Which players are most deserving of winning the Stanley Cup?

One by one, the Florida Panthers skated with the Stanley Cup after winning Game 7 of last year's Final. It was a familiar feeling for some of those who had lifted it before, such as Carter Verhaeghe. But for the majority of the roster, this was their first time touching the chalice.

One of them was Kyle Okposo. "I almost retired, and they're a big reason why I didn't," he said of his teammates. "I wanted to have one more crack at it, and I just wanted to put myself in the best position to do this."

So after 17 seasons, 1,051 regular-season games and 41 more in the postseason, the 37-year-old finally achieved his NHL dream.

As the Panthers pushed for the championship, Okposo had become the playoffs' quintessential "Old Guy Without a Cup" whom fans rallied around. But simply having a work history and a long-ago draft year doesn't always portend Stanley Cup worthiness. There are other factors to consider, from how those players performed in postseasons past to how close they have come to raising the Cup.

We take everything into account in our Cup Worthiness Ratings (CWR), which seek to define the veteran and in-their-prime players most deserving of raising Stanley.

We began by taking active skaters whose teams are currently still in the playoffs with the greatest number of regular-season games played without having won the Stanley Cup, with 850 as the cutoff. There were 21 in total at the start, and we reverse-ranked them to award points; i.e., Ryan Suter played the most games (1,526) without winning a Cup, so he received 21 points.

We did the same for career playoff games and playoff points. We then added the number of years they've been in the league to that score -- something that also served as a tiebreaker between players with the same score.

It was Alfred, Lord Tennyson who wrote: "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." That love can also be bitter. Hence, we're factoring in how close a player has come to drinking from the chalice into their CWR.

If a player reached the conference final, they received five points for each appearance. If they reached the Stanley Cup Final, that was an additional 10 points. If they were traded by an eventual Stanley Cup-winning team (within the next two seasons) that was worth five points. (Please note that Claude Giroux's decision to leave the Panthers as a free agent before they won the Cup does not count.)

We wanted to factor in the prestige of a player in our rankings. Let's face it, there's more pressure on a star player to round out their "legacy" with a championship than there is for the rank and file. It was an issue for players such as Alex Ovechkin and Nathan MacKinnon before it wasn't anymore. Players like Connor McDavid are now experiencing the weight of that expectation. So, to that end, we added five points to the score if that player ever won an NHL award, using that as a mark of stardom.

We also gave 10 points to any player who won the Conn Smythe for playoff MVP in a losing effort in the Stanley Cup Final. Could you imagine how heartbreaking that would be?

With that, here are the top 10 veteran players (minimum 850 games) still in the 2025 postseason based on their CWR.

10. Matt Duchene, Dallas Stars

Age: 34
Cup Worthiness Rating: 53

For a point-per-game player, Duchene has been well-traveled in his career, seeing playoff action with the Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets, Nashville Predators and the Dallas Stars. (His time in Ottawa, not so much).

The 16-year veteran would be higher in this ranking were it not for his lack of postseason action (56 games) and only having had one trip to the conference finals, last year with Dallas.

9. John Tavares, Toronto Maple Leafs

Age: 34
Cup Worthiness Rating: 57

History will judge Tavares' decision to leave the New York Islanders for his beloved childhood team in Toronto back in 2018, and what that did to his proximity to the Stanley Cup. After all, the Islanders made the playoffs' second-to-last round twice after Tavares left, while he hasn't gotten out of the second round with the Leafs. But he had fifth most games played of the ones in this ranking, over a 16-year NHL career.

8. Adam Henrique, Edmonton Oilers

Age: 35
Cup Worthiness Rating: 70

Few players on this ranking have had the postseason moment Henrique had in the 2012 Eastern Conference finals, scoring an overtime goal to send the New Jersey Devils to the Stanley Cup Final in a win over the archrival Rangers. The Devils failed to win the Cup that season.

Henrique would get his second chance at the chalice with the Oilers in 2024, only to lose in Game 7 despite the team's rally from down 0-3. Factor in 993 regular-season games, and it has been a long wait for Henrique to have his name etched.

7. Charlie Coyle, Colorado Avalanche

Age: 33
Cup Worthiness Rating: 72

He might still look 23 in some photos, but Coyle has 950 regular-season games to his credit. He played in the conference finals and Stanley Cup Final for the Boston Bruins in 2019, losing the latter series to the St. Louis Blues in seven painful games. He would play 75 playoff games with the Bruins, ranking him fourth among the players on this list.

6. Evander Kane, Edmonton Oilers

Age: 33
Cup Worthiness Rating: 72

There's no denying Kane has put in the time (930 regular-season games in 15 seasons) and has been within reach of the chalice multiple times: three trips to the conference finals with the San Jose Sharks and Oilers, and last season's Stanley Cup Final ride with Edmonton.

5. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Edmonton Oilers

Age: 32
Cup Worthiness Rating: 75

The Nuge is another one of those players where it feels as if he were just drafted, rather than being a 14-year veteran who should break 1,000 games next season (959 so far). The Edmonton lifer watched as his franchise struggled to find its way before Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl started dragging the Oilers into championship contention.

The do-everything forward is exactly the kind of player who deserves to raise the Cup: one whom fans love and the rest of us slightly underappreciate.

4. Max Pacioretty, Toronto Maple Leafs

Age: 36
Cup Worthiness Rating: 78

Thanks to a variety of injuries, Pacioretty has played only 939 regular-season games over the course of 17 NHL seasons. But his rating was bolstered by three trips to the penultimate round of the playoffs with Montreal (2014) and Vegas (2020, 2021).

But most importantly, he earned the rare "traded away before his team won a championship" bonus points, as the Golden Knights shipped him to Carolina in July 2022 and then lifted the Stanley Cup the following June.

3. Ryan Suter, St. Louis Blues

Age: 40
Cup Worthiness Rating: 83

The active leader in games played (1,526, which is 19th all time), Suter actually isn't in the top 15 in playoff games for active players. His teams -- Nashville, Minnesota and Dallas -- didn't get out of the first round in nine of the 15 seasons in which the clubs qualified for the playoffs.

That said, he has played more postseason games than anyone else on this ranking (135) and made two trips to the conference finals with the Dallas Stars over the past two seasons.

2. Jamie Benn, Dallas Stars

Age: 35
Cup Worthiness Rating: 102

The Stars captain brings a win-at-all-costs physicality to the postseason, laying his body on the line -- and laying out others -- during some lengthy postseason runs in this career. Benn has played 1,192 regular-season games and another 107 in the playoffs.

He has made three treks to the conference finals, one of which ended in the Stanley Cup Final. Loved by his teammates and loathed by opposing fans, he would be the first to hoist the Cup should the Stars win it during his captaincy -- and he'll be a more-than-deserving recipient.

1. Brent Burns, Carolina Hurricanes

Age: 40
Cup Worthiness Rating: 110

There's no one else in the NHL quite like Brent Burns. He has played 21 seasons, making the transition from forward to defense and then excelling on the blue line. He's the current leader among active defensemen in points (910 in 1,497 games) during the regular season, and fourth in the playoffs (77).

He has been to the conference finals three times, and the Stanley Cup Final once. He has a year-round playoff beard and carries around a large bag filled with many mysterious items.

If he wins the Stanley Cup, it'll be a moment for one of the NHL's most grown-up kids to live out a hockey dream. And more importantly, it means he can introduce the Stanley Cup to the menagerie of animals at his 420-acre Texas ranch.

So those were the older guys looking to lift the Cup for the first time. What about the ones in their prime as far as games played who have yet to skate with Stanley?

Here are the top five players who are active in the playoffs, have appeared in under 850 career regular-season games and are seeking their first Cup win:

5. Tomas Hertl, Vegas Golden Knights

Age: 31
Cup Worthiness Rating: 51

The Vegas forward's 791 games were the most among the players in his ranking, amassing most of them during 11 seasons with the San Jose Sharks. He made two conference finals and the 2016 Stanley Cup Final with the Sharks, a franchise still looking for its first Cup win.

Holding him back a little in his Cup Worthiness Rating: He has only 48 points in 74 playoff games (0.64), which is a lower points-per-game average than in his regular-season career (0.69).

4. Miro Heiskanen, Dallas Stars

Age: 25
Cup Worthiness Rating: 53

The Stars defenseman was the beneficiary of some deep Dallas playoff runs, having made the conference finals three times and the Stanley Cup Final in 2020. So it's less about his time in the league -- 475 games over seven seasons -- and more about how close he has come to skating the Cup in his relatively short career.

3. Nate Schmidt, Florida Panthers

Age: 34
Cup Worthiness Rating: 58

An under-the-radar player as far as Cup droughts go, but one whose career has had its share of heartbreak.

Schmidt has played 741 regular-season games with the Capitals, Golden Knights, Jets and now the Panthers. He made the conference finals twice and the Stanley Cup Final once in 81 career playoff games.

But Schmidt earned valuable bonus points by being jettisoned by his team right before they won the Stanley Cup: The Capitals left him exposed in the 2017 expansion draft and he was selected by Vegas ... whom Washington would then defeat for the Cup the next season. Ouch! He also was traded by Vegas before it won the Cup, but that was out of range for consideration in our scoring.

2. Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers

Age: 29
Cup Worthiness Rating: 66

When the Oilers falter in the playoffs, it's never because of Draisaitl. The 11-year NHL veteran is second in postseason goals (44) behind Nathan MacKinnon (51) since 2017, which was Draisaitl's first playoff year. Few players can say they've been better than a point-per-game pace in every playoff season they've had, but Draisaitl can. Plus, he has earned the reputation for gutting through injuries in the playoffs and still excelling.

He received a points boost for last season's trip to the Stanley Cup Final and his Hart Trophy win. He's worthy ... but someone else he knows is a bit worthier.

1. Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

Age: 28
Cup Worthiness Rating: 74

Heavy is the head that wears the crown. McDavid is considered to be the best hockey player in the world. He has multiple scoring titles and MVP awards. But he doesn't have a Cup.

So that puts McDavid in the precarious position that Alex Ovechkin and MacKinnon most recently found themselves in: legendary players whose lack of team success threatens to put a asterisk on their likely Hall of Fame careers.

McDavid made the conference finals in 2022 and then made the leap to the Stanley Cup Final last season, rallying his team from an 0-3 hole to nearly take the championship. He has more postseason points than anyone in this ranking (127 in 79 games). We even had to create a special category to underscore his frustration, awarding five points to the only active player who won the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP in a losing effort.

One day, he'll lift the Cup. The best ones always do. And he's the best of the best.

We've covered the veteran skaters and the younger skaters. That's a lot of skaters. There's another position on the ice that has some Cup-worthy competitors, and that's in the crease.

Here's a short list of the highest-rated goalies in CWR who are still active. For the netminders, we went with regular-season games, seasons in the league, playoff appearances, postseason wins, conference finals and Stanley Cup Final appearances, NHL awards and whether they were traded right before a team won the Cup.

3. Frederik Andersen, Carolina Hurricanes

Age: 35
Cup Worthiness Rating: 21

Andersen made us briefly wonder if there should be bonus points for anyone who suffered through multiple playoff runs with the Leafs. Four of his 10 playoff seasons were in Toronto, all of them ending in the first round and earning him the expected blame from fans.

In the end, there are a couple of goalies who have a little more hardware and late playoff appearances that tipped the scales in the ratings system, but there are few players more worthy of raising the Cup than Andersen, both in longevity but also in having played through a variety of ailments.

2. Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets

Age: 35
Cup Worthiness Rating: 25

Admittedly, it's difficult to anoint a goalie as "Cup-worthy" when he has been seen as a liability for three straight postseasons. But Hellebuyck has 21 wins in 50 playoff games, and is fifth among active goalies in games played (568).

Put it this way: Given Hellebuyck's struggles in the playoffs, if the Jets win the Cup he'll probably have earned it.

1. Jake Oettinger, Dallas Stars

Age: 26
Cup Worthiness Rating: 31

Oettinger is much younger and less experienced than the other goalies on this list, to be sure. But the comprehensive evaluation and inarguable methodology of the Cup Worthiness Rating puts him first because of his postseason heartbreak.

His NHL debut was in the 2020 playoffs, appearing in Dallas's conference finals win over Vegas and their Stanley Cup Final loss to Tampa Bay. He appeared in two subsequent conference finals as well. What Oettinger lacks in experience he makes up for in having the ring having been just out of his reach. Like the rest of the Dallas Stars, he's Cup-worthy.