As the hype from the NHL’s free-agent frenzy dies down, it’s as good a time as any to take stock of the league’s seven Canadian teams.
We’re going to break down the teams alphabetically, so let’s get to it:
1. Calgary Flames
Contender, Pretender Or Somewhere In The Middle? Pretender
Why? The Flames narrowly missed out on a playoff berth this past season, but that was when basically everything went right for them. The injury bug avoided them, they picked up long-term pieces in a trade with Philadelphia, and this summer, Flames GM Craig Conroy held onto his salary cap flexibility, as Calgary now has $15.4 million in cap space. He might have spent more of it to acquire some veteran help, but the fact that he didn’t speaks volumes about where they are in their competitive trajectory.
The big picture for the Flames shows a team that is still in transition into being a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. Calgary doesn’t have the generational talent to go head-to-head with archrivals like the Edmonton Oilers or Vancouver Canucks. And many hockey observers expect Conroy to trade top-pair defenseman Rasmus Andersson, and perhaps, veteran center Nazem Kadri. For those reasons, we see the Flames still in the early stages of a rebuild, and that means they’re currently a pretender.
2. Edmonton Oilers
Contender, Pretender Or Somewhere In The Middle? Contender
Why? Don’t get it twisted – we believe the Oilers took a step backward thus far this summer, losing key veterans, including wingers Corey Perry and Connor Brown in free agency. But that doesn’t mean Edmonton is now a pretender, or worse. They still employ two of the top-five players on the planet in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and they just re-signed star defenseman Evan Bouchard to a long-term contract extension. There’s a lot to like here.
By the time the next regular season has concluded, we expect the Oilers to be up there with the Vegas Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings as one of the top teams in the Pacific Division. But Edmonton GM Stan Bowman needs to make good use of the trade market to keep up with the Joneses.
The Oilers have next to nothing in cap space, so Bowman will have to be creative to improve his roster. Because at a time when every team in the Western Conference will be targeting Edmonton as a true test of their playoff readiness, the Oilers have to keep getting better. And thus far, they haven’t been able to do that.
3. Montreal Canadiens
Contender, Pretender Or Somewhere In The Middle? Somewhere In The Middle
Why? We’re not here to tell you the Canadiens are pretenders. They’ve made genuinely legitimate strides as a team, and Montreal GM Kent Hughes made one of the biggest splashes of the off-season by acquiring star defenseman Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders. But while we definitely see the Canadiens battling for a playoff spot all season long, the truth is improvement isn’t always linear, and in a highly competitive Atlantic Division, the Habs aren’t a lock to make the playoffs next year.
As Montreal’s young core continues to develop, the Canadiens are likely to be a powerhouse in the Eastern Conference. But there’s also a possibility they take a lateral step or a slight step backward in 2025-26. The Habs are essentially capped out, so Hughes will have to be crafty in attempting to improve his team.
We like Hughes’ work a lot, but making notable improvements isn’t always a cakewalk, and that’s why we see the Habs having the potential to struggle a bit more this year than they did last year.
4. Ottawa Senators
Contender, Pretender Or Somewhere In The Middle? Contender
Why? The Sens made major strides last season, getting into the playoffs for the first time in eight years. Once they got to the post-season, though, they were quickly disposed of by the Maple Leafs. Still, just getting into the playoffs was a terrific accomplishment, and a harbinger of better days ahead.
In free agency and trades this summer, the Sens have been relatively quiet, re-signing veteran center Claude Giroux and adding experienced pivot Lars Eller to help fill out the bottom-six group of forwards. But the fact is that Senators GM Steve Staios doesn’t need to do much at the moment, as he has $4.29 million in cap space to use to improve during the season. Ultimately, we like what we see in the Sens as a whole, and we expect their internal improvement will push them even further this coming season.
5. Toronto Maple Leafs
Contender, Pretender Or Somewhere In The Middle? Contender
Why? The Maple Leafs won the Atlantic last season, and although their offense will take a sizeable hit with the departure of Mitch Marner, what remains in Toronto is still very much a playoff team.
Adding grinders like former Golden Knight Nicolas Roy and former Canadien Michael Pezzetta will make the Leafs harder to play against, and the continuing development of youngster Matthew Knies and the trade addition of former Utah Mammoth winger Matias Maccelli will help replace some of the offense Marner took with him. And the Leafs still have $4.98 million in cap space to spend on a top-six forward.
What’s also true of this Leafs team is that their defense is the envy of most NHL organizations. Even if veteran Morgan Rielly is traded, Toronto has a top-six set of blueliners who can get the job done and make life easier on goalies Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll.
It would take some catastrophic injuries and spectacular underachievement for the Buds to miss the playoffs, and we don’t see either of those two things happening. The post-Marner Era may not have as many highlight-reel plays, but Leafs GM Brad Treliving has crafted a lineup that will fight for home-ice advantage in the 2026 playoffs.
6. Vancouver Canucks
Contender, Pretender Or Somewhere In The Middle? Contender
Why? Virtually everything that could go wrong did go wrong for Vancouver last season, including in-house drama between star forwards Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller, as well as injuries to star goalie Thatcher Demko and superstar blueliner Quinn Hughes. However, everything has cleared up in Vancouver’s favor, including the re-signing of star winger Brock Boeser and the addition of rugged winger Evander Kane.
With everyone healthy and ready to go, there’s no reason why Vancouver can’t quickly put last year behind them and once again be a top team in the Pacific. They’ll need Pettersson to be significantly better, and they’ll need their goaltending tandem of Demko and Kevin Lankinen to hold up their end of the bargain, but there’s too much talent in B.C. for the Canucks to falter for the second-straight season.
7. Winnipeg Jets
Contender, Pretender Or Somewhere In The Middle? Contender
Why? The Jets lost star winger Nikolaj Ehlers to the Carolina Hurricanes in free agency, but Winnipeg has the best goalie in the league – at least, in the regular season – in Connor Hellebuyck, a deep collection of fast and skilled forwards, and a defense corps that may be underrated.
The Jets were the NHL’s top regular-season team last season, and the additions of star center Jonathan Toews and veteran winger Tanner Pearson make an already-dangerous squad all the more imposing.
The Jets play in the toughest division in the league in the Central, but with Hellebuyck, center Mark Scheifele and winger Kyle Connor leading the way, Winnipeg once again will be right up there as one of the NHL’s top teams, and a genuine threat to go deep in the post-season. And with a good deal of cap space still available, the Jets have the potential to be even better next year.
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