List of NHL franchise post-season droughts

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 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, are listed below. 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 disbanded World Hockey Association (WHA) league. These lists do not include the cancelled 2004–05 NHL season when calculating "number of seasons". Among the current 32 NHL teams, ten have never won the Stanley Cup, with the oldest of them being the Vancouver Canucks and the Buffalo Sabres (53 seasons). The longest Stanley Cup drought in NHL history belongs to the Toronto Maple Leafs (56 seasons). Toronto's drought is still active, and they have not made the Finals since winning the last Stanley Cup in 1967, 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 (43 seasons). Toronto's active 56-season drought from the Finals is the longest in NHL history. In 2010, the Chicago Blackhawks ended what was the second-longest Stanley Cup championship drought at 49 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 Buffalo Sabres have the longest active playoff series win drought at 17 seasons and also have the longest active post-season appearance drought at 13 seasons, a league record. The Florida Panthers have the longest playoff series win drought in league history at 24 seasons.

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 2023–24 season, there are sixteen teams that did not make the most recent playoffs on this list.

Division championship droughts

This is a list of the teams and the number of seasons since they have won the Division championship. This list does not include the division champions in the 2023–24 NHL season: the Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, New York Rangers, and Vancouver Canucks.

Presidents' Trophy droughts

This is a list of the teams and the number of seasons since they have won the Presidents' Trophy as the regular season champions. This list does not include the most recent Presidents' Trophy champions: the New York Rangers.

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 and subsequently losing the first-round series. Since the first round of the NHL playoffs consists of eight series (sixteen teams), there will be twenty-four teams in this list – the sixteen 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, Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, New York Rangers, and Vancouver Canucks – all won a post-season series in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Stanley Cup Finals droughts

This lists the teams and the number of seasons since reaching the Stanley Cup Finals. This list does not include a team that made the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals: the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers.

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 Florida Panthers. {{legend|#CFECEC|Teams competing for the 2025 Stanley Cup are highlighted|border=#AAAAAA}}