The five most mediocre NHL teams of the past 10 years

It’s not uncommon in hockey to discuss which teams are the best in the league. It’s an admirable trait to play well year after year and consistently compete for championships.

It’s also not uncommon to discuss which teams are the worst in the league. While not as impressive as being the best, they’re car crashes you can’t look away from, and it’s intriguing to see how teams are bad for so long.

But one conversation which isn’t discussed as much is which teams are mediocre. They’re the teams too bad to make the playoffs (or if they do, they don’t advance past the first round or two), but they’re also too good to secure the high draft picks needed to land superstar talent. As a result, they get stuck in the middle, with no real sign of improvement.

Today, we’re going to look at the five most mediocre teams in the league. To do so, we’ll look back to the past 10 years, and find the teams with the fewest playoff appearances, playoff series wins, top-five draft picks and 100-point seasons. Whichever teams average out as the worst across all four categories will be considered the most mediocre, as they haven’t excelled at competing or rebuilding.

Before we begin, here are a few important notes:

• – since the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken have not been in the league for the entirety of the last 10 years, their numbers are adjusted to reflect a 10-year pace.

• – while the Utah Mammoth have only existed for the past two seasons, we will include the Arizona Coyotes’ 2016 to 2024 seasons because the players, coaches and management remained the same upon relocation.

• – since the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons were shortened and teams couldn’t reach 100 points, teams who were on pace for the total (a.k.a. had a points percentage above .609) are considered to have had 100-point seasons.

5. Philadelphia Flyers

Playoff appearances: 3 (2018, 2020, 2026)
Playoff series wins: 2 (2020, 2026)
Top-five draft picks: 2 (Nolan Patrick, 2017; Cutter Gauthier, 2022)
100-point seasons: 1 (2020)
Points percentage: .520 (21st)

The Flyers were once a model for consistency, as from 1995 to 2012, they made the playoffs in every season but 2007. Even after their last playoff showing in the stretch in 2012, they rotated between making and missing the playoffs, still reaching the postseason in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020. But this was followed by a five-year playoff drought before returning this season, resulting in just three appearances overall in the last 10 years.

To make matters worse, the Flyers’ seven years outside the playoffs during this span didn’t grant them many high draft picks. The two top-five picks they did get didn’t amount to much, either: Patrick lasted just three seasons in Philly and four in the NHL before retiring due to migraines, and Gauthier requested a trade out of Philadelphia before playing his first game. At the very least, they made the most out of their two other top-10 picks, as Matvei Michkov and Porter Martone have great potential. But the Flyers’ inability to truly tank and secure a top draft pick has left them without an elite talent to lead the next step in their rebuild, a motivating factor in their offer sheet to Leo Carlsson earlier this summer.

4. Calgary Flames

Playoff appearances: 4 (2017, 2019, 2020, 2022)
Playoff series wins: 2 (2020, 2022)
Top-five draft picks: 0
100-point seasons: 2 (2019, 2022)
Points percentage: .561 (17th)

I was surprised the Flames didn’t wind up higher on this list. Since 2010, it felt like no team was stuck in the murky middle more than Calgary, as they lacked the talent to compete in the playoffs but also weren’t able to tank due to ownership preferences, locking them out from securing elite talent in the draft. Even if you scale it back to the last 30 years, their only notable high was the run to the 2004 Stanley Cup Final, and they only ever drafted in the top five once in that span in 2014.

But the Flames did manage to put together a semi-competitive stretch from 2016 to 2022 (led by their core of Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk and Mark Giordano) which gave Calgary enough success to not be the most mediocre team. In that span, they made the playoffs four times, won two playoff rounds, and had two 100-point seasons. They’ve been in rebuild mode ever since all three players left, but even that hasn’t netted them a top-five pick.

3. Buffalo Sabres

Playoff appearances: 1 (2026)
Playoff series wins: 1 (2026)
Top-five draft picks: 3 (Rasmus Dahlin, 2018; Owen Power, 2021; Daxon Rudolph, 2026)
100-point seasons: 1 (2026)
Points percentage: .486 (t-26th)

Perhaps seeing the Sabres crack this list after last season is a surprise, since all signs point to the team finally turning things around after a 14-year playoff drought. The Sabres might not be mediocre anymore, but it doesn’t change how they were the worst team in the league for many, many years before then.

In fact, their only highlight from the past 10 years was this past season, which not only brought them a 100-point season, a playoff appearance and a playoff series win, but also saw them draft in the top five (courtesy of the Chicago Blackhawks‘ overvaluing of Bowen Byram). Otherwise, they only came out of the past 10 years with two other top-five draft picks: Dahlin and Power. They did draft in the top-10 in five other drafts and got good value out of their recent 10-15 range picks with Zach Benson and Konsta Helenius. But for a team who was rebuilding for such a long time, they didn’t acquire much high-end talent during this stretch.

2. Arizona Coyotes/Utah Mammoth

Playoff appearances: 2 (2020, 2026)
Playoff series wins: 1 (2020)
Top-five draft picks: 3 (Barrett Hayton, 2018; Logan Cooley, 2022; Caleb Desnoyers, 2025)
100-point seasons: 0
Points percentage: .473 (29th)

Much like the Sabres, the Mammoth are close to the end of their mediocrity, as last season saw them take the next step and make the playoffs. Based on their play last season, it’d be a surprise if they regress back to mediocrity. But prior to last season, their time as the Coyotes was extremely mediocre. Even before the 10-year span I’m evaluating these teams under, the Coyotes made the playoffs in five of their first six seasons in Phoenix, but otherwise made the postseason just four times in 21 years, with only one notable playoff run in 2012.

But even if you ignore the mediocrity which predates the 10 years we’re looking at, Arizona/Utah made the playoffs just once in the nine seasons before last year. They only made the 2020 playoffs because of COVID, as they were outside a playoff spot prior to the season shutdown. However, they capitalized on the opportunity and even won their qualifying round. They did at least get three top-five picks out of their mediocrity, along with three other top-10 picks — talent which will pay dividends shortly. But they never truly tanked during this span to get a clear-cut franchise-altering player, so unless one of the current picks develops into that, it could prove to be this team’s downfall from true success in the next 10 years.

1. Detroit Red Wings

Playoff appearances: 0
Playoff series wins: 0
Top-five draft picks: 1 (Lucas Raymond, 2020)
100-point seasons: 0
Points percentage: .470 (30th)

Was there any doubt the Red Wings would top this list? They’re the only team not to make the playoffs at all in the last 10 years, resulting in zero regular season success. But then they’ve also struggled to truly tank and acquire game-breaking talent. While they have the second-most top 10 picks in the last 10 years, they only drafted into the top five once. To be fair, the lottery screwed them over frequently (nine teams below them in the lottery moved up during their 10-year drought, and they were pushed out of the top five twice) and the one player they did get in the top five is very good (Raymond). But most of Detroit’s run of mediocrity came from their own doing.

For starters, they struggled in the draft, especially with some of their top picks. While they did get talents like Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson, they also blew top picks on Michael Rasmussen and Filip Zadina early on in the rebuild, and the jury is still out on Marco Kasper, Nate Danielson, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Carter Bear. On top of that, now-former general manager Steve Yzerman jumped the gun and spent a ton of money in free agency on middling players like Ben Chiarot, J.T. Compher, Andrew Copp and Justin Holl, giving the team a higher floor than they needed at the time, but not a high enough ceiling to make the playoffs. As a result, they are still stuck in the murky middle and struggling to make the playoffs. Now that captain Dylan Larkin wants out, Detroit looks poised for several more miserable years.

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