It’s been a great start to the season for several of the NHL’s Canadian markets.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, and Vancouver Canucks are all in a playoff spot. While there are roughly 50 games to go for all six teams mentioned, they’ve put themselves in a great position to this point.
NHL.com
Six Canadian teams making the playoffs in the NHL is quite unheard of. There haven’t been five that have made it in the same season since 1985-86, when the Montreal Canadiens, Leafs, Flames, Canucks, and Jets all got in. On the opposite side of the spectrum, all seven missed in 2015-16.
It doesn’t come as a surprise to many that the Leafs, Jets, Oilers, and Canucks currently sit in playoff spots, as all were viewed as strong teams entering the season. There was some hope from the Senators, but a slow start had them looking like they were in line to miss the playoffs for a ninth consecutive year. They’ve turned things around as of late, winning seven of their last 10.
NHL.com
The biggest surprise of the bunch is the Flames, a team that many expected to be in the running for the draft lottery. Somehow, even with their leading scorer having just 22 points, they’ve been able to scratch and claw their way to a 15-11-6 record, good enough for a wild-card position.
Despite the solid start from the Flames, however, they’re still being viewed as long-shots to win the Stanley Cup. Their +12000 odds to do so on FanDuel are the worst of the six Canadian teams currently in a playoff spot. The Senators sit at +4000, while the Canucks are at +2000.
The Jets have the third-best odds of the bunch at +1600, with the Leafs coming in slightly higher at +1300. The Oilers sit atop the bunch at +750, tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for the best Cup odds among all 32 NHL teams.
The one Canadian team on the outside looking in is the rebuilding Canadiens, who sit 15th in the Eastern Conference with a record of 12-16-3. Barring a major turnaround, their chances of making the playoffs this season appear extremely unlikely.
Fans north of the border have been praying to see a Canadian market win the Stanley Cup, which hasn’t happened in nearly 32 years. Based on how strong of starts several teams have had, 2025 may very well be the year that the long drought finally comes to an end.
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