Draft Picks, Youngsters the ‘Currency’ for Canadian NHL Teams

Canadian NHL teams face a squeeze on and off the ice.
Draft Picks, Youngsters the ‘Currency’ for Canadian NHL Teams
Montreal traded Devante Smith-Pelly, seen here against Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center on Jan. 5, to New Jersey on NHL trade deadline day. He had an emotional interview with journalists after the trade. Elsa/Getty Images
Rahul Vaidyanath
|Updated:

Canadian NHL teams face a squeeze on and off the ice.

None of them are likely to reach the playoffs, and faced with tighter financial constraints, the Feb. 29 NHL trade deadline gave them one final chance to position themselves for the summer.

On the ice, the situation is grim. Five Canadian teams made the playoffs last year—the highest in the post-2005 lockout era—and now the best chance of one of them making the playoff rests with the Montreal Canadiens at 9.7 percent, according to sportsclubstats.com prior to Monday’s games.

While Toronto and Edmonton are swimming in familiar waters, the other five Canadian teams are on pace for end-of-season point totals that average 21 points below last season’s mark.

Picks and young players are going to be the currency.
— Jim Benning, Vancouver Canucks
Rahul Vaidyanath
Rahul Vaidyanath
Journalist
Rahul Vaidyanath is a journalist with The Epoch Times in Ottawa. His areas of expertise include the economy, financial markets, China, and national defence and security. He has worked for the Bank of Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., and investment banks in Toronto, New York, and Los Angeles.
twitter
Related Topics