Fewest & Most Games Needed to Win Stanley Cup

With the Colorado Avalanche completing a 20 game playoff culminating in being crowned 2020 Stanley Cup Champions, it's time to do some math and see how many games it typically takes winners to collect the requisite 16 wins en route to hoisting the Stanley Cup.  

The chart below shows the number of playoff games needed to win the Stanley Cup since 1987, by year, team and number of games.

Year: Team (Games)	Year: Team (Games)
1987: Edmonton Oilers (21)	2006: Carolina Hurricanes (25)
1988: Edmonton Oilers (18)	2007: Anaheim Ducks (21)
1989: Calgary Flames (22)	2008: Detroit Red Wings (22)
1990: Edmonton Oilers (22)	2009: Pittsburgh Penguins (24)
1991: Pittsburgh Penguins (24)	2010: Chicago Blackhawks (22)
1992: Pittsburgh Penguins (21)	2011: Boston Bruins (25)
1993: Montreal Canadiens (20)	2012: Los Angeles Kings (20)
1994: New York Rangers (23)	2013: Chicago Blackhawks (23)
1995: New Jersey Devils (20)	2014: Los Angeles Kings (26)
1996: Colorado Avalanche (22)	2015: Chicago Blackhawks (23)
1997: Detroit Red Wings (20)	2016: Pittsburgh Penguins (24)
1998: Detroit Red Wings (22)	2017: Pittsburgh Penguins (25)
1999: Dallas Stars (23)	2018: Washington Capitals (24)
2000: New Jersey Devils (23)	2019: St. Louis Blues (26)
2001: Colorado Avalanche (23)	2020: Tampa Bay Lightning (22)
2002: Detroit Red Wings (23)	2021: Tampa Bay Lightning (23)
2003: New Jersey Devils (23)	2022: Colorado Avalanche (20)
2004: Tampa Bay Lightning (23)

Since the expansion of each playoff round to seven games in 1987, none have swept all four rounds to hoist the Cup in 16 games, nor have any skated in four Game 7s using all 28 possible games. The average number of games needed to win the Stanley Cup is 22, with the Edmonton Oilers (1988) playing the fewest games (18), and the Los Angeles Kings (2014) and St. Louis Blues (2019) skating in the most (26).

Four other times a team has skated 20 playoff games in a single postseason (Montreal Canadiens 1993, New Jersey Devils 1995, Detroit Red Wings 1997, Los Angeles Kings 2012), tying the second fastest run to 16 wins in pursuit of the Stanley Cup.
Fans prefer fewer games. Owners don't mind the additional revenue that accompanies a longer series. But whatever is needed will suffice.

* See also NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Length By Days And Games.
* See also NHL League Size And Regular Season Length.
* See also NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Qualification Droughts.
* See also NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Series Win Droughts.
* See also NHL Stanley Cup Final Appearance Droughts.
* See also NHL Stanley Cup Championship Droughts.