Best NHL Players To Never Win a Stanley Cup In Recent Memory

One of the greatest honors in hockey is winning the Stanley Cup. There are 32 teams in the NHL, and only one can hoist the cup each year, meaning plenty of legendary players have never been able to hoist the Cup.

Some even say it’s the hardest trophy to win in sports.

In this league, the legends of the game have Stanley Cup rings to their name. Mark Messier has six, Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe have four, and Sidney Crosby has three. Even Alexander Ovechkin eventually hoisted the cup after 13 long seasons.

However, there have been several greats with over 1,000 games and points in their careers, as well as being members of the Hockey Hall of Fame, who will never know what it’s like to lift Lord Stanley as a player.

Within the last decade or so, there have been plenty of stars who hung up their skates before they were able to complete the dream of chasing the Cup. And here are eight such players.

Daniel Alfredsson, RW

Daniel Alfredsson played 18 NHL seasons. He played 17 of those with the Ottawa Senators and served as captain for 13 of them. He was a late pick in the 1994 NHL draft, selected in the sixth round (133rd overall). From that point on, Alfredsson went on to be the best Senator of all time.

Alfredsson played 1,178 games, leading the franchise in goals (426), assists (682, and points (1,108). Despite 15 playoff runs with the senators and 100 points in 121 games, he never won a Stanley Cup.

The closest the right winger got to the cup was in the 2007 playoffs when the Senators advanced to the Stanley Cup final. On their way to the final, Ottawa defeated each opponent in five games.

In the final, the Anaheim Ducks eliminated the Sens in five games, securing their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. Alfredsson averaged a point per game in that series.

Alfredsson retired in Dec. 2014, concluding with a total of 444 goals and 713 assists for 1,157 points in 1,246 games. Eight years after retirement, Alfredsson was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Jarome Iginla, RW

Like Alfredsson for the Senators, Jarome Iginla sets the bar as one of the all-time greats for the Calgary Flames. Spending 16 seasons with the Flames, Iginla became their all-time leader in games played (1,219), goals (525) and points (1095). He also wore the ‘C’ for nine seasons with Calgary.

Iginla didn’t have many deep playoff runs in his career except for one season when his team was just one win away from claiming it all. The closest he came was the 2003-04 season, leading the Flames to the finals. Calgary defeated the Vancouver Canucks, Detroit Red Wings, and San Jose Sharks before falling in seven games to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Iginla scored 13 goals and 22 points in 26 games but got no Cup to show for it.

Iginla chased the Cup over two decades while playing for five different teams. Ironically, he was drafted by the Dallas Stars in 1995 but traded to Calgary before debuting. The Stars later won the 1999 Cup.

Still, Iginla earned numerous accolades, including two Olympic gold medals and an induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2020. He retired with 1,300 points in 1,554 games, the 15th most games played in NHL history.

Related: Ranking Each NHL Team's Mount Rushmore: No. 21, Calgary Flames

Henrik Lundqvist, G

Henrik Lundqvist has never played an NHL game for a team not named the New York Rangers. The goaltender played 887 games over 15 seasons with the Blueshirts. Despite being selected in the seventh round of the 2000 NHL Draft, Lundqvist earned the title ‘King Henrik’ in New York.

Among all goaltenders to play for the Rangers, Lundqvist has played the most games (887), secured the most wins (459) and leads in just about every goalie-related stat there is.

The Swede won himself a Vezina Trophy in the 2011-12 season. It was a year full of career highs for the Hall of Famer, including 39 wins, a 1.97 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage. That post-season, the Rangers advanced as far as the Eastern Conference finals.

However, that wasn’t the last time Lundqvist would make a deep run in the playoffs. Two seasons later, the Rangers were back for more, this time in the Stanley Cup final.

Lundqvist put up a 2.14 GAA and a .927 SP in those playoffs. However, it wasn’t enough to take home the Cup, as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Rangers in five games.

Lundqvist’s career concluded with his previously mentioned 459 wins as well as 64 shutouts to his name.

Roberto Luongo, G

From one goaltender to another, Roberto Luongo makes the list as one of the best netminders of all time. Ranked No. 29 in The Hockey News‘ 'Top 100 Goalies of All-Time' issue, Luongo had quite the career.

With 1,014 starts and 10,44 appearances, Luongo is second all-time for games played by a goaltender, he sits only behind Martin Brodeur.

After being drafted by the New York Islanders as the fourth pick in the 1997 NHL Draft, the Montreal native went on to play 19 seasons. Despite the longevity, Luongo never went a season averaging under .900 SP apart from his final year with the Florida Panthers in 2018-19.

The netminder made seven trips to the playoffs, six of which were with the Vancouver Canucks. Luongo got closest to the Cup in the 2010-11 season as his Canucks advanced to the final. They faced the Boston Bruins and lost in seven games, with Luongo putting up a .891 SP in the series.

The Hall of Famer went on to win two Olympic golds, a Jennings Trophy and was also a Vezina Trophy finalist three times. Luongo ended his career with an average of a .919 SP and 2.52 GAA.

Patrick Marleau, LW

Patrick Marleau is one of three long-time members of the San Jose Sharks on this list. On April 19, 2021, Marleau broke the record for most NHL games played in the league’s history, surpassing Howe.

However, Marleau has never hoisted the Stanley Cup despite playing 1,779 regular season games and 195 playoff games across 23 seasons.

The Aneroid, Sask. native saw the playoffs in 20 different campaigns, 17 times with San Jose. In 2015-16, Marleau and the Sharks advanced to the final. However, they were no match for Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins, as they were eliminated in six games.

That was the closest Marleau would get to the Cup, despite moves to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Penguins later in his career.

In 2022, the left winger announced his retirement at the age of 42. He signed off with 566 goals and 631 assists for 1,197 points. Marleau is the franchise leader in goals and points for the Sharks.

Joe Pavelski, C

Despite being a seventh-round pick to the San Jose Sharks in 2003, Joe Pavelski went on to have a long career. He played over 1,500 regular season and playoff games but got no Cup to show for it.

However, he came close on several occasions. In 16 trips to the post-season, the centerman made plenty of deep runs with the Sharks and the Dallas Stars. In his 18-year career, he saw the Western Conference finals five times. That includes the last two seasons when the Stars were eliminated by the Vegas Golden Knights and the Edmonton Oilers.

In addition, he battled for the Cup in two separate finals, one with the Sharks and the other with the Stars in 2019-20. In both those series, Pavelski’s team was eliminated in six games.

Although Pavelski played into his late 30’s, it didn’t stop him from producing. At the age of 37, the Plover, Wis. native set a new career-best with 81 points in the 2021-22 campaign.

Last season was Pavelski’s last, and he retired with 476 goals and 592 assists for 1,068 points.

Related: Ranking Each NHL Team's Mount Rushmore: No. 22, San Jose Sharks

Joe Thornton, C

Joe ‘Jumbo’ Thornton will go down as one of the best playmakers and passers the game has ever seen. He is the seventh all-time assist leader with 1,109 career helpers, just behind Paul Coffey.

While he was the first overall pick in the 1997 NHL Draft by the Boston Bruins, his best years were with the San Jose Sharks.

Just like former teammates Pavelski and Marleau, Thornton advanced to the finals in the 2015-16 playoffs. He led the Sharks in scoring during the regular season as a 36-year-old and played all 82 games in that campaign, recording 19 goals and 82 points. In the post-season, Thornton provided 18 helpers and 21 points.

By this point, most of San Jose’s core was getting past their primes. Pavelski and Brent Burns were in their early 30s, and Marleau was 36. Logan Couture, 26, led the team in scoring in those playoffs with 30 points while playing all 24 games.

After 24 seasons in the NHL, Thornton announced his retirement in October 2023 with his iconic “peace and love” video. On Nov. 23, the Sharks retired his No. 19 to the rafters.

He ended his career with 1,539 points in 1,714 games.

Shea Weber, D

The only defenseman on this list is Shea Weber. He played 16 seasons and served as captain for nine with the Nashville Predators and Montreal Canadiens.

While Weber hasn’t officially announced his retirement from the NHL, he played his last game in the 2020-21 season. Also, he was a part of the most recent Hockey Hall of Fame induction class.

With the Predators, Weber only went as far as reaching the Western Conference semifinal three times.

In the 2016 off-season, Nashville sent Weber to the Montreal Canadiens in a blockbuster one-for-one trade for defenseman P.K. Subban. Later in that upcoming season, the Predators advanced to the Stanley Cup final without Weber.

Related: Ranking Each NHL Team's Mount Rushmore: No. 25, Nashville Predators

However, the Sicamous, B.C. native would get his turn at the Cup in his final NHL season. At 35, Weber led a team of young stars such as Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki to the Cup final in the 2020-21 season despite being the lowest seed in the entire playoffs.

The Cinderella story for Weber and the Habs was spoiled by the Tampa Bay Lightning when they captured their second straight Stanley Cup.

Weber left things off with 224 goals and 589 points in 1,038 career games.

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