List of NHL franchise post - season droughts These are lists of active and all - time National Hockey League ( NHL ) franchise post - season appearance , post - season series win , Stanley Cup Final and Stanley Cup droughts up to and including the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs . Those teams which have never made it in franchise history are listed by the season that they entered the league , either as a new franchise or when they merged into the NHL from the defunct WHA league . " Note : These lists do not include the cancelled 2004 – 05 NHL season . " Among the current 30 NHL teams , 12 have never won the Stanley Cup , including one ( the St . Louis Blues ) that is among the five oldest expansion teams . Additionally , one of the Original Six franchises – the Toronto Maple Leafs – has a Stanley Cup drought that includes the entire expansion era ( 47 seasons and counting ) . Of the six franchises that have never been to the Stanley Cup Final , the oldest is the Arizona Coyotes ( previously the Winnipeg Jets ) ( 35 seasons ) , while the Maple Leafs and the Blues have even longer droughts ( 47 and 44 seasons , respectively ) . The longest Stanley Cup championship drought in history was that of the New York Rangers , broken in 1994 after 53 seasons . The second - longest was that of the Chicago Blackhawks , broken in 2010 after 47 seasons . The end of that drought was the first of three consecutive years in which one of the eleven longest such droughts was broken . There are only two franchises that have never won a post - season playoff series ( the Atlanta Thrashers / Winnipeg Jets and the Columbus Blue Jackets ) , though the oldest is just 15 seasons old ; two other franchises ( New York Islanders and Florida Panthers ) have longer win droughts ( 21 and 18 seasons respectively ) . The Panthers had not appeared in the playoffs at all for 10 seasons , the longest such streak in NHL history which ended in 2012 . This record was tied by the Edmonton Oilers when they missed their tenth straight postseason in 2016 . Longest active droughts . Post - season appearance droughts . A post - season appearance drought is continued by not making the NHL playoffs after the regular season . Since the first round of the playoffs consists of 8 series ( 16 teams ) and there are 30 teams in the NHL , there will always be 14 teams that did not make the most recent playoffs on this list . The other 16 teams – Anaheim Ducks , Chicago Blackhawks , Dallas Stars , Detroit Red Wings , Florida Panthers , Los Angeles Kings , Minnesota Wild , Nashville Predators , New York Islanders , New York Rangers , Philadelphia Flyers , Pittsburgh Penguins , St . Louis Blues , San Jose Sharks , Tampa Bay Lightning , and Washington Capitals – all made the post - season for the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs . Post - season series win droughts . A post - season series win drought is continued either by not making the playoffs in a season or by making the playoffs in a season but subsequently losing the first round series . Since the first round of the NHL playoffs consist of 8 series ( 16 teams ) , there will always be 22 teams in this list – the 14 teams that do not make the post - season plus the 8 teams that lose their first round series . The other 8 teams – the Dallas Stars , Nashville Predators , New York Islanders , Pittsburgh Penguins , San Jose Sharks , St . Louis Blues , Tampa Bay Lightning and Washington Capitals – all won a post - season series in the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs . Conference Final droughts . This is a list of the team and the number of seasons since they have reached the NHL Conference Finals , introduced in 1982 . This list does not include the four teams that made this round in the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs – San Jose Sharks , St . Louis Blues , Tampa Bay Lightning , and Pittsburgh Penguins . Stanley Cup Final droughts . This is a list of the teams and the number of seasons since they have reached the Stanley Cup Final . This list does not include the two teams that made the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals , the Pittsburgh Penguins and the San Jose Sharks . Stanley Cup droughts . This is a list of the teams and the number of seasons since they have won the Stanley Cup . This list does not include the 2015 Stanley Cup champion , the Chicago Blackhawks . Longest all - time droughts . Longest Conference Final droughts . " Appearance droughts updated through the 2015 – 16 season . The current Conference Finals format introduced in 1980 . " Longest post - season droughts in team history . " Updated through the 2016 playoffs . " Cities / regions awaiting first Stanley Cup . This list only includes cities / regions currently hosting an NHL franchise .