When the Florida Panthers won their second straight Stanley Cup in June, it marked the first championship ring for veterans such as defenseman Nate Schmidt and center Tomas Nosek, each of whom joined the team last season.
Who might be next to end a long wait to skate a lap with Lord Stanley's hardware?
RotoWire.com, as part of our hockey betting analysis, used HockeyReference.com to find the best current players (must be on a roster for 2025-26) who have never won a Stanley Cup. We used career point shares to determine the most deserving players to win the 2026 Stanley Cup.
Best Active NHL Players Without A Stanley Cup
Rank, Player | Position | Team | Career Point Shares |
1. Brent Burns | D | Avalanche | 155.55 |
D | Penguins | 128.76 | |
3. John Tavares | C | Maple Leafs | 127.64 |
C | Oilers | 125.50 | |
5. Roman Josi | D | Predators | 120.91 |
G | Islanders | 118.14 | |
G | Jets | 115.14 | |
W | Senators | 114.77 | |
C | Oilers | 112.20 | |
10. Jamie Benn | W | Stars | 111.48 |
11. David Pastrnak | W | Bruins | 107.22 |
12. Artemi Panarin | W | Rangers | 99.25 |
13. Auston Matthews | C | Maple Leafs | 96.07 |
14. Cam Talbot | G | Red Wings | 94.42 |
G | Hurricanes | 94.01 | |
16. Matt Duchene | C | Stars | 93.60 |
17. John Gibson | G | Red Wings | 90.97 |
18. Mark Scheifele | C | Jets | 90.18 |
19. Dougie Hamilton | D | Devils | 89.47 |
20. Jacob Markstrom | G | Devils | 86.27 |
RotoWire.com, your home for the best sportsbook promo codes, assembled this list to see which veterans have contributed the most to their teams over their careers without a Stanley Cup to show for it.
Top Veterans Seeking First Stanley Cup
First on our list of players with the most point shares (155.5) without a Stanley Cup title is defenseman Brent Burns, who joined the Colorado Avalanche on a one-year deal in the offseason. Now entering his 22nd NHL season, Burns came closest to a championship ring in the 2015-16 season, when he was a stalwart on the San Jose Sharks when they lost the Cup final to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games. He spent the past three seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes, who have been very good but unable to get past the Panthers in two Eastern Conference finals (2023 and 2025).
At bet365 Sportsbook, as of Sept. 16, the Avs have +900 odds to win the Stanley Cup, tied with the Dallas Stars for fourth on the operator's board.
One of the three teams ahead of Colorado is the Oilers, at +750 odds, tied for second with Carolina and trailing only the Panthers (+600). And Edmonton is where you'll find two of the most prominent members of our list.
Three-time Hart Trophy winner Connor McDavid and fellow star forward Leon Draisaitl, himself a former Hart winner, pushed the Oilers to the Western Conference title each of the past two seasons, only for Edmonton to fall to Florida in both Cup finals.
McDavid has 125.5 career point shares, fourth on our list and 17th among active players. That's more than impressive for a player who won't turn 29 until the middle of the 2025-26 season.
Caesars Sportsbook has Edmonton as the favorite to take the West again, at +425 odds, just ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights (+450) and Avs (+480).
Other Standouts Longing For Title
There are five goaltenders vying to get off this list and earn their first Stanley Cup in 2025-26, led by three-time Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets.
Hellebuyck not only was named the league's top goalie again in 2024-25, he also earned the Hart Trophy, becoming the first goalie named league MVP since Montreal's Carey Price in 2014-15.
The Jets won the Presidents Trophy for the first time last year with 116 points, but NHL betting sites don't have Winnipeg as a top Cup contender for 2025-26. The Jets have odds varying from +1700 to +2500, depending on the operator, to win their first championship. Jets center Mark Scheifele has been with the franchise since the 2011-12 season and appears at No. 18 on our list, but he still awaits his first title.
Aside from the Oilers and Jets, four other teams have two players each on this list: The Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, New Jersey Devils and Dallas Stars.
These players are worth watching for fantasy hockey drafts this season. But will any of them finally lift the Stanley Cup over their heads in jubilation next June?
