Canadian NHL teams face major hurdles

July 06, 2026

Key points from this story:

• 33 years since Canadian Stanley Cup win
• Weather and tax rates disadvantage Canadian teams
• Quinn Hughes refused contract extension
• Hughes traded to Minnesota
• Brady Tkachuk refused extension, requested trades
• Connor Hellebuyck linked to trade rumours

A series of situations -- nice weather and better tax rates are two of the most significant -- seem to be conspiring against a team from Canada ever winning the Stanley Cup again. It might happen, because upsets are a normal part of sport, but roster building for Canadian teams is getting more difficult all the time.

Case in point: Vancouver Canucks had a rebuild in mind and they had the perfect player around which to build that potential contender: Defenceman Quinn Hughes. But after six seasons with the Canucks, Hughes told management he wouldn't sign a contract extension, so they were forced to trade him. The best deal available was with Minnesota, who sent a couple of promising players (Zeev Buium and Marco Rossi) to the Canucks in exchange for the all-star Quinn.

Ottawa Senators have been showing recent signs of contending, making the playoffs with a team that oozed potential. But in mid-June, the team's captain, not to mention its heart and soul, Brady Tkachuk, told team brass he, too, would not be signing an extension and gave management a list of four teams to which he would agree to be traded. Shocker of all shocks, one of those teams was the Florida Panthers where his brother Matthew plays. (Matthew, of course, orchestrated his own departure from a Canadian team, Calgary Flames, in 2022, and the floundering Flames still haven't recovered.)

It's no surprise that six of the last seven Stanley Cup champs have been a) located in warm-weather areas; or b) in tax-friendly states. If a free agent is mulling over opportunities, and the money offer is similar between warm-weather Tampa Bay, where there is no state income tax, and Winnipeg, where the weather is cold and the taxman has sharp claws, where is the player likely to sign?

Rumblings around the NHL already are suggesting all-star goalie Connor Hellebuyck of the Jets, a U.S. citizens, would love to play for a winner. He claims to have loved his time in Winnipeg but if the Panthers don't sign free agent Sergei Bobrovsky and are looking for a goalie, a trade for Hellebuyck would make perfect sense. And the rich would get richer.

When Connor McDavid of the Oilers spurned a long-term offer and instead signed a two-year extension last year, that was a significant sign that he was urging the Oilers to build a winner around him and fellow star Leon Draisaitl, or he'd be looking for greener, winning pastures. The haul for the Oilers if a McDavid trade is imminent would be immense, but draft picks and youngsters with potential will only serve to keep the Oilers, like all of their Canadian counterparts, away from the champagne for maybe 33 more years.

Sports Comments:

- Greg Cote of the Miami Herald, after tennis player Adolpho Daniel Vallejo of Paraguay was fined $65,000 for complaining about chair umpire Ana Carvalho refereeing a French Open match instead of a man: "Suddenly it was not 2026. It was 1952 and a man was telling his wife to bring him the paper and another beer and stay in her place."

- Headline at theonion.com: "New York City Mayor Presents Knicks With Key To His Car"

- Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun: "Twenty-seven is a fabulous number if your name happens to be Vladimir Guerrero, Darryl Sittler, Frank Mahovlich or Marv Luster. It's not a great number if it's your ERA and that's why Brendon Little, at 27.00 in seven appearances, is no longer a Blue Jay."

- Sean McIndoe in The Athletic: "Dallas Stars ... are officially this year's ultimate losers. They'll go down in history as being the team that lost to the team that lost to the team that lost to the team that lost to the team that won the Stanley Cup."

- Super 70s Sports: "The NFL finally banned Stickum in 1981 after Lester Hayes intercepted Dan Fouts with his butt and didn't even know it."

- Another headline at theonion.com: "World Cup Chant Not Racist Enough To Catch On"

- Headline at fark.com: "Since Angels owner Arte Moreno won't fire himself, he instead fires the GM"

- Comedy guy Torben Rolfsen of Vancouver: "The World Cup is an educational experience. For example, I always thought Scotland's national anthem was "I'm Gonna Be 500 miles.""

- Another one from Rolfsen: "Hey, did you see the U.S. and Germany played a 'friendly' on the anniversary of D-Day? Who sang the national anthem? Alanis Morissette?"

- Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun: "The Blue Jays' struggles of this season are not unexpected. Of the past 25 teams to lose the World Series, only three made it back the following season."