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A Canadian guide to the 2024-25 NHL season

The leaves are starting to fall, the air is getting colder, which can only mean one thing: It’s time to drop the puck!

The leaves are starting to fall, the air is getting colder, which can only mean one thing: It’s time to drop the puck!

The 2023-24 season saw Canada rally around Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers as they aspired to be the first Canadian team to lift lord Stanley’s cup since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens. Though they ultimately came up short, falling to the Florida Panthers in seven games. 

The Oilers, like many Canadian teams, enter the 2024-25 season rejuvenated and look to snap Canada’s cup drought. 

Here’s what you need to know about each team heading into the 2024-25 season. 

 

Calgary Flames

With star goaltender Jacob Markstrom now with the New Jersey Devils, the Calgary Flames embark on a new era with rookie Dustin Wolf. 

Wolf, a two-time American Hockey League goalie of the year (2022, 2023) and league MVP in 2023, played 17 games with the Flames last season and went 7-7-1 with a 3.16 goals-against average and a .893 save percentage. 

The Flames will also lean heavily on Jonathan Huberdeau, who has struggled to find his former South Beach self since coming over from the Florida Panthers in a 2022 trade. 

The 31-year-old Quebec native set an NHL record for the biggest point drop from one season to another, going from 115 in 80 games with the Panthers in 2021-22 to 55 points in 79 games in 2022-23 with the Flames.

 

Edmonton Oilers

Falling to the Panthers in Game 7, it’s a season of unfinished business for the Oilers as they look to get back to the big dance. 

The Oilers enter the 2024-25 season with a similar lineup to their big three: McDavid, Zach, Hyman, and Leon Draisaitl. 

McDavid posted his fourth straight 100-point season last year, scoring 32 goals and adding 100 assists to reach 132 points. 

The former No. 1 pick in 2015 also scored eight playoff goals and set a new career high with 43 points in 25 playoff games. 

 

Montreal Canadiens

Finishing the 2023-24 season at the bottom of the Atlantic Division with 76 points, the Montreal Canadiens look to rebound in a big way. 

One of the pieces they’ve added in hopes to do just that is former Winnipeg Jets and Columbus Blue Jackets star Patrick Laine. 

The Finnish-born winger joins the Habs after spending four seasons with the Blue Jackets. 

Prior to that, the now 26-year-old was drafted by the Jets with the second overall pick in 2016and played five seasons in Winnipeg.

In 460 career games, Laine has 204 goals and 388 points. 

The Canadiens will, however, be without Laine to start the season as he suffered a knee injury against the Toronto Maple Leafs in preseason action.

 

Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators have a new face in net in 2024-25 – a theme common amongst Canadian teams. 

The Sens acquired former Vezina Trophy winner and Boston Bruin backstopper Linus Ullmark in a trade for fellow goaltender Joonas Korpisalo, forward Mark Kastelic, and a first-round pick in 2024. 

Ullmark, a 31-year-old from Sweden, was 22-10-7 with a 2.57 GAA, .915 save percentage and two shutouts in 40 games (39 starts) for the Bruins last season

 

Toronto Maple Leafs

There’s a change of leadership in Toronto as after being named the captain of the Maple Leafs in 2019, John Tavares has handed the letter over to Auston Matthews. 

This move comes on the heels of another first-round exit as a new voice and leadership style may be what the Blue and White need to get over the hump.

The 27-year-old put together his best-ever campaign as a Maple Leaf last season, scoring a career-high 69 goals and finishing with 107 points. 

Much of the Maple Leafs’ lineup remains the same this season, with Tavares and Matthews being accompanied by William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Morgan Rielly. 

Much of the attention this season will be placed on the goaltending. With Ilya Samsonov off to Sin City, joining the Vegas Golden Knights, it will be fourth-year Maple Leaf Joseph Woll’s net. 

 

Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks hold their breath as they await the availability of goaltender Thatcher Demko. 

Demko, 28, suffered a knee injury in Game 1 of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Nashville Predators. 

Demko went 35-14-2 last season with a 2.45 GAA and .918 save percentage in 51 games.

The Canucks enter the 2024-25 season with a bolstered blueline with the addition of former Boston Bruin Jake DeBrusk.

DeBrusk inked a seven-year, $38.5-million contract with the Canucks on the heels of a 40-point season last year. 

 

Winnipeg Jets

There’s a new pilot on the sticks as Scott Arniel takes command of the Jets following the retirement of former head coach Rick Bowness. 

Bowness called it a career after the Jets were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season. Arniel spent two seasons as an assistant coach to Bowness. 

In the crease, the Jets will again lean on their reigning Vezina Trophy winner as goaltender Connor Hellebuyck enters the first season of his seven-year, $59.5 million contract. 

The 31-year-old Michigan native went 37-19-4 last season with a 2.39 GAA, a .921 save percentage, and five shutouts in 60 starts.

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