The NHL’s Best Cups-That-Never-Were Lineups

The New York Times is taking a sharp, slightly cruel trip through NHL history by building the best lineups of players who never won the Stanley Cup with a given team. That means the names are familiar, the regrets are permanent, and the what-ifs are doing a lot of heavy lifting. It is the kind of exercise that reminds you how thin the line is between a banner and a bruise in this league, especially when star power never quite cashes the check.