Some would say the collective performance of Canada’s NHL teams has amounted to a joke this season. If that’s the case, it seems like a gag that requires audience participation.
Person on the Mic: “Boy, I’ll tell ya, those Canadian teams are so bad!”
Obliging Crowd: “Oh yeah? How bad are they?”
OK, so the punchline — so bad they all missed the playoffs — doesn’t really deliver. To be fair, though, the question isn’t so much about how dreadful Canada’s Maleficent Seven are, it’s what kind of awful they are.
Sub-categorization is required with the Canadian clubs because, while they’re all near the bottom of the standings, some have more viable escape plans than others. With that in mind, here’s a more nuanced characterization of where this country’s clubs stand.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Bad, but it’s all good!
Seriously, in their most optimistic moments — Leafs fans have those, right? — could any Buds backer have conceived of a better scenario than the way this year has played out? From the team finally committing to its first-ever true rebuild, to the fact that, at last count, the Leafs had 375 picks in the upcoming draft (OK, 12), to the young kids shining in March, this season has unfurled in perfect fashion for Toronto. As for late-season wins diminishing draft lottery odds, there’s only ever been a 20 per cent chance the Leafs would draft first overall. We say control what you can control, and in this case that means giving William Nylander and Co. valuable time in the big show.
Edmonton Oilers: Bad, but no, seriously this time
Yeah, we know everybody else in the league is still mad that the Oilers’ penance for all that ineptitude was drafting Connor McDavid last June. Fair or not, the never-ending Edmonton reboot got a turbo-charged push when McDavid came to town. Assuming GM Peter Chiarelli can flip one or two of Edmonton’s non-97 forwards for blue line help this summer, Northern Alberta’s team may finally find its way.
Montreal Canadiens: Bad*
Like Barry Bonds in the MLB record book, the Habs have a fat asterisk next to this season because the vast majority of it was played without reigning league MVP Carey Price. The good news: Assuming Price is back in the crease next year, Montreal is a prime candidate for a quick rebound. The bad news? The team looked so horrendous without him that it’s hard to believe, even with all-world goaltending, that something championship-level positive is going to happen in Montreal barring significant upgrades elsewhere.
Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets: Bad-Good-Bad-?
The Flames and Jets both made surprise playoff appearances last year, with Calgary even managing to win a round. The Flames hadn’t been in the post-season since 2009 prior to last spring, while the Jets left the country entirely for a large stretch, then missed the playoffs during their first three seasons back in Manitoba. Given that backdrop, both fan bases probably got a bit ahead of themselves, making this year’s disappointing results that much tougher to swallow. Still, Winnipeg’s prospect pipeline is regarded as one of the league’s best, while Calgary has youngsters Sean Monahan and Sam Bennett up the middle and a defence corps that could yet prove to be something special. These teams — both of which need better goaltending — are more than tweaks away, but solid strides could come very soon.
Ottawa Senators and Vancouver Canucks: Bad and Worse
Yes, the second half of the header is ordered such that it’s in sync with the first half. It hasn’t been pretty in Ottawa this year, as owner Eugene Melnyk has been happy to point out. The Sens aren’t rebuilding and there are serious questions about whether or not the current core is good enough. That said, Ottawa is still miles ahead of Vancouver, Canada’s most troubling team. The Canucks’ rebuild-on-the-fly plan has led to contradictory moves that figured to leave the team in permanent purgatory. Fortunately for left-coasters, Vancouver is worse than anticipated at being average and, at the moment, has as good a crack as anybody at drafting centre Auston Matthews first overall in a couple months.
If that’s how things play out, even the worst team in Canada won’t have to be bad for long.
