Best team from Canada by end of season debated

The Winnipeg Jets have had a spectacular start the 2024-25 season. They're 8-0-0 going into their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Canada Life Centre on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; Prime) shown exclusively in Canada on 'Prime Monday Night Hockey.'

The Jets have been doing it on each side of the ice. They're averaging 4.50 goals per game, second in the NHL behind the Vegas Golden Knights (4.67), and allowing 2.00 goals per game, tied for second with the New York Rangers behind the Dallas Stars (1.89).

Forwards Kyle Connor (six goals, four assists), Mark Scheifele (five goals, five assists) and Nikolaj Ehlers (four goals, six assists), each have 10 points, and 14 players have scored at least one goal. Reigning Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck has picked up where he left off last season, going 6-0-0 with a 1.66 goals-against average, .940 save percentage and one shutout. The Jets have been the class of the NHL the first two weeks of the season and the best of the seven Canada-based NHL teams as well.

The team from Canada with the second-best record to start the season is the Calgary Flames, who are 5-2-1 after losing 5-3 to the Jets on Saturday. The Vancouver Canucks are 4-1-2, the Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers are each 4-4-1, and the Ottawa Senators are 4-4-0.

But it doesn't matter how you start. It's how you finish. The Oilers were a perfect example last season, starting 2-9-1 before turning their season around and getting to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Though it's hard to argue against the Jets being the best of the Canadian teams at the start of the season, we asked seven NHL.com writers and editors which will be the best when it's all said and done.

Here are their responses (in alphabetical order by team):

Edmonton Oilers

Best when the season ends? The Edmonton Oilers. Yes, it's recency bias, but this team came within a win of the Stanley Cup after a terrible start last season. It has two of the best players in the world, forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and the superstars have enough complementary pieces to lead Edmonton on another run. Watch the Maple Leafs, though. You'd expect an adjustment period with Craig Berube, a new coach with a new approach, and they hardened their defense with Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. If they put it together and play Stanley Cup Playoff-style hockey with Auston Matthews and Co., well, how about an Edmonton-Toronto Stanley Cup Final to decide this question? -- Nicholas J. Cotsonika, columnist

Granted, the Oilers haven't roared out of the gate this season like you might have expected, but then remember they began last season 2-9-1 and were still playing June 24, the final day of the postseason. When you come within one win of winning the Stanley Cup and ending Canada's 31-year championship drought, you set a lofty bar of expectation for an encore. I'm still high on the Oilers going very deep this season. McDavid is the greatest player in the world, a five-time Art Ross Trophy winner. McDavid, Draisaitl, Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins give the Oilers a potent 1-2-3-4 offensive punch. When playing to potential, Edmonton's special teams are special indeed. Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm and Brett Kulak are beasts on defense and goalies Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard can be used in a healthy balance by coach Kris Knoblauch. Yes, 2023-24 was then and 2024-25 is now, but the Oilers' flirtation with a championship last season showed this group many things, and there is no teacher like that of unfinished business. -- Dave Stubbs, columnist

After covering the final three rounds of the Oilers' Stanley Cup journey that ended with a 2-1 loss to Florida Panthers in Game 7 of the Final, I had a firsthand view of just how resilient this team is. No, they didn't win the championship, but to come so close after falling behind 3-0 in the best-of-7 Final and refusing to wilt with the odds so against them reflects their mettle. The offseason additions of forwards Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner should pay dividends over time despite Edmonton's sluggish start to the season. The two biggest concerns here: a) the drop-off in team speed with the departures of forward Dylan Holloway and defenseman Philip Broberg to the St. Louis Blues via offer sheets and Skinner's wonky start to the season. On each front, expect Oilers management to be proactive in filling those holes later in the season if the issues continue. After all, McDavid and Draisaitl are in the prime of their respective careers and Edmonton wants to take advantage of that window. With those two joining Nugent-Hopkins, Hyman and Bouchard as the foundation of the core, the Oilers are as talented, if not more, as any team in the NHL, let alone Canada. They'll right the ship when all is said and done. -- Mike Zeisberger, staff writer

Toronto Maple Leafs

What is the saying, great minds think alike? Like Nick, I also believe that Berube will have an immense impact on the Maple Leafs this season. If you need proof, remember what he did in 2019. He took over after the Blues went 7-9-3 under Mike Yeo and guided them to the Stanley Cup. If you recall, they didn't exactly catch fire when Berube first took over. They were 15-18-4 on Jan. 2, last in the NHL, before going on a historic run to the Cup. Berube has much more time to put his stamp on the Maple Leafs in his first season as coach, getting them into the postseason and ready to play the type of playoff hockey needed to win it all. That being said, the Maple Leafs have struggled lately, going 1-3-1 in their past five games and getting outscored 19-7 in those four losses. But I'm confident a roster with Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares will figure it out and be the last Canada team standing -- and maybe the last NHL team standing -- at season's end. This game against the Jets on Monday is a big early test for the Maple Leafs and could be a springboard to get their season going. -- Bill Price, VP, Editor-in-Chief

Vancouver Canucks

Yes, I know, the Canucks are missing an incredibly huge piece of the puzzle right now in goalie Thatcher Demko, who's out indefinitely with a lower-body injury, but I like their makeup and believe they'll stay strong until the return of who was the runner-up to the 2024 Vezina Trophy. They still have Jack Adams Award-winning coach Rick Tocchet, Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Quinn Hughes and a great cast around them. And so far, goalie Kevin Lankinen has been great. He signed with the Canucks on Sept. 21, after two seasons as a backup to Juuse Saros with the Nashville Predators. He's a great story. This season the Canucks will be one again, too. -- Tracey Myers, staff writer

Winnipeg Jets

I really wanted to pick the Canucks, but with the uncertainty because of Demko's injury, I can't quite get there. Which brings me to the Jets, who have had a stunningly good start to the 2024-25 season and have no questions in net with Hellebuyck making his best case to be the top goalie for the United States at the 2025 4 Nations Face Off in a crowded field. The Jets aren't going to continue scoring 4.50 goals per game, but they have a varied and diverse group of scorers, any of whom can be counted on a given night. It's a team that's better than the recent playoff results have shown. And with questions about a few of the other Canadian contenders, I think the Jets are ready to make a statement, to justify the faith shown by Hellebuyck and Scheifele opting to remain in Winnipeg and place their faith in the organization. I think it's rewarded this season. -- Amalie Benjamin, staff writer

I figured the Jets would be a motivated team after getting unceremoniously bounced from the Western Conference First Round by the Colorado Avalanche last season. To me, Winnipeg has one of the most balanced forward groups in the NHL with the least drop-off in talent from the first to the fourth line. The Jets occupied first place in the overall standings briefly in January last season and are up there again eight games into this season as the League's only undefeated team. Winnipeg's depth makes it a tough team to match up against and it has the best goalie in the NHL, Hellebuyck, who is looking for some redemption this season after struggling in the five playoff games against Colorado, which was a reason for Winnipeg's early exit. Though it's a long season and there is still a lot of hockey to play, I don't think there will be much of a dip for the Jets and don't see any other Canadian team surpassing them. -- Derek Van Diest, staff writer