Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman): "I don't deserve this! To die like this!"
Will Munny (Clint Eastwood): "Deserve's got nothing to do with it!"
-- Unforgiven, 1992, directed by Eastwood
As I occasionally (but not annually, and usually not for each of the "Big Four" North American sports) do, I am ranking Playoff teams by how much they, and their fanbases, deserve to win a World Championship. This time, the NHL and the Stanley Cup.
16. Tampa Bay Lightning, Atlantic Division 2nd place.
May Deserve It Because: I can't think of a single reason why, although they did manage to prove, before the Florida Panthers started winning Cups, that Floridians can embrace hockey.
May Not Deserve It Because: They're in Florida. Besides, they won the Cup fairly recently, in 2020 and 2021. Corey Perry is a hockey lifer who lost in the Finals in 2020 with the Stars, 2021 with the Canadiens, and 2024 and '25 with the Oilers. But he has won the Cup, all the way back in 2007 with the Ducks. So he's not a "He really deserves it" guy. Nor is Victor Hedman: He won those 2 Cups with the Lightning, and lost the Finals with them in 2015. Nor is Ryan McDonagh: He won those 2 Cups with the Lightning, and also made the Finals with the 2014 Rangers. He might be playing to make a difference in whether or not he gets to the Hall of Fame, but that's not reason enough to root for the Lightning. A Ranger fan might root for him, but since when do I care what they want?
15. Vegas Golden Knights, Pacific Division Champions.
May Deserve It Because: I can't think of a good reason.
May Not Deserve It Because: The Knights won only in 2023, so it's way too soon. There's no clear player who deserves it. Las Vegas is supposedly a liberal city, but it usually isn't enough to turn Nevada away from being a Red State. And for other reasons, Vegas doesn't deserve a team.
14. Boston Bruins, Eastern Conference Wild Card.
May Deserve It Because: Boston is a liberal city in a Blue State. And the Bruins are one of the great historical teams, one of the misnamed "Original Six."
May Not Deserve It Because: Boston has spent the better part of the 21st Century winning sports championships by cheating, and the most recent Beantown Brats team to win the Cup, the 2011 team that played dirty and let the ice melt to slow the Vancouver Canucks down, was no exception. And that's not an especially long wait, especially given the 1941-70 and 1972-2011 droughts they had. And their leading veterans -- Viktor Arvidsson, Sean Kuraly and Elias Lindholm? Not exactly a compelling story there, for any of them.
Bruins? Screw 'em.
13. Pittsburgh Penguins, Metropolitan Division 2nd place.
May Deserve It Because: Pittsburgh is a liberal city. Erik Karlsson has waited a long time for his 1st trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. That's about it.
May Not Deserve It Because: Pittsburgh was unable to turn Pennsylvania away from being a Red State. Also, historically, the Penguins are a dirty team. Also, screw Sidney Crosby.
12. Philadelphia Flyers, Metropolitan Division 3rd place.
May Deserve It Because: Philadelphia is a great city, a liberal city. The Flyers haven't won since 1975. Luke Glendening and Sean Couturier have played a long time, and deserve a shot at the title.
May Not Deserve It Because: Philadelphia was unable to turn Pennsylvania away from being a Red State. Also, historically, the Flyers are a dirty team. That may not be the case anymore, but they're still The Philth.
11. Dallas Stars, Central Division 2nd place.
May Deserve It Because: The Stars haven't won the Cup since 1999. And they've proven that Texans can embrace hockey. Jamie Benn has been with the Stars since 2009, and reached the Finals with them but lost in 2020.
May Not Deserve It Because: Dallas is a conservative city in one of the reddest of Red States. And 1999 isn't that long a drought.
10. Carolina Hurricanes, Metropolitan Division Champions, Eastern Conference regular-season Champions.
May Deserve It Because: They've been the best team in the East all season, but that's about it.
May Not Deserve It Because: While Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill is a more liberal area than the Charlotte area, North Carolina is still a Red State. The 'Canes last won the Cup in 2006, which is 20 years, and there are plenty of teams with longer droughts. There's no really deserving player: Captain Jordan Staal already won the Cup with the 2009 Penguins, and William Carrier with the 2023 Golden Knights. Maybe there's no great reason to root against them, but neither is there a compelling reason to root for them.
9. Colorado Avalanche, Central Division Champions, Western Conference regular-season Champions, Presidents' Trophy winners for best overall regular-season record in the NHL.
May Deserve It Because: Denver is a liberal city, making Colorado a Blue State. Theoretically, the best team should win it. But there's almost a "curse" on the President's Trophy: Since the Blackhawks won it and the Stanley Cup in 2013, no winner of the President's Trophy has even reached the Stanley Cup Finals.
May Not Deserve It Because: The Avs won it in 2022. That's too recent. And there's no obvious guy on the current team who wasn't on that Cup team and really deserves it.
8. Anaheim Ducks, Pacific Division 3rd place.
May Deserve It Because: California is a Blue State. Mikael Granlund and Chris Kreider have played a long time without having won the Cup.
May Not Deserve It Because: Orange County is a conservative part of the State. The Ducks last won in 2007, which is not that long a drought. Kredier was a Ranger for 13 years, so the heck with him. And it's not as if the Los Angeles area needs 2 teams.
Speaking of which:
7. Los Angeles Kings, Western Conference Wild Card.
May Deserve It Because: Los Angeles is a liberal city in a Blue State. Anže Kopitar is retiring after this, his 20th season.
May Not Deserve It Because: The Kings last won in 2014, which is not a long drought. They also won in 20212. Kopitar, the 1st native of Slovenia to play in the NHL, played on both of those teams. Drew Doughty is also a holdover from those teams. (Jonathan Quick, the goaltender, just retired, finishing his career with the Rangers.)
And the city has won recent titles with the Dodgers, the Rams, the Lakers, the Sparks, the Galaxy and LAFC. Throw in the Kings and the Ducks, and, between them, in the last 20 years, those teams have won 15 titles. And while there was urgency for the Kings to do it in 2012 -- they had never won before, and the Ducks had won it down the Freeway -- there sure isn't now.
6. Utah Mammoth, Western Conference Wild Card.
May Deserve It Because: Utah has never won a Championship, unless you count the 1971 ABA Champion Utah Stars and the 2009 MLS Cup Champion Real Salt Lake. The Mammoth making the Playoffs in only their 2nd season is certainly worthy of admiration.
May Not Deserve It Because: It's only their 2nd season. True, the franchise has been around for a long time: They were the Winnipeg Jets from 1972 to 1996, then the Phoenix and Arizona Coyotes until 2024. While they won 3 WHA Championships as the Jets, since entering the NHL in 1979, the franchise has never been to a Stanley Cup Finals, and only 1 Conference Final (in 2012 as the Phoenix Coyotes). But you root for a team, not a franchise, and I doubt anybody in Manitoba or Arizona cares about what the team is now doing in Utah. And there's no clearly deserving player.
5. Edmonton Oilers, Pacific Division 2nd place.
May Deserve It Because: They're in Canada, and a Canadian team winning it would tick off NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. And then there's Connor McDavid. He's not a kid anymore: He's 29 and he's already scored 361 goals. And he's been to the Finals twice.
May Not Deserve It Because: Alberta is Canada's Texas, and Edmonton is more conservative than Calgary. On the other hand, it's still Canada, so maybe we can give them a pass on this.
4. Montreal Canadiens, Atlantic Division 3rd place.
May Deserve It Because: Montreal is a great city. It's a liberal city, in a liberal Province. Also, they're in Canada, and a Canadian team winning it would tick off NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. No Canadian team has won it since... the Canadiens themselves, in 1993. That's 33 years. That's a third of a century.
To put it another way: Since the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup, a Canadian team has won the World Series (barely, the Toronto Blue Jays 4 months later), a Canadian team has won the NBA Championship (the 2019 Toronto Raptors), and an American team has won the Grey Cup (the championship of the Canadian Football League, the 1994 Baltimore Stallions, and the CFL has since restructured so that this is no longer possible).
May Not Deserve It Because: The Canadiens may not have won since 1993, but they have still won more Stanley Cups than any other team: 24. Indeed, that's more World Championships than any other North American sports team except the Yankees with 27. The next-best? The Boston Celtics with 18. So of the Canadian teams in the League, it can be argued that the "Habs" deserve it the least.
And there's no true "He deserves it" guy: Their oldest player is only 33, Phillip Danualt, and while he was a rookie that season and did not appear in the Playoffs, he was a member of the Cup-winning 2015 Blackhawks. He also lost in the Finals with the Habs in 2021. Brendan Gallagher is also 33, and has been in Montreal since 2013, so maybe "the guy" is him.
3. Minnesota Wild, Central Division 3rd place.
May Deserve It Because: Both Minneapolis and St. Paul are liberal cities, and help keep Minnesota a liberal State. They've suffered awfully under the fat bastard and his murdering ICE thugs. Also, between the North Stars (1967-1993) and the Wild (2000-present), Minnesota has never won the Stanley Cup. Brothers Nick and Marcus Foligno are on the team, and, between them and their father, former Sabres star Mike Foligno, the family has been trying to win the Cup since 1980.
May Not Deserve It Because: I can't think of a good one, unless you count the dumb team name (not "Wildcats," not "Wild Dogs," not even "Wild Things," just "Wild") and the weird logo.
2. Ottawa Senators, Eastern Conference Wild Card.
May Deserve It Because: They're in Canada, and a Canadian team winning it would tick off NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. The Senators have been to the Finals only once since their 1992 re-establishment, in 2007. The last Ottawa team to win a title was the original Senators, in 1927 -- 99 years.
Claude Giroux has been in the NHL since 2008, and reached the Finals but lost with the 2010 Flyers. Goalie James Reimer has been in the NHL since 2011, and reached the Finals but lost with the 2016 San Jose Sharks.
May Not Deserve It Because: I can't think of a good reason. Their odd status as a restored team means their fans have waited longer for a Cup, and at the same time they haven't. The Ottawa Senators are undergoing Schrödinger's drought.
1. Buffalo Sabres, Atlantic Division Champions.
May Deserve It Because: Buffalo is a liberal city, helping to keep New York a liberal State. They have played 56 seasons (well, 55, but I'm counting the cancelled 2004-05 season), and have never won the Cup. Head coach Lindy Ruff is a hockey lifer, and between playing and coaching, his only close call with the Cup was in his 1st coaching tenure with the Sabres, reaching the 1999 Finals. And while the Sabres still would have had to win a Game 7 on the road if the right call had been made, there is still the feeling that the Sabres got robbed.
May Not Deserve It Because: There isn't really a "He really deserves it" guy on the roster. One player on it has won the Cup before: Tanner Pearson with the 2014 Kings.
So the Buffalo Sabres deserve to win the Stanley Cup the most. It makes sense: Of the NHL's active teams, they've waited longer to do it than any other team, except the Vancouver Canucks, who have also been playing since 1970, and have never won. And since the Canucks didn't make the Playoffs this time, that, as much as anything else, puts the Sabres atop the "most deserving" list.
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