The 9 Best NHL Players Who Never Won A Stanley Cup

There isn’t a single sports trophy in existence that’s more iconic than the Stanley Cup, and every single person who’s skated in an NHL game has dreamed about getting the chance to hoist it above their head at some point. Unfortunately, most of them will never get that opportunity.

More than 1,300 NHL players have earned the right to have their name engraved on the Stanley Cup, the storied piece of hardware that was first handed out all the way back in 1892.

That includes plenty of legends who cemented their legacy by contributing to a title run, but that’s obviously easier said than done—as evidenced by the number of former stars who were forced to accept a Stanley Cup victory was never in the cards before retiring.

Before we dive in, I should note I’m only including players who’ve hung up their skates and not considering any Stanley Cup wins linked to their role as a front-office executive after their playing days ended.

Without further ado…

Joe Thornton

Joe Thornton made his NHL debut with the Bruins in 1997 after Boston selected him with the first overall pick in the NHL Draft this year, but he spent the bulk of his 24-year NHL career with the Sharks before trying to chase a Stanley Cup during one-year stints with the Maple Leafs and Panthers.

The 6’4″ center known as “Jumbo Joe” racked up 430 goals and 1,109 assists in the 1,714 regular-season games he played in, and came up short in his one and only Stanley Cup Final appearance when San Jose fell to the Penguins in six games in 2016.

He does have the distinction of growing one of the best beards in NHL history, but that’s not exactly the best consolation prize.

Jarome Iginla

Jarome Iginla played for five different teams during an NHL career that spanned 20 seasons, but he’s best known for what he achieved as a member of the Flames.

His only Stanley Cup Final appearance came in 2004 when Calgary faced off against Tampa Bay in a series the Lightning won in seven games (there was plenty of debate about a play that would have given the Flames a 3-2 lead in the third period of Game 6 in a series where they were up by the same margin, but it was ultimately a non-factor).

Iginla played in 1,554 regular-season games and scored 625 goals while adding 675 assists by the time he retired in 2017, but the six-time All-Star (who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2020) never got the chance to raise the Stanley Cup.

Henrik Lundqvist

Henrik Lundqvist spent the entirety of his 15-year NHL career as the goaltender for the Rangers, who he joined in 2005 after a string of standout seasons for a pro team in his native Sweden.

One of the most handsome men to ever don an NHL uniform posted a 459-310-96 record in the 887 games he was in net for and ended up with a .918 save percentage and a 2.43 GAA.

We have yet another player who only made it to the Stanley Cup Final a single time, and he posted a .923 save percentage when the Rangers met the Kings in 2014.

Unfortunately, New York was never able to get things clicking in a series where it lost all three games that went into overtime—including the Game 5 defeat where Los Angeles sealed the deal.

Pavel Bure

Russia has produced a number of superstars who took the NHL by storm and ended up winning a Stanley Cup. Pavel Bure was able to check that first box, but the same cannot be said about the second.

The speedy forward was drafted by the Canucks, who got an absolute steal when they selected him with the 113th overall pick in 1989 at a time when NHL teams were hesitant to draft players from the Soviet Union because they needed to defect in order to suit up.

Vancouver eventually cut a deal with the USSR that led to Bure making his NHL debut in 1991 to usher in a 12-year career where he played for the Canucks, Panthers, and Rangers.

He was an All-Star in seven of them and led the league in goals in back-to-back years starting in 2001, but a Stanley Cup was never in the cards; he made it to the Final with the Canucks in 1994, but they lost to the Rangers in seven games.

Patrick Marleau

Joe Thornton played the second-most games of any NHL player who failed to win a Stanley Cup, and Patrick Marleau has the fairly dubious distinction of having the top spot on that list.

Marleau also appeared in more NHL games than any other player in the history of the league (he surpassed the record that was previously held by Gordie Howe in 2021) with 1,179 regular-season tilts under his belt when he retired.

The forward spent the vast majority of his 23 seasons in the NHL with the Sharks (he also had brief stints with the Penguins and Maple Leafs while unsuccessfully attempting to get the Stanley Cup he failed to win in San Jose).

Marleau was teammates with Thornton when the Sharks lost to the Penguins in the final in 2016, which was also the only time he managed to make it that far.

Adam Oates

Adam Oates spent time with seven different teams during his 19-year NHL career. The forward ended up playing 1,337 regular-season games while tallying 379 goals but was best known for the selfless passing ability that helped him accrue 1,079 assists.

His first Stanley Cup Final appearance came when the Capitals faced off against the Red Wings in 1998 before Detroit pulled off the sweep. He returned as a member of the Ducks in 2003, and while that series ended up going to seven games, the Devils emerged victorious.

Mats Sundin

Mats Sundin spent the first four years of his 18-year NHL career with the Quebec Nordiques before heading to Toronto to kick off an impressive tenure where he set the franchise record for most points (987) and most goals (420) prior to closing things out with a one-year stint with the Canucks.

The man who appeared in 1,346 regular-season games made the Stanley Cup Playoffs ten times but never got a taste of the final round.

Marcel Dionne

This one is a bit of a throwback, but you could very easily argue there isn’t a single player on this list who was better than Marcel Dionne.

As you may be able to surmise from his name, Dionne hailed from Quebec and made a name for himself there as a junior player before Detroit selected him with the second overall pick in 1971.

He made his debut that season and ended up playing for 18 seasons with the Red Wings, Kings, and Rangers.

Dionne was an eight-time All-Star who won the Art Ross Trophy in 1980 and finished his career with 731 goals and 1,040 assists in 1,348 regular-season games. However, he never even made it to a Stanley Cup Final or conference final.

Roberto Luongo

This one comes with an asterisk, as Roberto Luongo had his name engraved on the Stanley Cup after the Panthers won in 2024 due to his contributions in the front office as a special advisor to GM Bill Zito.

However, he was never able to get over the hump as a player despite being one of the best (and most entertaining) goaltenders in the league during a career where he played for 19 seasons with the Islanders, Panthers, and Canucks.

The Hall of Famer is one of just four goalies in NHL history to appear in more than 1,000 regular-season games (he retired after 1,044).

The other three—Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy, and Marc-Andre Fleury—all got a Stanley Cup as a player.

However, the man who finished with a record of 489-392-33 (along with 91 ties), never got one, and the closest he came was the run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2011 that led to a riot in Vancouver after the Bruins beat the Canucks in Game 7.