The 7 Best Team Turnarounds in NHL History

Throughout the history of the NHL, there have been many teams to hoist the Stanley Cup. There have been only a few to make the turnaround from one of the worst in the league into champions. Of those that have, even fewer have been able to remain Cup contenders in the years that followed.

Taking into consideration how many years the teams were absent from the postseason before becoming Stanley Cup champions and whether they were able to remain contenders, from the days of the Original Six to modern times, we look at the seven best team turnarounds in the history of the NHL. 

No. 7 the Tampa Bay Lightning 1992-93 to 2003-04

Tampa came into the league with the Ottawa Senators as part of the 1992 expansion. They would fare marginally better than the Senators yet still miss the playoffs. Unlike most expansion teams, the Lightning gave their fans hope that a postseason run was not far off.

It wasn't. In their fourth season as a team, Tampa made the 1995-96 season playoffs, though they were defeated by the Flyers in the first round.

They would not make the playoffs again for another six seasons.

Being knocked out in the second round of the 2002-03 playoffs, the Lightning stunned everyone when the following season they bounced back and won the Cup. Since then, they have made the postseason three more times.

The sudden turnaround to win the Cup was followed with only a few appearances to the finals, placing them seventh on this list.

No. 6 the Chicago Blackhawks 1997-98 to 2009-10

As one of the Original Six teams, the Blackhawks have a long history and hold the record for the second-longest Cup drought at 49 years, behind the New York Rangers.

The 1997-98 season marked the first time in 29 years that the Blackhawks failed to make the playoffs.

They would remain consistently out of the postseason, with a brief exception in 2001-02. While never falling to last in the league, the Blackhawks struggled for the better part of a decade.

It would take them 11 seasons, and 12 years, before they would regain the respectability they once had.

Chicago failed to make the postseason for five consecutive years between the 2002-03 and 2007-08 seasons, not including the 2004-05 lockout year. The Blackhawks finished second in their division in the 2008-09 season, making it to the third round of the 2009 playoffs before being knocked out by Detroit.

The following year, the Blackhawks would win the Cup, ending their drought. They have made the playoffs in both seasons that have followed their Stanley Cup victory.

The sudden turnaround, marked with the last two seasons making the postseason, has earned them the sixth spot on this list.

No. 5 the Pittsburgh Penguins 2001-02 to 2008-09

The 2001-02 season marked the first time in 12 years that the Penguins would miss the postseason. The team had begun to fall apart in the later part of the 1990s.

After falling into bankruptcy in late 1998, Mario Lemieux, one of the team's biggest stars, would step up with a group of investors to buy the Penguins, as described in the Washington Post article. Even under his ownership and  return to play from 2000-2006, Lemieux could not save the Penguins, who were still struggling financially.

Much like they had in the 1980s, the Penguins began to rebuild through the draft. During these years of missing the playoffs, Pittsburgh would receive the first overall draft pick in 2003 and 2005 and the second overall pick in 2004.

These picks would be Marc-Andre Fleury, Evgeni Malkin, and Sidney Crosby. They would become the core of the Penguins success in the future.

The Penguins made a brief return to the postseason in the 2006-07 season. The next year, they would face the Red Wings for the Cup, losing in six games.

The team finally secured the franchise's third Cup in its third consecutive postseason appearance in 2008-09 against the Red Wings, once again. They have since secured their place in the playoffs each year.

The six consecutive years making the postseason since their most recent absence, and the competitive nature of the team has placed them fifth on this list.

No. 4 the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche 1987-88 to 1995-96

As one of the teams that came into the NHL from the WHA for the 1979-80 season, the Nordiques did not perform horribly, making the playoffs seven times between 1979-80 and 1986-87.

The team collapsed in the 1987-88 season and would spend the next five years at the bottom of their division.

They obtained the No. 1 draft pick once more in 1991, where they would choose Eric Lindros. However, Lindros had publicly announced that he would not play for Quebec, listing a number of reasons that Sport Illustrated touched on in 1992.

After finally obtaining a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers before the 1992-93 season that brought in several key players that would help transform the Nordiques, they finished that season second in their division.

They would be knocked out of the playoffs that season and miss the postseason the following year. Only to return the following season, an early exit would prove to be the end of the Nordiques. Citing financial problems and lack of government help, as seen in the Maclean's Magazine article, the Nordiques were sold and moved to Colorado for the 1995-96 season.

That season, the newly-renamed Avalanche would win the Stanley Cup. Since then, they have won the Cup once more and have only missed the postseason three times since their move.

The Lindros trade turned this franchise around, and even with the move they managed to win the Cup in their first year as the Avalanche. That Cup coupled with their repeated appearances and another Cup a few years later is what placed the Avalanche fourth on this list.

No. 3 Chicago Black Hawks 1946-47 to 1960-61

After the death of the Black Hawks owner Fredric McLaughlin in 1944, ownership passed to Bill Tobin, who was believed to have been a puppet to the Red Wings owner James E. Norris, as discussed here.

Until the late 1950s, Chicago was largely ignored and served to bolster the Red Wings team.

During this period the Black Hawks would miss the playoffs 11 times out of 12 seasons. By the 1958-59 season, Chicago was under new management and would make its first appearance in the finals in five years.

They would lose to the Canadiens twice, once in 1958-59 and again in 1959-60 before their third consecutive playoffs trip, where they met Montreal once more. After having been swept in the series the year before, expectations were low for the Black Hawks.

They would, however, win the Cup for the 1960-61 season, defeating the Canadiens 4-2 in the semifinals and the Red Wings 4-2 in the final series.

The Black Hawks would remain a fixture in the postseason for the next 29 seasons, during which time they would change their name into the standardized one-word version it is today.

Going from an afterthought of Bill Tobin to Stanley Cup champions, added to the nearly three decades of postseason appearances since, the Black Hawks earned the third place on this list. 

No 2 the Boston Bruins 1959-60 to 1969-70

The Boston Bruins were another team to see struggles during the end of the Original Six era. They would miss the playoffs every year from 1959-60 to 1967-68.

Those years would mark the longest playoff drought in Bruins history.

Boston, unlike the other five teams, had a fairly weak farm team. Rather than develop talent in the minors, they went after players not protected by other teams or would sign players from the minors.

By 1964 the Bruins were sold back to Weston Adams, former team president and son of the original owner Charles Adams. He began to rebuild the team upon regaining ownership and brought in one of the team's greatest players in 1966, defenceman Bobby Orr.

The Bruins would finally end their playoff absence in the 1967-68 season, only to be knocked out by Montreal. The next year, they would once more be defeated by the Canadiens, this time in the second round.

In the 1969-70 season, Boston would go on to win the Cup, defeating the St. Louis Blues in the Finals. They would repeat their Stanley Cup victory in 1971-72, giving them two Cups in three years. The Bruins would continue to make postseason appearances until the 1996-97 season.

Managing to come back from years of mismanagement to win two Cups in three years and being a threat to win more for more than 20 years placed the Bruins at number two.

No. 1 the Pittsburgh Penguins 1982-83 to 1990-91

By 1982-83 the team had fallen to its first of two consecutive years at the bottom of the league. The 1983-84 season saw some controversy, as the Penguins made some questionable moves that hurt them in the short term.  They had been in second-last above the New Jersey Devils, but after a losing streak late in the season, they once again sat last in the league.

This would be a pivotal move in the franchise's history, as the 1984 draft was topped by future superstar Mario Lemieux. The Pittsburgh coach later admitted to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that it had been a conscious decision to tank to obtain Lemieux.

Lemieux paid off for the Penguins, as on his first NHL shift he scored his first goal.

It would take another four years for Pittsburgh to make the playoffs again. It was the 1988-89 season that brought the Penguins back to the postseason. They would be defeated in the second round by the Flyers that year.

The following year saw an injury to Lemieux, an incident that would play a large role in the Penguins missing the playoffs for the only time between the 1988-89 and 2001-02 seasons.

The 1990-91 season saw two of their drafted youth in Mark Recchi and Jaromir Jagr join Lemieux. The team would go on to win back-to-back Stanley Cups and remain contenders for the next decade.

The fact they missed the playoffs the season before winning back-to-back championships before being a dominant team for more than a decade is what has gained them first place.

Honorable Mentions

While the teams that made the list would turn their team around within a few years of floundering at the bottom, they would also continue to make regular postseason appearances. These three teams were strong contenders but in the end did not make this list. Like those that made the list, they also had fairly sudden turnarounds. Taking longer to do so is what eventually excluded them from the list.

Anaheim Ducks from 1993-94 to 2006-07

They would only make four post season appearances, winning the Cup once. Since their 2006-07 Cup victory, they have made the playoffs three times in five seasons.

New York Islanders 1972-73 to 1979-80

Only missing the playoffs twice since they joined the league, the Islanders would finally raise the Stanley Cup in 1979-80. They would go on to win three more for a total of four consecutive Stanley Cup Victories.

Toronto St. Pats/Maple Leafs 1922-23 to 1931-32

During these years the St. Pats/Maple Leafs would only make four appearances in the playoffs before winning the Cup in 1931-32. They would make it to the finals the next year, losing to the Rangers. They would not win another Cup until 1941-42