Brent Burns (David Kirouac-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/939df7e8-c228-4b32-9efa-8f9f93b53e72.jpeg] Brent Burns (David Kirouac-Imagn Images) From the first day they strap on a pair of skates, aspiring NHL players dream of hoisting the Stanley Cup. When they make it to the league, the dream gets even closer. But championships can be elusive, and some NHL stars can play well into their 30s or even 40s while still striving to sip from the silver chalice. Not every NHL veteran without a Cup will get an opportunity to fulfill that childhood dream this spring, but a handful of them do. Last summer, the Florida Panthers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers]’ roster was rich with veterans who finally realized their Stanley Cup dreams, from Sergei Bobrovsky to Kyle Okposo, through Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Dmitry Kulikov and on down the line. Here’s a look at this year’s longest-tenured veterans who are looking for their storybook ending in 2025 and, for many, a boost that will help them maximize their bargaining power for next season. RYAN SUTER, ST. LOUIS BLUES, 1,526 GAMES At 40, Ryan Suter has been the oldest skater in the NHL this season, 54 days younger than goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. After signing in St. Louis [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues] on a one-year, league-minimum contract following his buyout by the Dallas Stars [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/dallas-stars], the 2003 seventh-overall pick appeared in all 82 games for the Blues and skated nearly 20 minutes a night. Suter’s 1,526 games played lead all active players, and he hasn’t missed a game since 2018. His personal ironman streak stands at 535 games [https://records.nhl.com/records/skater-records/seasons-and-games/most-consecutive-games-played-active-streak] and counting. But in 20 NHL seasons, Suter has not yet appeared in a Stanley Cup final. He has been getting closer — his longest runs to date came in his last two playoffs, when he got to the Western Conference final with Dallas. After the Blues’ storybook run through the second half of the season, Suter now gets another chance to see if this is the year. Cam Fowler is another veteran St. Louis defender who’s looking to make the most of this opportunity. At 33, the longtime Anaheim Duck [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/anaheim-ducks] has 1,042 games on his resume. With 36 points in 51 games since his December trade to St. Louis, he has been a crucial addition to the Blues’ top pair. Under contract for one more year, Fowler is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2017. His best playoff run came in 2015, when the Ducks lost to the Chicago Blackhawks [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks] in the Western Conference final. BRENT BURNS, CAROLINA HURRICANES, 1,495 GAMES With 923 consecutive games played, Brent Burns is the NHL’s reigning active ironman and the only man ahead of his fellow quadragenarian, Suter. Burns has been to the Stanley Cup final once, putting up 24 points in 24 games before the San Jose Sharks [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/san-jose-sharks] fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins] in 2016. With 120 total playoff games, Burns also reached the Western Conference final with the Sharks in 2019 and the Eastern Conference final with the Carolina Hurricanes [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/carolina-hurricanes] in 2023. The Hurricanes are making their seventh straight playoff appearance – one of the NHL’s longest active streaks. With free agency looming for the bearded one, is this the year that Carolina finally puts it all together and raises the Cup for the second time in franchise history? CLAUDE GIROUX, OTTAWA SENATORS, 1,262 GAMES As a 22-year-old, Claude Giroux put up 21 points in 23 games during the Philadelphia Flyers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers]’ Cinderella run to the 2010 Stanley Cup final. He’s been trying to get back ever since, but his last attempt fizzled in the second round when he joined the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Panthers for their 2022 playoffs – a couple of years too early, as it turned out. Now, at 37, Giroux is back where he grew up in Canada’s Capital Region. This spring, he’ll chase the Cup in front of an Ottawa Senators [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/ottawa-senators] fan base that’s thrilled to finally put its seven-year playoff drought to bed in just the second season under new owner Michael Andlauer. Giroux is also on the cusp of free agency, finishing out the three-year deal he signed with Ottawa in 2022. JAMIE BENN, DALLAS STARS, 1,191 GAMES The pattern continues. At 35, Jamie Benn is in the final season of the eight-year extension that he signed all the way back in 2016. His Art Ross Trophy days are nearly a decade in the rearview mirror, and he has been excruciatingly stuck on 399 career goals for more than a month. But since Benn took over the captaincy from Brenden Morrow in 2013, his Stars have gone to the Stanley Cup final in the 2020 bubble and, more recently, had back-to-back appearances in the final four. The Stars’ Matt Duchene also sits high on the list of Cupless vets at 1,137 games. After making his first-career trip to a Conference final last year, he re-upped with Dallas in hopes of finishing the job. This season, Duchene has played some of his best hockey, cracking the 80-point mark for just the second time in his 16 years. NHL Playoffs: Skinner, Tkachuk Headline New Faces To Watch In The Cup Chase [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/eb21b39f-7736-40bf-8b18-fe6a50e6cf70.jpeg] NHL Playoffs: Skinner, Tkachuk Headline New Faces To Watch In The Cup Chase With just over a week to go in the 2024-25 NHL regular season, our 16 playoff competitors look about set. [https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/nhl-playoffs-skinner-tkachuk-headline-new-faces-to-watch-in-the-cup-chase] JOHN TAVARES, TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS, 1,183 GAMES For every pundit who predicted that John Tavares’ seven-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs] would be an albatross in its later stages, the 34-year-old silenced them with yet another point-per-game campaign, ace face-off work and 18 reliable minutes a night under new taskmaster coach Craig Berube, consistent with his ice-time average in Toronto. Both team and player have indicated they’d like to continue the relationship, but as always, the Leafs’ future plans will hinge on their playoff results. Though he ceded the captaincy to Auston Matthews last summer, Tavares might end up being named a Leaf for Life if he and his teammates can find a way to erase the curse of 1967 this spring. JAMES VAN RIEMSDYK, COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS, 1,081 GAMES He’s not in yet. But the fact that James van Riemsdyk could still qualify for the playoffs with the Columbus Blue Jackets [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/columbus-blue-jackets] after 81 games deserves a mention. Just a few weeks before he turns 36, van Riemsdyk has played an important leadership role in Columbus as part of the feel-good story of the season. The Blue Jackets refuse to go away, and he has been skating in the top six while chipping in five points in his last four games. In 16 NHL campaigns, van Riemsdyk has only made the playoffs eight times so far. His best run came all the way back in his rookie year, with Giroux on the 2010 Flyers team that fell to the Blackhawks. Signed to his second-straight one-year deal at a bargain-basement rate, van Riemsdyk has shown he can still make a meaningful contribution at the NHL level. CONNOR HELLEBUYCK, WINNIPEG JETS, 567 GAMES Approaching age 32 with six years to play on his current contract, Connor Hellebuyck’s situation is different from most of the players on this list. He still has plenty of runway left to chase a Cup. But as the favorite to win his third-career Vezina while part of a Presidents’ Trophy-winning team, there’s no time like the present for him to check a championship off his to-do list. Last year, Bobrovsky was the goalie who’d played the most games without a Cup win — and got it done. Semyon Varlamov (621 games) is now the only active Cup-less goalie with more games played than Hellebuyck, but his New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders] didn’t qualify for the dance. Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.
