Stanley Cup Playoffs: Which NHL team will end their drought next?
By Jasmine Yen
Before their ultimate victory, the Washington Capitals held the fifth-longest Stanley Cup drought in the NHL. Which team will break their drought next?
The NHL postseason is a two-month grind that is widely considered the hardest path to a sports championship. It takes teams through the mud and only one team can claim the ultimate prize. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are brutal and it takes a lot to come out as the victor.
A great example of this is the injuries the Ottawa Senators suffered during their playoff run two years ago. Everybody suffered from various injuries from sprained wrists and ankles, broken fingers, and rib and back issues.
"“He was crying in agony and pain in between periods. But he wanted to go back out there. So that tells you how much they care”"
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It may be a tough road, but the reward is worth every drop of blood, sweat, and tears of pain. Those players are the lucky ones. At least they get to experience the satisfaction of seeing your work paying off, many teams have not felt that in a long time.
There are currently five teams with a Stanley Cup drought over 40 years. The Toronto Maple Leafs (51), the St.Louis Blues (50), the Buffalo Sabres (47), the Vancouver Canucks (47), and the Philadelphia Flyers (42). Which of those teams is going to follow Washington’s footsteps and restore glory to their city?
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are in year three of their five-year rebuild. The emergence of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander gave the team a jet boost and the young core they have both on the Leafs and Toronto Marlies is a sign of prolonged success. Frederik Andersen has been great for them between the pipes and they can send out any line at any time because of their overwhelming offensive depth. Every season seems to be one step closer and perhaps their first Cup in 50 years is on the horizon.
St. Louis Blues
This team always seems to be in the playoffs but never gets it done. They have talent up front with Brayden Schenn and Vladimir Tarasenko and the fourth leading goalscorer is a defenseman named Alex Pietrangelo. Unfortunately for them, goaltending has always been their problem. Jake Allen has shown nothing since he joined their team and Carter Hutton has been the one shining star in net (but he’s heading into free agency). As the Finals showed, teams live and die by their goaltenders. If the Blues want to end their drought, they need to either salvage Allen or find a better replacement.
Buffalo Sabres
Jack Eichel and most-likely Rasmus Dahlin is a great start. Rumors are circulating around Ryan O’Reilly and Robin Lehner and if the Sabres can get a good return, the second attempt at a rebuild may be a success. However, until then, their future seems bleak.
Vancouver Canucks
Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat, Jake Virtanen, this team is starting to make the transition to a younger, faster team. They have a projected cap space of over 22 million dollars that they can use to acquire big free agent names.
They also have players that they can sell high on for draft picks or use in a trade. They have been prominent names in the Ryan O’Reilly rumors and who’s to say they won’t be pursuing Erik Karlsson or John Tavares? This team has the money to quickly turn their fortunes around and bring the Stanley Cup north of the border.
Philadelphia Flyers
They made it to the playoffs with the most points in a season since 2011. They have a strong team up front that is fast and physical, yet they can’t keep the puck out of their own net. The Flyers have strong veteran players with a mix of promising youth like Ivan Provorov and Nolan Patrick. They have 17 million in projected cap space which they can use to address their weakness and perhaps pursue some big free agents to boost them beyond the first round.
Next: NHL Mailbag: Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals, free agency predictions
The Stanley Cup is a tough trophy to win but the Washington Capitals have shown us what perseverance and dedication can do. Maybe another long streak will be snapped soon.