NHL Odds: New Year’s resolutions for every Canadian team

It’s officially a new year and for most people that means making resolutions. While gym memberships and healthy eating likely won’t make it past the month of January, NHL teams can’t afford to renege on their resolutions.

We’re looking at resolutions all seven Canadian NHL teams should make in 2024.

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Calgary Flames

Burn it to the ground and begin a proper rebuild. No team went through more ups and down in the summer of 2022 than the Calgary Flames. Johnny Gaudreau walked in free agency and Matthew Tkachuk publicly announced he would not re-sign with Calgary. GM Brad Treliving pivoted by trading Tkachuk to Florida for Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar, who both signed massive eight-year contract extensions, and Treliving also signed free agent Nazem Kadri to a seven year deal.

Fast forward to January 2024 and Treliving is gone, head coach Darryl Sutter was fired and Huberdeau’s production has fallen off a cliff. Calgary isn’t anywhere close to a contending team and Huberdeau and Kadri, both on the wrong side of 30, are not the same players they used to be. It doesn’t help your franchise in any way to miss the playoffs by a few points, the Flames need to go scorched earth and give themselves a chance to win the draft lottery. They might just be able to be competitive again a few years down the line when/if they get a badly needed new arena.

Edmonton Oilers

Make a firm decision on Leon Draisaitl’s future. How many times have you heard the Oilers need to go for it while Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid are in their prime? Well, you’re hearing it one more time. The 28-year-old Draisaitl and 26-year-old McDavid will never be more productive than they are right now. They’re the two best players on the planet and both of them produce offensively at astronomical rates.

The key right now is Drasaitl. He has one year left on his contract after this year, while McDavid has two years left. That means Draisaitl is eligible to sign an extension on July 1. Edmonton needs to pull out all the stops to sign the German superstar this summer. They can’t get burned the way Calgary did with Gaudreau because that could mean McDavid pulls a Tkachuk and refuses to re-sign as well. If Edmonton can’t sign Draisaitl this summer, they need to go all-out on boosting the lineup around their two stars because it would mean next year is their last realistic chance at a Stanley Cup with this generation of the team.

Montreal Canadiens

Stay the course and don’t get ahead of yourself. The Habs have been one of the quietest Canadian teams around the NHL and that’s a good sign. They’re not in a playoff position, but they’re not embarrassing themselves in the standings. The big thing for Montreal is they need to remember the rebuild isn’t over even if they end up pushing for a playoff spot down the back stretch of the season.

The Canadiens absolutely cannot be buyers at the trade deadline. They’re riding with three NHL calibre goalies in a sellers market, so they have a great opportunity to gain valuable assets that can be building blocks for the future. Players like Sean Monahan, David Savard and Tanner Pearson are attractive depth options for Stanley Cup contenders at the trade deadline, so Montreal needs to take advantage and trade those players for a solid future return. This is about competing in two to three years down the road.

Ottawa Senators

Figure things out in net longterm. Ottawa has struggled to find a replacement after Craig Anderson left following the 2019-20 season. Matt Murray, Filip Gustavsson, Cam Talbot and Anton Forsberg were all swings and misses for the Senators and Joonas Korpisalo has struggled this season in the first year of a five-year contract. This is a team with a new owner, new GM and new head coach. If it’s determined Korpisalo isn’t the long-term solution in net, it’s time to start looking around and solve the goaltender problem for good.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Go deep in the playoffs or blow up the core four. This is the New Year’s resolution the Leafs probably should have made two years ago and it’s the resolution they definitely should have made last year. The core four of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares has one playoff series victory since Tavares signed as a free agent ahead of the 2018-19 season and that simply should not be acceptable for a team that has finished the regular season with 100 points or more three times over that span.

Toronto will be forced to make a decision on Nylander as he becomes a free agent this summer, but letting him walk for nothing is the wrong move. Nylander is having a career year and he’s the only player who consistently produces in the playoffs. Looking at the other three, Matthews is a perennial Rocket Richard Trophy candidate, Marner is versatile and can be deployed in many different situations and Tavares is a consistent producer, but things just haven’t worked with this core. Anything short of a competitive showing in the Eastern Conference Final this spring should result in blowing up the core four and trading at least two of Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Tavares.

Vancouver Canucks

Write Elias Pettersson a blank cheque. Before the season, who had on their bingo card that Vancouver would be tied for the Western Conference lead with the last two Stanley Cup champions, Vegas and Colorado, on January 1? I certainly didn’t. The Canucks have always been a team that prefers a retool to a rebuild and that means locking up Elias Pettersson longterm.

Pettersson, who is set to be a restricted free agent this summer, has been one of Vancouver’s most productive offensive players for a few seasons now and the team can’t afford to lose him if they want to continue their success next season. If the Canucks can sign Pettersson to a longterm deal in the off-season, they’re have the core of Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, J.T. Miller, Brock Boeser and Thatcher Demko all under contract for multiple seasons after this one. A core like that should continue to be legit contenders.

Winnipeg Jets

Don’t let Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck regrets their decisions. Most people thought Winnipeg was certain to cut ties with sniper Mark Scheifele and goalie Connor Hellebuyck until the players unexpectedly signed identical seven-year contracts prior to the start of the season. If you’re the Jets’ management team, you can’t let Scheifele and Hellebuyck regret their decisions or you’re in for a long six years after this one.

Winnipeg started the new year near the top of the Western Conference standings, but it’s the same spot they were in last year before taking nosedive in the standings over the second half of the season. The Jets managed to squeak into the playoffs last year, but they were crushed in a five-game first round series against Vegas. Much like Toronto, Winnipeg needs to do their talking in the playoffs and go on a deep run.