For the first time since the 1969-70 season, no Canadian teams will make the playoffs. This also means that we will hit year 23 between Cup wins by a Canadian teams.

Here’s how it happened.

Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens got off to their best start in franchise history, winning their first nine games of the 2015-2017 NHL season. Then Carey Price went down with a lower body injury October 30th. He returned November 20th, played three more games before injuring his lower body (suspected knee injury) again. He has not played since. With Carey Price out of the lineup, the Habs have won just 20 times, which amounts to just a third of their games played. Another major factor has been some missteps with free agency/trades. Both of the major off-season acquisitions (Zack Kassian and Alex Semin) are no longer on the team. Semin was released outright in December and Kassian was traded to Edmonton for Ben Scrivens, having never played a regular season game for the Canadiens. Coach Michel Therrien has also made questionable decisions (ex. David Desharnais on the 1st unit PP). Essentially what the Price injury did was expose the Habs shortcomings. Price was so good the past two seasons that the Habs were able to get away with scoring a few less goals. The big decision Montreal will have to make in the off-season is whether to fire Therrien. Many fans have been calling for that to happen, and maybe it will. It is also possible management might look at the season as a fluke due to Price missing so much time and keep Therrien. Time will tell, but at least the Canadiens should get a good draft pick.

Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks, my other team, came into the season in a period of transition. In the offseason they traded longtime defenseman Kevin Bieksa to the Anaheim Ducks, project Kassian to the Canadiens and said goodbye to free agents Shawn Matthias and Brad Richardson. On the plus side, they had a dearth of young, promising prospects, two of whom would make the team (Jarod Mccann and Jake Virtanen). Bo Horvat was entering his second full season in the NHL and Sven Baertschi was looking to prove he belonged in the NHL. To be frank, the Canucks probably played over their heads last season. I don’t think the Canucks are as bad as their current 8 game losing streak would suggest. They are missing several regulars, including Brandon Sutter, Alex Edler and Luca Sbisa. A couple of major issues for the Canucks have been their offense and their power play. A major reason for the losses has been their performance in overtime. The Canucks lost their first seven games that were decided in OT and did not extend to the shootout. They squandered a good 10 points not winning those games. Further, their ability to hold leads has been dreadful (just over 50%). Like in Montreal, I think the head coach, Willie Desjardins, will be back behind the bench next season. The future looks potentially bright for the Canucks, but this year’s draft will be important. Look for the team to continue to get younger with Alex Burrows and Dan Hamhuis likely departing. Also almost certainly gone will be impending UFA Radim Vrbata.

Edmonton Oilers

Yet again the Edmonton Oilers are in a prime position to win the 1st overall pick, even though the NHL changed the draft rules, at least in part because the Oilers already have three 1st overall picks in their lineup (Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Nail Yakupov). Incidentally, Yakupov is likely on his way out of Edmonton after requesting a trade. Why are the Oilers here again and seemingly not improving? Part of the answer is because they lack puck moving defensemen and their goalies are unreliable. Another factor is they play in a difficult division. This season, the Oilers looked a bit better than the previous few years. They still lost a lot of games, but this time, instead of folding like a tent when down in a game, the Oilers have fought back. Connor McDavid has lived up to the hype, scoring at a clip of almost 2 goals a game. Development is an ongoing issue for the Oilers and is something that will have to be addressed.

Calgary Flames

The Calgary Flames came into the season full of hope after a promising 2nd round playoff exit last season. The Flames went out and acquired promising young defenseman Dougie Hamilton, but he has been a disappointment thus far. Like Vancouver, Calgary might have done better than they should have last season. A big reason for their success last season was their ability to comeback in games when they were trailing after two. This season, they are 25th in the NHL, winning just 8.8% of those games. Further, the Flames are ranked 18th in the league when leading after 2 periods, winning 82.8% of those games. Another problem for the Flames has been a mediocre PP (23rd in the NHL @ 16.7). Calgary simply can’t keep the puck out of their net. The Flames have allowed the most goals in the NHL. Like Toronto, they should get a top 5 pick.

Winnipeg Jets

Like Calgary, the Jets entered the season full of hope after returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2007 (back when they were the Atlanta Thrashers), or since 1996 if you count the original Jets team that moved to Arizona following the 1995-96 season. Like Montreal, the Jets were without their starting goalie for a couple of months. Andrej Pavelec’s return to the lineup was too little and too late. Pavelec has not had a great season and he is not as proven to be reliable as Price. Another reason why Winnipeg will miss the playoffs is their play vs. divisional opponents (10-15-1 record so far). Winnipeg simply allows too many goals in a league that on average has low-scoring games. Finally, the Jets’ penalty killing is in the bottom half of the NHL.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Maple Leafs are where they were expected to be heading into the season. Toronto is in the middle of blowing up their roster after missing the playoffs multiple years in a row. Prior to the season, forward Phil Kessel was moved to Pittsburgh At the trade deadline, goalie James Reimer was moved to San Jose and Shawn Matthias was dealt to Colorado. The Leafs appear to be trying to get rid of the players who are selfish and instill players who are team players. They have a wealth of experience behind the bench with Mike Babcock, who will miss the playoffs for the 1st time since the 2003-04 season, when he was coach of the Anaheim Ducks. The Maple Leafs are pretty much guaranteed a top 5 pick if they lose all three draft lotteries. They have 12 draft picks in this year’s draft, but remain a couple of years away from being competitive, assuming they draft and develop well. They need to be smart with their free agent signings too.

Ottawa Senators

The Senators were the final team to be officially eliminated from Canada. A major reason why? They have allowed the 4th most goals of any team in the league. Last season they rode the red hot and unexpected goaltending of Andrew Hammond. Senators management must now take a step back and determine if the current core of Karlsson, Turris, Phaneuf, Ryan and Stone will be the ones to take them to the next level. The coaching staff should also be reviewed. That said, Ottawa does have some solid players in their lineup. For their part, they appear closer to making it back to the playoffs than a few other Canadian teams (Leafs, Oilers, Canucks).