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Poll: Which Postseason Drought Is Likeliest To End In 2024-25?

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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?

Which Postseason Drought Is Likeliest To End In 2024-25?
Detroit Red Wings 54.01% (1,036 votes)
Buffalo Sabres 25.39% (487 votes)
Ottawa Senators 14.86% (285 votes)
Anaheim Ducks 5.74% (110 votes)
Total Votes: 1,918

East Notes: Dubas, Trouba, Lindstrom, Spicer

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In a new book by Craig Custance of The Athletic, an interview with the general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Kyle Dubas, was able to reflect on his time at the helm of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun pulled a quote from the interview where Dubas said, “The biggest mistake I think I’ve made in my whole time here has been not taking care of the three incumbent contracts. (William) Nylander was up, (Mitch) Marner and (Auston) Matthews could have been done on July 1 extensions“.

The quote was made in context to the seven-year, $77MM contract given to John Tavares on July 1st, 2018. Dubas exclaims that by giving Tavares an AAV of $11MM without first working on long-term extensions for William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and Auston Matthews, the price on the latter three was raised dramatically and caused both Nylander and Marner to hold out for a short time.

Aside from the externality on those three players from Tavares’ contract, Dubas informed Custance that he had no other regrets from his time in Toronto. Outside of playoff success, the Maple Leafs have achieved multiple 100-point seasons from the team Dubas built and still features some of the biggest stars in the game.

Other East notes:

  • In a report from Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News and later confirmed by Emily Kaplan of ESPN, there was a trade in place between the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings that would have sent defenseman Jacob Trouba to his hometown team. However, with Trouba’s no-movement clause turning into a modified no-trade clause on July 1st, Trouba added Detroit to his list which entirely ended the deal. Trouba was hesitant to move his wife and family out of New York as his wife is finishing up her residency as a medical doctor as outlined in the report from Kaplan.
  • The fourth-overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, Cayden Lindstrom, is now the highest-selected player from the recent draft who has not signed his entry-level contract. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports there is no cause for concern, as the general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Don Waddell, is entirely focused on hiring a new head coach for the franchise. The Blue Jackets still have plenty of time to sign Lindstrom to an entry-level contract which theoretically doesn’t need to be done this offseason. The young power forward will likely return to the WHL next season to continue his development.
  • Matt Wellens of Duluth News Tribune reports that Boston Bruins’ prospect, Cole Spicer, is done playing hockey for the foreseeable future. Spicer was the 117th overall selection of the 2022 NHL Draft and recently wrapped up his sophomore campaign with the University of Minnesota-Duluth where he scored five goals and nine points in 17 games. According to the report from Wellens, Spicer is planning on taking some time to deal with ’personal and mental stuff’ before fully committing himself to a career in hockey.

West Notes: Richardson, Suter, Emberson

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The Chicago Blackhawks made several additions to the lineup this offseason while operating near the league’s basement for the past two years. The organization hopes to be much more competitive this season which may indirectly impact the future of the head coach, Luke Richardson. Scott Powers of The Athletic (subscription article) wonders if Richardson may be on the hot seat this season if the Blackhawks are not more competitive.

There should be a grain of salt taken with any ideas of competition coming out of Chicago as the organization still does not project to be close to a Stanley Cup contender. However, with phenom Connor Bedard entering his sophomore season and the team adding $25.05MM to their salary cap structure for the 2024-25 NHL season, the Blackhawks could compete for a .500 record. After collecting a record of 49-102-13 over the last two years — is Richardson the coach to oversee this next step for Chicago?

The Blackhawks organization would have been hard-pressed to find a coach who would have earned a better record than Richardson over the past two years, and his calm demeanor appears to have helped many of the younger players transition to professional hockey. Richardson was an assistant coach for the Montreal Canadiens when they made their improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021 but has little to no experience beyond coaching a competitive team. Chicago will have a longer leash than most on his performance this year but it’s clear the front office is looking to take a step forward in the rebuild.

Other West notes:

  • One of the more surprising free-agent acquisitions over the past two weeks was the St. Louis Blues adding veteran defenseman Ryan Suter on a one-year, $775K deal including bonuses. The Blues organization now has six left-handed shot defensemen competing for three spots in the lineup next year while Jeremy Rutherford of the Athletic (Subscription Article) surmises that a trade is likely coming soon. Regarding the reasoning behind adding Suter specifically, Rutherford notes in his article that the Blues had a heavy interest in adding Suter when he was originally bought out by the Minnesota Wild three years ago. Suter’s camp was adamant on signing a four-year deal and general manager Doug Armstrong was only willing to go three which led to the delay in their partnership.
  • Defenseman Ty Emberson of the San Jose Sharks will be ready to go for training camp after needing surgery to repair a laceration suffered last season according to Max Miller of The Hockey News. Emberson recently avoided arbitration with the Sharks organization by signing a one-year, $950K deal for the 2024-25 NHL season. Emberson has quickly become one of the better defensive defensemen on San Jose’s roster and should compete for a consistent top-four spot next year.

Minnesota Wild Re-Sign Sammy Walker

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The Minnesota Wild organization has brought back a depth player from the past two years as they announced a one-year contract for forward Samuel Walker. Walker will earn a salary of $775K in the NHL and $125K in the AHL for the 2024-25 season.

Although Walker started as a seventh-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2017 NHL Draft, he decided to forego his entry-level contract with the Lightning to spend the next four years in the NCAA with the University of Minnesota. Walker spent three years as the team captain for the Gophers and helped his team make it as far as the Frozen Four during his tenure with the school. Overall, Walker played in 144 games for the Gophers and scored a total of 48 goals and 112 points.

Walker became a collegiate free agent after his NCAA career ended and he quickly signed on with the Wild organization to a two-year, $1.85MM agreement. Since then, Walker has only played in 13 games for the Wild in the last two years where he has scored one goal and two points.

He has been a solid player in the minor leagues as he’s spent most of his time in the AHL with the Iowa Wild. Over the past two seasons, Walker has suited up in 126 games for AHL Iowa and has scored 41 goals and 93 points. With decent depth on the NHL roster, it may be tough for Walker to challenge for a spot on the opening night roster out of training camp. However, if there are injuries to the NHL-squad, Walker should serve as one of the first call-ups to fill in.

AHL Approves 23-Team Playoff Format For 2025

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According to Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey, the American Hockey League’s Board of Governors has approved a 23-team playoff format for the 2025 Calder Cup playoffs. The league has run the format for the past two seasons and will be revisited after the current AHL Collective Bargaining Agreement expires on August 31st, 2025.

The last time the AHL has run a 16-team playoff format in the Calder Cup playoffs came back in the 2018-19 season. After the Calder Cup playoffs were canceled in 2020 and 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the playoffs returned in 2022 to an adjusted format. The only teams in the league who did not qualify for the playoffs were the bottom two teams in each division.

The expanded playoff format did not do much for increased competition during the 2022 Calder Cup playoffs as the Calder Cup Finals was comprised of the Springfield Thunderbirds and the Chicago Wolves who earned a bye into the Division semifinals after the regular season. Since then, only the Rochester Americans and Hartford Wolf Pack have made it as far as the Division Finals for teams that would not have made it into the playoffs in a 16-team format.

It will be interesting to see the arguments for and against continuing the 23-team playoff format in the next collective bargaining agreement for the AHL. Some organizations that otherwise wouldn’t have made it into the playoffs are now guaranteed two games of postseason revenue while the players also earn a spot to play for the league’s highest trophy. However, since there has been no evidence to suggest that the new format leads to increased parity or competition in the Calder Cup playoffs, it would not be a surprise to see the league return to the traditional 16-team format.

Utah Signs Tij Iginla To Entry-Level Contract

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The Utah Hockey Club has signed its first-ever selection in franchise history as the organization announced an entry-level contract for forward Tij Iginla. According to PuckPedia, Iginla will earn $877.5K at the NHL level with a signing bonus of $97.5K each season and $1MM worth of ’A’ Performance Bonuses included in each year of the deal.

The son of Hall of Fame forward Jarome Iginla officially joins the new Utah franchise after being selected with the sixth overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft. Iginla has spent the last two years in the Western Hockey League playing for the Seattle Thunderbirds and Kelowna Rockets and may very well end up back in Kelowna for the 2024-25 WHL season. During his rookie campaign in Seattle, Iginla scored six goals and 18 points in 48 games while playing with fellow Utah forward, Dylan Guenther. The Thunderbirds would eventually win the WHL playoffs but Iginla only factored into three games in the first round.

The Thunderbirds traded Iginla to his hometown Kelowna team and he was not viewed as a top draft prospect heading into the 2023-24 campaign. However, Iginla became one of the highest risers in the 2024 NHL Draft after scoring 13 goals and 21 points in the first 12 games of the season. He finished the year with 47 goals and 84 points in 64 games while posting another nine goals and 15 points through 11 postseason contests. Iginla also suited up for Team Canada in the 2024 under-18 World Junior Championship where he collected six goals and 12 points in seven tournament games en route to a gold medal.

Due to the depth up front possessed by Utah entering the 2024-25 season, it is highly unlikely that Iginla will crack the roster. However, after a near 50-goal campaign in the WHL last year, Iginla has little else to prove in major junior. It will be interesting to see where Utah places Iginla for the upcoming season as his development will surely be top of mind as the organization’s new top forward prospect.

San Jose Sharks Sign Ty Emberson To One-Year Deal

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11:03 AM: The Sharks have confirmed the one-year agreement with Emberson per a team announcement.

10:22 AM: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that defenseman Ty Emberson and the San Jose Sharks have avoided arbitration. The Sharks organization will sign the young defenseman to a one-year, $950K contract for the 2024-25 NHL season, and will become a Group VI unrestricted free agent at the end of the deal if he doesn’t play more than 50 games next year.

Emberson was originally drafted with the 73rd overall pick of the 2018 NHL Draft by the Arizona Coyotes before he spent three years at the University of Wisconsin in the NCAA. Emberson turned pro after his junior season with the Badgers and scored one goal in five games with Arizona’s AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners. He did not perform well during his first professional campaign with the Roadrunners as he scored four goals and 11 points in 58 games while posting a -25 rating.

The Coyotes organization parted ways with Emberson the following summer by trading him to the New York Rangers in exchange for Patrik Nemeth, a second-round pick in 2025, and a conditional second-round pick in 2026. Emberson performed much better with the Rangers’ AHL affiliate as he scored seven goals and 27 points in 69 games for the Hartford Wolf Pack while posting a +17 rating. He also performed markedly well for the team in the postseason as he scored two goals and five points in only nine Calder Cup playoff contests.

After signing a one-year league minimum contract with New York during the following offseason, the team placed him on waivers shortly before the 2023-24 NHL season; eventually being claimed by the Sharks. With a middling defensive core, Emberson had access to NHL minutes in San Jose and scored one goal and 10 points over 30 games in his rookie season. Emberson showed effectiveness as a physical defensive defenseman with the Sharks as he posted 94 hits on the year while also achieving a 91.7% on-ice save percentage in all situations.

San Jose has made a few moves this offseason to improve their defensive core but it should not prohibit Emberson from reaching the 50-game mark. As a right-handed shot, Emberson should compete for top-four minutes as one of the best shutdown defensemen on the Sharks’ roster.

Lightning Sign J.J. Moser To Two-Year Contract

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2:52 PM: The Lightning have confirmed the signing via a public announcement.

9:18 AM: After electing for salary arbitration on July 5th, defenseman J.J. Moser and the Tampa Bay Lightning have reportedly agreed on a new contract. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports the team has signed Moser to a two-year contract worth an AAV of $3.375MM.

According to the report from Friedman, Moser will make $2.7MM during the 2024-25 season and $4.05MM in 2025-26. It will be a significant raise over Moser’s previous contract where he averaged $887K during his entry-level contract.

It will be interesting to see how the Lightning deploy Moser after acquiring him as a part of the package for defenseman Mikhail Sergachev in a draft-day trade with the Utah Hockey Club. During a three-year stint with the Arizona Coyotes, Moser quickly became a part of the team’s top four after making his NHL debut in the 2021-22 NHL season.

Over 205 regular season games with the Coyotes, Moser scored 16 goals and 72 points while averaging over 20 minutes of ice time per night. Moser played in nearly all situations in Arizona and showed flashes of being an effective two-way defenseman but did have some shortcomings on the defensive side of the puck. According to HockeyReference, Moser produced an expected +/- of -35.6 throughout his tenure in the desert — coming out to an average of nearly -12 each season. Additionally, Moser averaged an on-ice save percentage in all situations of 89.5% over his first three seasons, but some of the blame could be shared with a subpar Arizona defensive core.

With Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh expected to receive a bulk of the minutes on the left side of Tampa Bay’s blue line crew, Moser should get bumped down to a bottom-pairing role with the Lightning. Although his salary for next year is right on par with a bottom-pairing defenseman, his 2025-26 salary will become a bit rich if Tampa Bay decides to keep him in a similar role.

Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Tanner Howe To Entry-Level Contract

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A former linemate of Connor Bedard in the Western Hockey League has signed on with the team that drafted him almost two weeks ago. The Pittsburgh Penguins announced they have signed winger Tanner Howe to a three-year, entry-level contract.

Howe was selected with the 46th overall pick by the Penguins organization in the 2024 NHL Draft and was quickly signed to an entry-level deal after a noticeable development camp showing. The young forward made his presence known as he regularly became the instigator in net-front battles and had two goals to show for it.

During the 2022-23 WHL season, Howe found himself on a line with Bedard while playing for the Regina Pats. He came a perfect complimentary piece to Bedard as an annoying pest on the ice and scored 36 goals and 85 points in 67 games while putting up another two goals and four points in seven postseason contests. After Bedard left Regina to join the Chicago Blackhawks for the 2023-24 NHL season, Howe became the new captain of the organization.

He proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that he could perform without Bedard down the middle as Howe scored 28 goals and 77 points in 68 games. Unfortunately, the Pats were unable to qualify for the 2024 WHL playoffs meaning his season came to an end after the regular season concluded. Howe has been a bit quiet on the international stage for Team Canada as he’s played in a total of 11 games for Canada’s under-18 World Junior Championship squad the past two years but only has one assist to show for it.

It’s unlike that Howe will play for any team in the Penguins’ organization next season and may even spend another year in the WHL with the Regina Pats. However, there is a case to be made that Howe’s physical game is mature enough to play for the organization’s AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Wherever Howe winds up for the 2024-25 season, Pittsburgh has a definite middle-six prospect in the making if his development continues on its current trajectory.

Anaheim Ducks Finalize Coaching Staff

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The Anaheim Ducks announced several promotions and hires to Greg Cronin’s staff for the 2024-25 NHL season. The team has promoted Sudarshan Maharaj to director of goaltending and Julien Tremblay to NHL player development while naming Tim Army as an assistant coach and Peter Budaj as the team’s new goaltending coach.

The promotion has been a long time coming for Maharaj as he’s been the Ducks’ goaltending coach since the start of the 2016-17 season. Before his time in Southern California, Maharaj worked in a similar role with the New York Islanders from 2003-04 to 2005-06 before becoming a goaltending consultant until 2011-12. For his entire tenure with the club, Maharaj has been working closely with Anaheim’s starting goaltender, John Gibson. Maharaj oversaw the three best years of Gibson’s career up to this point from 2017-19 as the goaltender produced an 82-56-24 record in 166 stars while posting an exceptional .922 save percentage and 2.50 goals against average.

Longtime NHL netminder Budaj will replace Maharaj as the team’s goaltending coach after having previously worked with Cronin during his time with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Budaj was a solid backup goaltender through much of his playing career which spanned 13 seasons from 2005-06 to 2018-19. Budaj posted a career record of 158-132-40 with a .904 SV% and 2.70 GAA and will now look to jolt Gibson into a career resurgence in Anaheim.

The last notable hire of the day for Anaheim is Army who was previously an assistant coach with the Ducks during their inaugural season in 1993-94. His last season with Anaheim came during their first entry into the postseason for the 1996-97 season before falling Ron Wilson to the Washington Capitals from 1997-98 to 2001-02. Army would then spend the next six seasons as the head coach of Providence College before returning to the NHL as an assistant coach with the Colorado Avalanche until 2017. His first professional experience as a head coach came during the 2018-19 season when he was named the head coach of the AHL’s Iowa Wild. Army now returns to the Ducks organization for the first time in nearly three decades and will serve as a veteran presence on Cronin’s staff.

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