild, Columbus Blue Jackets, Winnipeg Jets, Seattle Kraken, and Utah Mammoth (including its prior identity as the Coyotes) have never reached a Stanley Cup Final.
Which team has gone the longest without winning a Stanley Cup?
Among teams that have actually won one before, the Toronto Maple Leafs have the longest active drought, last winning in 1967. Among teams that have never won at all, the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks are the longest-tenured franchises still searching for their first title, both having joined the NHL in 1970.
Are any Canadian NHL teams on the list of teams that have never won a Cup?
Yes — the Vancouver Canucks, Ottawa Senators, and Winnipeg Jets are the three Canadian franchises that have never won the Stanley Cup.
Which team had the longest playoff drought among teams that have never won a Cup?
The Buffalo Sabres held the NHL’s longest active playoff drought at 14 seasons before finally qualifying again in 2026, ending the streak.
Wrapping Up
Ten NHL teams are still chasing their first Stanley Cup as of 2026, ranging from long-tenured franchises like Buffalo and Vancouver (both since 1970) to newer clubs like Seattle and Utah Mammoth. Some have come agonizingly close — Vancouver alone has lost in the Final three times — while others, like Minnesota and Columbus, are still waiting for their first trip to the championship series altogether. And the list isn’t static: Buffalo’s return to the playoffs in 2026 after 14 years shows how quickly a team’s story on this list can start to shift.
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