Canadian-free zone in NHL play-offs will pay off when it comes to the draft

Canada's Connor McDavid skates with the trophy following his team's 5-4 win over Russia in the title game at the hockey World Junior Championship in Toronto. The Edmonton Oilers have won the NHL draft lottery and the right to select McDavid first overall. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via APShow less

For the first time in 46 years there are no Canadian teams in the NHL play-offs.

And that’s a good thing.

Not so good for now, but good in the long run, because it means all seven northern clubs are in the mix for the upcoming draft’s top spots, and the draft is the surest way to obtain top talent.

So what went wrong this season?

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The Montreal Canadiens should have been the best Canadian team but were undone by an injury to Carey Price, world’s best goalie.

The Calgary Flames made the second round of the play-offs last year but could not find decent goalkeeping to save their life.

The Vancouver Canucks had their perennial problems: more talent than guts.

The Ottawa Senators and Winnipeg Jets backslid after squeaking into the play-offs last year.

The Edmonton Oilers were bottom-feeders but are poised for very good things with young superstar Connor McDavid on the roster.

And the Toronto Maple Leafs were awful, but awful is better than the millennia of endless, dungeon-like mediocrity that preceded it (this cannot be exaggerated). The team cleared out the old guard in Phil Kessel, Dion Phaneuf and are making room for the new.

Overall, there is a 66 per cent chance that one of the Canadian teams will win the draft lottery and thereby get their hands on the top prospect Auston Matthews, a high-scoring centreman.

Next season – with the possibility of shiny new draft choices, with the extra recovery time from missing the post-season, and with Price returning from injury – all the Canadian teams should be better.

Well, all except Vancouver. The Canucks’ problem is that the Sedin twins are the team’s anchor in senses both good (they keep things steady) and bad (they prevent progress). Vancouver will not be a good team until the Sedins are gone. With the Sedins, Vancouver are the new Toronto.

For what it is worth, the last time the play-offs were a Canada-free zone was in 1970. And the year after, Montreal won the Stanley Cup – with five more to follow before the decade was out.

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