It\u2019s OGWAC time, as we celebrate one of the best running subplots of any NHL postseason: The Old Guy Without a Cup. That grizzled veteran who\u2019s done it all over a long career, but has yet to get their name on the sport\u2019s most hallowed trophy. Can they finally win the big one? Will they run out of time? Will they get the first pass from the team captain, and if so, will they cry? Will we all cry?<\/p>\n
You know the drill. The greatest OGWAC story ever told was Ray Bourque back in 2001. Teemu Selanne\u2019s was pretty great. So was Lanny McDonald way back in 1989. Then again, we\u2019ve spent years pumping the tires of OGWAC legends like Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski, and they never got their happy endings. Nothing is promised in OGWAC world.<\/p>\n
Our criteria for being \u201cold\u201d remains the same as past years: An old player will be at least 33 years old when the Cup is awarded, and must have at least ten seasons of NHL experience. The older the better, and that\u2019s especially true if the player has had some agonizing near-misses in their history. Ideally, our candidates will be playing an important role for a team with a legitimate shot at winning it all.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll try to work in a candidate for as many teams as we can, and we\u2019ll limit ourselves to a max of three picks from any individual team. We\u2019ll start at 20 and work our way down to year\u2019s best OGWAC.<\/p>\n
20. Nic Dowd, Vegas Golden Knights<\/p>\n
We said we\u2019d try to get to as many teams as possible, and Dowd is our only option in Vegas. (According to his birth certificate, Mitch Marner is still an OGWAC in spirit only.)<\/p>\n
Dowd is in his 11th season and is about to turn 36, and has never been out of the second round. Worse, he\u2019s had a tendency to show up just a bit late to a Cup-winning party, debuting in Los Angeles two years after their two titles and then getting to Washington the year after they won theirs.<\/p>\n
19. Brandon Tanev, Utah Mammoth<\/p>\n
He\u2019s a relatively young OGWAC, in just his 11th season, but with Ian Cole and Nate Schmidt already having Cups, Tanev is our only option in Utah. He\u2019s been on some good teams over the years, including last year\u2019s Presidents\u2019 Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets, but hasn\u2019t been past the conference final yet.<\/p>\n
18. Viktor Arvidsson, Boston Bruins<\/p>\n
A classic \u201cOh right, he\u2019s on that team\u201d guy, which is an underrated subgenre of OGWAC narrative. He\u2019s just turned 33, but he\u2019s been to the final with both the Nashville Predators and Edmonton Oilers. He\u2019s trying his luck in the Eastern Conference this time, and was an underrated part of the Bruins\u2019 surprise season. He and Sean Kuraly are our only options in Boston, and it\u2019s hard to rank them all that high given the Bruins\u2019 underdog status.<\/p>\n
17. Adam Henrique, Edmonton Oilers<\/p>\n
I only have room for one Oiler, which is tough because they have a league-leading seven guys who qualify. That list includes Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who\u2019ll serve as this year\u2019s annual \u201cguy whose newfound OGWAC status makes us all feel really old.\u201d In the end, I think Edmonton\u2019s spot comes down to Henrique or Mattias Ekholm, and I went with the guy who\u2019s been around a bit longer. Fun fact: Henrique has only been to the playoffs four times, and he\u2019s either been swept or gone to the final each time.<\/p>\n
16. Sean Couturier, Philadelphia Flyers<\/p>\n
I triple-checked and yeah, he qualifies. At 33, Couturier is somehow already in his 14th NHL season. He\u2019s never had an especially deep run, and hasn\u2019t been in the postseason at all since the COVID bubble in 2020. Given some of the hurdles he\u2019s had to get past over the years, he could become a fun story if the Flyers can pull off an unexpected run.<\/p>\n
15. Jared Spurgeon, Minnesota Wild<\/p>\n
The Wild are stacked with OGWACs, so much so that a 38-year-old Jeff Petry didn\u2019t even come close to making their cut. Spurgeon does, thanks to 16 seasons and over 1,000 games, all of which have been with the Wild, so you know he\u2019s never had much in the way of playoff success.<\/p>\n
14. Jason Zucker, Buffalo Sabres<\/p>\n
You might figure that a team as lovable as the Sabres<\/a> would boast some solid candidates, but that\u2019s not really the case. It\u2019s still a relatively young roster, so the 34-year-old Zucker makes for a relatively easy pick over guys like Sam Carrick or Justin Danforth.<\/p>\n If we\u2019re being honest, the real OGWAC in Buffalo is Lindy Ruff, who\u2019s yet to win a Cup either as a player or head coach, including a near miss in 1999<\/a> that some Sabres fans may vaguely recall.<\/p>\n 13. Artemi Panarin, Los Angeles Kings<\/p>\n It\u2019s OK to admit you briefly forgot about this trade, since it happened right before the big news of the Olympics being cancelled<\/a>. The trade deadline OGWAC is a classic trope, and Panarin is close enough. He arrived in Chicago the year after they won their last Cup, and had some nice runs with the Rangers, but he\u2019s never been to the final at 34. He\u2019s not getting out of the first round this year, which is why I can\u2019t rank him any higher despite his star power.<\/p>\n 12. Brendan Gallagher, Montreal Canadiens<\/p>\n