Hockey is Canada's favorite child, and that is a well-known fact. Nothing less than gold is accepted in international competitions. It's a major inconvenient truth for Canada that one of their teams has failed to win the Stanley Cup in over twenty years. With over half of the NHL being Canadian, they'll always have some tangential tie to the championship, but it hasn't spent a full year in the great white north for quite awhile. This year, Canada won't even have a horse in the race for the Stanley Cup, as all seven of their teams are mired in mediocrity and misfortune this season. With that in mind, each of these teams needs something if they hope to put the national shame to rest next year.
Montreal Canadiens: The most decorated franchise in Canada needs one simple thing for next year: health. Losing Carey Price for all but a handful of games left the crease in the hands of Mike Condon, Ben Scrivens, and others, and it hasn't worked out long-term. Condon looked like he could hold his own in his first stint as the starter, but after Price went out again, Condon's true colors showed. A recent serious injury to P.K. Subban saw Montreal hold their breath again, but it looks like the two faces of the franchise will be ready for next season. Getting both of them for the bulk of the season should be enough to correct a bad year. Just remember how good the Canadiens were before the Price injury this season.
Ottawa Senators: Canada's capital is known for the occasional playoff run, but more often than not, they come up short. Unlike many of the Canadian teams, the Senators operate on a pretty tight budget, which could hamstring them from their true need: a game-changing offensive threat. Craig Anderson is a perfectly acceptable goalie, and Andrew Hammond serves well as his backup. Erik Karlsson is an all-world talent on the blue line, and defense isn't Ottawa's biggest problem. There is clear scoring talent in youngsters Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone, and Mika Zibanejad, and a crop of veterans that don't hurt either. However, more than one superstar is generally needed for success in the NHL, and the Senators don't have anyone who can push 40 goals a season. Getting a true superstar, either through trade or the less-likely means of free agency, would boost the Senators to the next level, especially if the bounces fall their way again.
Toronto Maple Leafs: The fishbowl of the NHL is Toronto, and while there have been many reasons to be disgruntled with the Maple Leafs in recent years, the new management has done wonders. While patience would be the easy pick here, the Maple Leafs truly need goaltending more than anything else. The kids will be alright, and no one expects the Maple Leafs to make the playoffs next year, so all they need in that regard is progress. The team's true need is a goalie better than Jonathan Bernier. Garret Sparks has done alright at times this year, but he's not the goalie of the future. Pursuing a stopover goalie like Jimmy Howard or Cam Ward may allow the Maple Leafs to make small gains next season and still earn a decent draft pick in 2017 to further grease the wheels of rebuilding.
Winnipeg Jets: The thing that would help the Jets the most is not something they can have, which would be a new division to get them away from the pressures of playing the behemoths of the Central. Instead, the Jets need an identity. While they've shed some of their Atlanta Thrashers-era players, the team still plays a lot like the Thrashers did, even after coaching changes. Losing captain Andrew Ladd allows this team to dictate what their future looks like internally. Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler remain underrated, and the Jets have a lot of good pieces in place. A full season of goaltending from Connor Hellebuyck will probably help them, but they don't have a lot of room to grow on the ice next year. The core is beginning to form with the Jets, and the current iteration of that core needs to define what Jets hockey will be for the next five years or so.
Edmonton Oilers: A team that routinely drafts #1 overall recently has a plethora of talented young offense with all those picks. Cam Talbot has done better than anyone expected playing in goal for the Oilers. The single thing the Oilers need sounds almost illogical, but losing the draft lottery would be the best thing for this team. The temptation of drafting Auston Matthews would further imbalance the Oilers to favor all offense with no defense. By losing the draft lottery, the Oilers may be more apt to draft what they need over what they want. All due respect to Oscar Klefbom, but the Oilers need an all-situations defenseman similar to what the Panthers have in Aaron Ekblad. Anything less is going to put them in another year of misery.
Calgary Flames: This is the team that needs patience. The Flames got lucky to make the playoffs in 2015, but GM Brad Treliving has been smart with his work since then. He didn't mortgage the future, and he's stayed the course this season, giving young players the chance to develop and making smart trades to bring in Dougie Hamilton and ship out Jiri Hudler and Kris Russell in the last 12 months. Next on his docket would be significant second contracts for the dynamic duo of Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau, and keeping enough cap space to plan ahead for Sam Bennett and other supporting players down the line. The Flames have a strong defense, and they'll have to address goaltending this season, but effective cap management and thoughtful decision-making will be enough for them to potentially lead the Canadian teams' revolution.
Vancouver Canucks: While the Flames are on their way out of their rebuild, the Canucks need more than anything else to come to terms that their window has closed. The goaltending of Ryan Miller and Jacob Markstrom is unimpressive. The Canucks have many aged skaters that will produce at a lower rate going forward. The Sedin twins, Vancouver icons as they are, may be holding the team back at the moment. Yes, they're still productive, but the Canucks would be well served to be bad for a couple of years and start over with a large crop of young players with the chance to be competitive in the early 2020s. Keeping on these veterans for loyalty reasons now will just postpone the inevitable for a franchise very clearly set for decline.
Please note that these are the most important things I see for each Canadian team. Feel free to disagree in the comments. Also, in the essence of full disclosure, I am a Calgary Flames fan that tries very hard to write without C-shaped red glasses on.
No comments :
Post a Comment