There has not been one team in the NHL unable to make the playoffs during the inception of the salary cap era in 2005-06. The league has experienced unprecedented competition under the new format but there are still several teams who haven’t been able to crack the Stanley Cup playoffs for the last several years. As of right now, the Buffalo Sabres (13), Detroit Red Wings (8), Ottawa Senators (7), and Anaheim Ducks (6) hold the longest current postseason droughts in the league. Which one of these teams has the best odds of ending their postseason drought and returning to the playoffs in 2025?
The odds looked good for Buffalo towards the end of the 2022-23 regular season but the team ultimately finished one point short of the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference to the Florida Panthers. The team boosted their defensive core over the summer and had their eyes on contention in 2023-24. Unfortunately, the season did not go as planned for the Sabres and the team finished seven points back of the last playoff spot in the East. The team still has a wealth of young talent either on the team or close to cracking the roster, but the offseason feels a bit misjudged at the outset. With a need to fill out their bottom six, Buffalo brought in Jason Zucker, Ryan McLeod, Sam Lafferty, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel this summer and appear to be running back a similar roster next year with Lindy Ruff back as head coach.
Detroit tied the Washington Capitals for the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference for the 2023-24 regular but ultimately lost the tiebreaker on the last day of the regular season. The team took a major step forward in their rebuild after acquiring talents such as Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane, and Shayne Gostisbehere who dramatically improved the team’s competitiveness. The Red Wings’ major letdown of the 2023-24 regular season was the defense which gave up the seventh most shots against in the league. Ghostisbehere walked in free agency along with other veterans who were replaced by Cam Talbot, Erik Gustafsson, and Vladimir Tarasenko. Detroit should still be able to score in bunches next year but the team has inarguably failed up to this point this summer in improving their biggest weakness from last season.
It feels that Ottawa has experienced two separate rebuilds over the last seven years with the first coming under the helm of Pierre Dorion and the current iteration led by Steve Staios. The three biggest moves of the Senators’ offseason were acquiring former Vezina winner Linus Ullmark from the Boston Bruins, shipping defenseman Jakob Chychrun to the Capitals for a lackluster return, and prying veteran David Perron from the Red Wings on a two-year deal. Ullmark should serve as a massive upgrade in between the pipes compared to their situation last year but moving on from Chychrun will certainly sting on the blue line. Ottawa finished 14 points out of a playoff spot last season but could be a surprising team with a wealth of talent up front and a consistent netminder.
Lastly, the Ducks register as the least likely of the group to crack their postseason drought as they finished nearly 40 points out of a playoff spot last season. Anaheim brought in forward Robby Fabbri and defenseman Brian Dumoulin via trade this offseason but neither strike as needle-movers to an offense-needy organization. The upcoming season should serve as a reasonable benchmarking year for the Ducks organization as the team looks to graduate several prospects to the NHL level. Anaheim could cause some noise in a weak Pacific Division but their odds of making the playoffs are still low.
Of the four longest current playoff droughts in the NHL — which of these four teams do you think has the best odds to end their drought next season?