7 NHL Teams That Must Blow It Up If They Can't Win the Stanley Cup Next Season

It's louder in some places than others. But make no mistake, every general manager in every NHL city hears it: The insistent ticking that only goes away for one of two reasons.

Either their team has won the Stanley Cup and it's time to celebrate; or it hasn't, and it's time to blow things up.

The B/R hockey team focused on the latter scenario in its latest get-together, during which it compiled a list of the teams most likely to go nuclear if they end the 2024-25 season without a hoist.

Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the comments.

Lots of NHL general managers would like to have the Boston gig.

After all, the Bruins have made the playoffs in eight straight seasons, won a pair of division titles and earned the Presidents' Trophy twice while doing so.

They've not won the whole thing, though. And outside of a seven-game loss to St. Louis in the Stanley Cup Final in 2019, they haven't made it beyond the second round, either.

So to suggest there's some pressure in 2024-25 isn't exactly hyperbole.

It'll be the final year on the contract of team captain Brad Marchand, who, at 36, has now posted two straight 67-point seasons after a run of six in a row in which he was a point-per-game player.

That's not to say the franchise's lack of a parade since 2011 (Marchand's first full year in the NHL) is his fault, but his exit could be a sign of incendiary things to come.

The Carolina Hurricanes have been the NHL's undisputed champions of summer.

Coach Rod Brind'Amour's team was swept out of the Eastern Conference Final by the Florida Panthers in 2023 but entered the subsequent offseason as a consensus favorite among betting types, including the folks at DraftKings, which made them a +800 pick in August.

It didn't work out.

The Hurricanes were plenty good with 111 points and a third overall finish behind only Dallas and the New York Rangers in 2023-24, but a six-game loss to the Rangers ended the sixth straight season in which they'd reached the playoffs but not won a game past Round 2.

No fewer than 10 players now on the roster will be on track for unrestricted free agency after season No. 7, including 30-plus defensemen Dmitry Orlov and Brent Burns, which means by the time training camp opens for No. 8, the climate in Raleigh may have changed a bit.

OK, let's be honest here.

Even if things go terrifically well for the Los Angeles Kings in 2024-25, they still might not win.

They had missed the playoffs in three straight seasons before their most recent return to relevance, which has included a 100-point average over three subsequent seasons, though each has ended with a first-round exit courtesy of the Edmonton Oilers.

GM Rob Blake pulled off an early-summer miracle by trading Pierre-Luc Dubois and his albatross contract to Washington for Cup-winning goalie Darcy Kuemper, but free-agency defections elsewhere on the roster have dipped the team to a +2200 title prospect.

And if the forecast beyond next summer doesn't look markedly better, it might be time for Blake to adjust to life without the likes of Anze Kopitar, who'll be 37 when this season begins, and Drew Doughty, who'll be 35 in December and probably not interested in the idea of staying through 2027 with no chance at a third championship ring.

The New York Rangers may have a bit more runway than some other teams on this list.

None of their offensive difference-makers is on the verge of free agency, and considering the elder statesman of that group, 33-year-old winger Chris Kreider, popped in 39 goals and neared a career-best with 75 points, it's not likely age will be an immediate issue either.

But it is New York, which means patience is already a little thin.

Winning a Presidents' Trophy exactly 30 years after Mark Messier led the last victory parade through the "Canyon of Heroes" was nice, but there are only so many near-miss bites at the apple that'll be accepted before things get ugly at Madison Square Garden.

And about that free-agency thing. Goaltender Igor Shesterkin is entering the final year of his contract and could command eight figures annually, but the chances of him beginning 2025-26 in another uniform could ratchet up if a deep Cup run doesn't occur.

The transition in Tampa has already begun.

The Lightning made big headlines when they essentially exchanged Steven Stamkos for big-ticket free agent Jake Guentzel, who was signed for seven years at $9 million apiece while the long-time franchise stalwart skated off to Nashville.

GM Julien BriseBois still has plenty in the cupboard alongside his new prize, in the form of veteran Cup winners Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy, but the team has had two straight first-round flops since its run of three straight Cup Finals, and a third early exit (or complete playoff miss) won't make them seem any younger.

And given that each of them will be making at least $8 million through 2027, they may also start to seem like a luxury that a team in need of a makeover can no longer afford.

OK, they're only sixth on the list because of the alphabet. In reality, though, the Toronto Maple Leafs are poster boys for the "blow it up" concept.

Anyone with a hockey-card collection and a WiFi signal is aware that the franchise hasn't won a championship since the league had six teams, and passionate fans of the blue and white could also tell you how many playoff series they've won in the last 20 years.

One.

Still, it's not as if they haven't tried.

The team's core four offensive stars will each make better than $10 million this season, and its overall output of 298 goals was second in the league behind Colorado.

The Maple Leafs added veterans Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson to the blue line during free agency, too, and are sitting at +1300, according to DraftKings, making them the fourth betting choice on the board.

If it doesn't work out, though, stand back. The debris could spread for miles.

Will the real Winnipeg Jets please stand up?

The NHL's representatives of central Canada appeared at times to be one of the league's true powerhouses last season, taking a brief turn atop B/R's Power Rankings and winding up with a franchise-record (tying) 52 wins and tied for fourth overall among 32 teams.

But then the playoffs came, and the glee—thanks to a five-game loss to a team (Colorado) they'd swept during the regular season—vanished.

Goalie Connor Hellebuyck brought home a second career Vezina Trophy from awards night, and the seven-year extension he signed last fall runs through 2031, so his presence alone will always guarantee a certain level of resonance.

But given the free-agency exits of Tyler Toffoli and Sean Monahan this summer and the raft of players on track for decisions a year from now, another early departure from the tournament could mean wholesale changes.

Welcome to the coaching gig, Scott Arniel. No pressure.