Bolstered by veteran additions, Winnipeg’s roster defies their recent postseason struggles, outranking over half the league in collective games played as the quest for a deep run continues.
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The Countdown - Mar. 20 2026 - Vol. 79 Issue 9 - Jared Clinton
THERE ARE GREY-BEARDED springtime warriors – and then there’s Corey Perry.
For the past 20 years, Perry has been a playoff fixture. Debuting in the post-season in 2006 as a member of the Ducks, he helped Anaheim to a Stanley Cup the following season. Since then, only three campaigns have passed without Perry in the post-season conversation.
In recent years, in particular, Perry has become a focal point. He’s been to the Cup final – on the losing side – in five of the past six seasons. What began with surprising runs to consecutive finals with the Dallas Stars and Montreal Canadiens turned into a failed attempt at helping the Tampa Bay Lightning three-peat in 2022 before back-to-back heartbreaks with the Edmonton Oilers.
Last spring, he surpassed Mark Messier for third on the all-time playoff games played ledger, and Perry’s 237 playoff games are tops among active players. Put another way: Perry has seen more playoff action than the totality of the Philadelphia Flyers’ roster. However, he will still need at least two more playoff runs if he hopes to chase down Hall of Famers Chris Chelios (266) and Nicklas Lidstrom (263) on the all-time list.
Still, Perry’s playoff resume is padded enough that simply acquiring him helped the Lightning leap into the second spot on our Countdown, which explores the collective playoff experience on the roster of each NHL club.
*All totals are based on NHL rosters as of March 9 and include players on LTIR who have or might play this season
1 FLORIDA PANTHERS
1,510 GAMES PLAYED
Ten Cats were present for all three Cup final runs, totalling 659 games. They alone would rank 20th on this list.
2 TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
1,506 GAMES PLAYED
Ryan McDonagh and Victor Hedman have 366 games. The rest of the ‘D’? 115. There’s a chasm in experience.
3 VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS
1,336 GAMES PLAYED
He’s a forgotten man, but Brandon Saad sits above all but three Golden Knights with 111 career post-season outings.
4 DALLAS STARS
1,313 GAMES PLAYED
Sauna culture is strong in Dallas. Among active Finns, Stars have four of the five most tenured playoff performers.
5 COLORADO AVALANCHE
1,276 GAMES PLAYED
At 135 games, no active player has more playoff experience without a Cup ring than beloved blueliner Brent Burns.
6 CAROLINA HURRICANES
1,184 GAMES PLAYED
Jordan Staal leads in playoff games. Surprisingly, next in line isn’t a top talent but depth guy William Carrier.
7 EDMONTON OILERS
1,161 GAMES PLAYED
Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and ‘RNH’ have played in every single Oilers playoff game since 2016-17.
8 PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
1,102 GAMES PLAYED
A deep run could see Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin cross the 200-game mark. Unlikely, but it’s not impossible.
9 MINNESOTA WILD
975 GAMES PLAYED
Marcus Johansson and Vladimir Tarasenko have more individual playoff games than Wild do as a franchise.
10 NEW YORK ISLANDERS
948 GAMES PLAYED
The rapid turnaround has been guided by Matthew Schaefer. He’ll be among a few Isles making playoff debuts.
11 WINNIPEG JETS
940 GAMES PLAYED
Stark reminder that experience isn’t everything. Veteran-laden Jets took nosedive after 2025 Presidents’ Trophy.
12 LOS ANGELES KINGS
887 GAMES PLAYED
Caught between buying and selling, Kings exited the deadline with a more inexperienced outfit than they had prior.
13 SEATTLE KRAKEN
813 GAMES PLAYED
Collective push up the rankings could be in the offing, as Kraken battle for franchise’s second trip to post-season.
14 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
812 GAMES PLAYED
On a star-studded roster, bottom-six plugger Calle Jarnkrok is the Leafs’ clubhouse leader in playoff appearances.
15 SAN JOSE SHARKS
770 GAMES PLAYED
Of the 24 players on the roster post-deadline, exactly half have never seen a second of big-league playoff action.
16 NASHVILLE PREDATORS
769 GAMES PLAYED
Other than Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg, no Preds skater has played more than eight playoff games with Nashville.
17 ANAHEIM DUCKS
686 GAMES PLAYED
The stunning deadline addition of John Carlson boosted the back end and gave Ducks title-winning experience.
18 DETROIT RED WINGS
678 GAMES PLAYED
The lone homegrown Red Wing with playoff games to his name is Dylan Larkin. He played five in 2016.
19 WASHINGTON CAPITALS
665 GAMES PLAYED
Ryan Leonard had only celebrated his third birthday by the time Alex Ovechkin played his first post-season game.
20 NEW YORK RANGERS
654 GAMES PLAYED
Pending reset and possible off-season clear out could see Rangers move a great number of battle-tested talents.
21 BOSTON BRUINS
651 GAMES PLAYED
Franchise has had 13 players reach 100 playoff games. Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak will be next to hit mark.
22 NEW JERSEY DEVILS
631 GAMES PLAYED
The current core – Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt and Hughes brothers – has combined to play merely 56 playoff games.
23 UTAH MAMMOTH
597 GAMES PLAYED
Utah overjoyed with MacKenzie Weegar acquisition, but Mammoth lost 65 games of playoff experience in the deal.
24 OTTAWA SENATORS
539 GAMES PLAYED
For a dozen Sens, their lone playoff experience is last year’s six-game first-round defeat at hands of rival Leafs.
25 ST. LOUIS BLUES
539 GAMES PLAYED
Are Blues primed to plummet down this list? As talk of teardown persists, vultures circle St. Louis’ top talents.
26 COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
532 GAMES PLAYED
Charlie Coyle debuted 12 years after the Jackets. He’s played three times as many playoff games as the franchise.
27 MONTREAL CANADIENS
472 GAMES PLAYED
With Phillip Danault returning, six of the Habs’ skaters were present for the stunning run to bubble final in 2021.
28 CALGARY FLAMES
457 GAMES PLAYED
Whether you call it a retool, rebuild or ‘rebiggle,’ the message is clear: Calgary plans to overhaul roster to right the ship.
29 VANCOUVER CANUCKS
418 GAMES PLAYED
Hard to believe Elias Pettersson’s playoff resume is just 30 games. The question is: will he play another in Vancouver?
30 BUFFALO SABRES
387 GAMES PLAYED
Last Sabres draft picks to skate in playoff games for Buffalo? Tyler Myers, now 36, and recent retiree Tyler Ennis.
31 CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
372 GAMES PLAYED
Though Teuvo Teravainen won a Cup as a Hawk, the bulk of his post-season play came during his time in Carolina.
32 PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
208 GAMES PLAYED
The franchise’s reset is such that waiver-wire add Luke Glendening, at 50 games, is the most playoff-tested Flyer.
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