List of NHL franchise post-season droughts
This article is a list of the active and all-time National Hockey League (NHL) franchise post-season appearance, post-season series win, Stanley Cup Finals and Stanley Cup droughts up to and including the 2021 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 World Hockey Association (WHA) league. "Note: These lists do not include the cancelled 2004–05 NHL season when calculating "number  of seasons"." Among the current thirty-two active NHL teams, twelve have never won the Stanley Cup, with the oldest of them being the Vancouver Canucks and the Buffalo Sabres (50 seasons). The longest Stanley Cup droughts in NHL history belong to the New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs (both 53 seasons). New York ended their drought in 1994, while Toronto's drought is still active, as they have not made the Finals since winning the last Stanley Cup before the expansion era. Five teams have never reached the Stanley Cup Finals, with the oldest of them being  the Winnipeg Jets/Arizona Coyotes franchise (41 seasons). Toronto's active 53-season drought from the Finals is the longest in NHL history. In 2010, the Chicago Blackhawks ended what was the second-longest ever Stanley Cup championship drought at 47 seasons (now the sixth-longest). The end of that drought was the first of three consecutive years in which one of the eleven longest such droughts was broken (Chicago Blackhawks in 2010, Boston Bruins in 2011, and Los Angeles Kings in 2012). The Florida Panthers have the longest active playoff series win drought (24 seasons). The all-time longest  drought between series wins was that of the Winnipeg Jets/Arizona Coyotes franchise, broken in 2012 after 25 seasons. The Buffalo Sabres have the longest active playoff appearance drought (10 seasons). This is tied with the Panthers and Edmonton Oilers for the longest droughts of all time; Florida and Edmonton's droughts ended in 2012 and 2017 respectively. Longest active droughts. Post-season appearance droughts. A postseason appearance drought is continued by not making the NHL playoffs after the regular season. Since the first round of the playoffs normally consists of eight series (sixteen teams) and there were thirty-two  active teams in the NHL during the 2021–22 season, there are sixteen teams that did not make the most recent playoffs on this list. Post-season series win droughts. A post-season series winning drought is continued either by not making the playoffs in a season or by making the playoffs in a season but subsequently lost the first round series. Since the first round of the NHL playoffs consists of eight series (sixteen teams), there will be twenty-three teams in this list – the fifteen teams that do not qualify for the post-season, plus the eight teams that  lose their first round series. The other eight teams – the Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vegas Golden Knights and Winnipeg Jets – all won a post-season series in the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs. Stanley Cup Finals droughts. This is a list of the teams and the number of seasons since they have reached the Stanley Cup Finals. This list does not include the two teams that made the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals: the Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning. 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 most recent Stanley Cup Champions: the Tampa Bay Lightning. Cities/regions awaiting first Stanley Cup. This list only includes cities/regions currently hosting an NHL franchise. Canadian droughts. Despite having fewer Canadian-based teams than U.S.-based ones throughout much of the NHL's existence (dating back to the Original Six era when it was two Canadian clubs to four American ones, and now seven to twenty-five since 2021), there have been only two times in league history where none of the Canadian  teams qualified for the postseason: 1969–70 and 2015–16. The 1992–93 Montreal Canadiens remain the last Canadian club to go all the way and win the Stanley Cup.