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?
Detroit, with the caveat that I think all 4 miss the playoffs in the end.
I don’t think any of them do it. Teams like the Penguins, Devils and Flyers are still more likely to make the playoffs in the East and the Ducks aren’t going anywhere.
I’d guess the Senators might be best of them because of Ullmark, but they all stink.
None of the above.
But I’ll go with the Wings.
While I agree that more likely than not all four will miss the playoffs – and personally I think the Red Wings have the best chance – I just want to say that the Ducks shouldn’t be dismissed so quickly.
While the pundits say they need D – I say they need goal scoring. They have a great young core D and O lines – and are deep with the next generation. I’m quite sure that is why the Ducks were mainly silent this off season. A let ‘em play season. But the last one.
I think they will surprise many this year. Maybe it’s right no play offs this upcoming season – but don’t dismiss them so quickly.
They aren’t the Sharks. Nor are they the Oilers. But they will be fun to watch.
I can’t help myself I just think one year Buffalo will show up so that’s how I voted.
I think Ottawa has the most depth and best chance of getting in, but Detroit isn’t far behind. Buffalo is trending in the right direction but still a piece or 2 away from taking that next step. Anaheim has to start taking those steps forward before considering them playoff contenders. Gotta crawl before you can walk. But they do have some nice pieces to start turning things the right direction.
I’ve always liked what McLeod brings to the table. Not saying he’s the key piece, but I think prudent adds like him and just the bit of shuffling of the deck, having Byram for the whole season, etc.. will give the Sabres just enough push to edge in by a hair… maybe. I’d think moreso them than the others, at least.
None of the 4 on the list make it in the end. Detroit may have the best chance but they didn’t do enough to improve. Detroit, Buffalo, & Ottawa are in the Atlantic Division which has 4 teams in Florida, Tampa, Boston, & Toronto that are still more playoff caliber then those 3 teams despite all 4 of the latter teams having taken some losses in the offseason but still remain overall balanced for the most part. Though how Florida, Tampa, Boston, & Toronto finish in the standings this upcoming season is a complete guessing game at this point in time as it’s a gauntlet in that division.
As for Anaheim, the Pacific Division has at least 5 teams far more playoff bound than Anaheim by a good margin.
Buffalo has added enough grit, speed & physicality to the bottom 6 to close the gap on Tampa, Boston & Toronto. Buffalo finished with a winning record 2 straight seasons now with a HC that was nowhere near the top half of good NHL Head coaches. Injuries will be the biggest factor for all teams involved.
I think both OTT and BUF have real chances to make the playoffs. Ullmark is solid and Lukkonen might finally be panning out.
Talbot and Husso? Is Lyon still there? Don’t think the Wings have the G needed. Just a constant churn of obviously sub par netminding there. The one diamond that Stevie Y might have unearthed he let walk to us in Nedelkjovic (might, we’ll see).
The Ducks are not good.
Buffalo also has Devon Levi behind UPL.
Give me Ottawa. If Linus can steal a few games I think that team is well balanced and good enough to sneak in.