The 2015-16 NHL season wasn’t kind to Canada. For the first time since 1970, every team north of the American border missed the postseason.
The good news is next season can’t be any worse. The bad news is things might stay exactly the same. By some stroke of awful luck, every Canadian team seems to either be rebuilding or cripplingly incompetent.
Now that the draft and free agency dust has settled, another Canada-free postseason seems like a distinct possibility.
Calgary: The Flames were the beneficiaries of a luck-induced playoff run in 2014-15, but fell back down to Earth last season. The first line is nice as is the defensive trio of Mark Giordano, TJ Brodie and Dougie Hamilton. Trading for Brian Elliot and dumping some of the dead weight was a good move. But depth is still an issue for the Flames. They seem to be headed in the right direction, but it doesn’t seem they’re one of the best eight teams in the West just yet.
Edmonton: Just when it seemed like their incompetence had paid off enough to turn things around after drafting Connor McDavid, the Oilers reminded us why they haven’t sniffed the postseason since 2006. Milan Lucic is a nice addition, but not for that price or term. Trading Taylor Hall for a second-pairing defenseman was so aggressively stupid, I’m still not sure it wasn’t a prank. Speaking of terrible trades…
Montreal: Last season showed what kind of team this is when Carey Price isn’t around to bail everyone out with historically-good performances. The front office’s response to that was to trade the team’s best player – who doubled as the league’s best personality and a charitable icon – for an older, more expensive version of him. I’m sure Andrew Shaw will get things turned around, though.
Ottawa: The Senators were bad last year despite putting out the best post-Lydstrom defenseman every night for 25 minutes. I’m not sure how to fix that kind of roster, but I can’t imagine it involves sitting on your hands for most of free agency and then going to arbitration with your best scorer. It’ll take a 200-point season from Erik Karlsson to put this team into the postseason.
Toronto: The Leafs are in an unfamiliar position – they might be better off than any other Canadian team. They have some top picks in William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews and a host of second-tier prospects. The front office seems to be significantly more competent than the last regime and Mike Babcock is certainly a good coach. Missing out on Steven Stamkos means the rebuild probably takes a little longer, so we won’t see them in the postseason just yet. But at least there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.
Vancouver: You can’t win with a GM as bad as Jim Benning. This team is seemingly directionless. The Canucks badly need to rebuild, but might have trouble admitting that to themselves. Loui Eriksson was a nice signing, but what’s the point? How can a franchise with so little talent be in win-now mode? The defensive corps is barren, the Sedins are aging, Ryan Miller is no longer an above-average goaltender and the forward group is a mishmash of nobodies and offensively-stunted grit guys. This team is going to take a while to turn around and it doesn’t seem they’re even interested in starting that process yet.
Winnipeg: The Jets are in an interesting spot. They have a deep prospect pool and just added a major piece in Patrik Laine. The problem is the team’s goaltending has been abysmal recently, with the only bright spot being the young Connor Hellebuyck. If the Jets roll with him next season, they could be a pleasant surprise. Of course, a lot of their potential success hinges on the growth of the young players. With good goaltending and some good performances from the young guys, the Jets might be Canada’s best hope for a playoff team in 2017.
