10 NHL Superstars Who Have Never Won A Stanley Cup

Yahoo

19-04-2025

By Anthony Carbone, The Hockey News Intern
Winning the Stanley Cup is the ultimate goal for every NHL player, a symbol of perseverance, skill and, yes, a bit of luck. Yet, despite incredible careers filled with jaw-dropping plays, record-breaking stats and Hall of Fame inductions, some of the greatest players in hockey history never had the chance to lift Lord Stanley's coveted prize.
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Whether due to bad timing, unlucky playoff runs, or simply playing for teams that fell short, these legends have left an undeniable mark on the game without ever experiencing championship glory.
Here's a look at 10 of the best players to never win a Stanley Cup.
Jarome Iginla
Iginla can lay claim to being the best player to ever wear a Calgary Flames sweater. In 1,554 NHL games, the vast majority with Calgary, he put up an impressive 625 goals and 1,300 points.
Iginla also won several individual awards, including a Ted Lindsay Award, Art Ross Trophy, King Clancy Memorial Trophy, Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award and two Rocket Richard Trophies. The closest he ever came to winning it all was in 2004, when the Flames fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games in the Cup final.
Marcel Dionne
Dionne remains one of the NHL's most prolific scorers of all time. In 1,348 games, he produced 731 goals and 1,771 points.
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Dionne did most of his damage with the Los Angeles Kings, where he blossomed as a star in the 1970s, winning two Pearson (now Lindsay) Awards, a Lester Patrick Trophy, two Lady Byng Trophies and an Art Ross Trophy. Despite not winning a Stanley Cup, Dionne ranks sixth all-time in NHL points.
Peter Stastny
Scoring 109 points in your rookie year is almost unthinkable, but not for Stastny, who won the Calder Trophy in the 1980-81 season. Over his career, Stastny put up 450 goals and 1,239 points in 977 games.
He's a European hockey icon, as he was one of the best European players to step on the ice in the NHL. He scored a lot of goals but never made the Stanley Cup final.
Henrik Lundqvist
The first goalie on the list is Lundqvist. He led the New York Rangers to the Stanley Cup final in 2014, losing in five games to the Kings, but that didn't stop him from having a remarkable career.
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He's ranked sixth all-time in goalie wins with 459, posting a career .918 save percentage and 2.43 goals-against average. Not to mention, he won a Vezina Trophy along with a gold medal with Sweden at the 2006 Olympics. Lundqvist also holds the record for most wins as a European-born and trained goalie.
Pavel Bure
One of the most electrifying players of all time cracks the list, as Bure never won the Stanley Cup, which is hard to believe. In 702 games, he scored 437 goals and 779 points. Bure also scored 60 goals in back-to-back seasons in his second and third years in the NHL.
In 1994, Bure and the Vancouver Canucks pushed their luck to the Cup final, but lost to the Rangers in seven games. It was Bure's first and only appearance in the Cup final.
Dale Hawerchuk
Hawerchuk won the Calder Trophy as his only award, but don't let that fool you. In 1,188 games, Hawerchuk scored 518 goals and 1,409 points. In his career, Hawerchuk also had seven 40-plus goal seasons.
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If he were on a better team – his Winnipeg Jets kept running into Wayne Gretzky's 1980s Edmonton Oilers – maybe he would have won a Stanley Cup.
Eric Lindros
Drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in 1991, Lindros was heralded as 'The Next One' when he arrived in the NHL, as he was expected to be a superstar. Playing most of his career for the Philadelphia Flyers, in 760 games, he put up 865 points, including 372 goals. In just his third year, he won the Ted Lindsay Award and Hart Trophy, putting up 70 points in 46 games.
He wasn't just known for his scoring, he was described as a beast on the ice with his physicality and strength. But injuries and controversy dogged his career, and his lone appearance in the Cup final came in 1997, when Detroit swept his Flyers.
Carey Price
One of the greatest goalies to play but never hold Lord Stanley's Cup is Price. He had an amazing career in Montreal, putting up 361 wins with a .917 save percentage and a 2.51 GAA.
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The 2014-15 season was the best in his career, as he won the Vezina Trophy, Ted Lindsay Award, Jennings Trophy and, most impressively, the Hart Trophy. Winning the Hart made him one of just eight goalies to win the MVP. Price led his team through the 2020-21 playoffs, going all the way to the Cup final before losing to Tampa Bay in five games.
Joe Thornton
Thornton, the No. 1 overall pick by Boston in the 1997 NHL draft, is the only player to win the Hart and Art Ross Trophies during a season in which he was traded. That happened in 2005-06, when the Bruins dealt him to San Jose.
One of the best passers and playmakers of his era, Thornton led the Sharks to the Cup final in 2016, falling in six games to Pittsburgh. He finished his career with 430 goals and 1,539 points in 1,714 games.
Connor McDavid
Even though his career is not over, McDavid can stake the (rather ignominious) claim of being the greatest player of all-time to never win a Stanley Cup – at least, not yet. He's only in his 10th season, but he's the fourth-fastest player ever to reach 1,000 points, doing it in 659 games.
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Out of all the players on this list, he has won the most awards, including five Art Ross Trophies, four Ted Lindsay Awards, one Rocket Richard Trophy and three Hart Trophies. He went to the Cup final last season, losing in Game 7 to Florida, but at least he was recognized with the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. McDavid is far from done and is looking to add a Stanley Cup to his already Hall of Fame career.
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