This could be the season Canada ends its Stanley Cup drought

It has been more than 30 years since a Canadian NHL franchise has lifted the Stanley Cup, a drought that continues to irk hockey fans north of the border. 

But if that drought is going to come to an end anytime soon, the 2023-24 season might be their best chance for it.

Not only are four of the league's seven Canadian franchises in a position to make the playoffs — Vancouver, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Toronto — they are all among the league's best teams. 

Entering play on Tuesday the Canucks, Jets and Oilers ranked first, fourth and seventh in the league standings by points percentage, while the Maple Leafs ranked just outside the top-10 in the 11th spot.

All of them have strong rosters that should put them in the Stanley Cup discussion.

The Oilers entered play on Tuesday riding a 16-game winning streak that was just one short of matching the NHL record set by the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins. They boast two of the best offensive players in the league in forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl and a potentially lethal power play. 

Their big question mark will be whether or not their goaltending will be consistent enough come playoff time.

The Canucks might be the most surprising team in the league because they have the NHL's best record after missing the playoffs entirely a year ago. They have superstar talent at the top of their roster, including defenseman Quinn Hughes who is the mid-season favorite to win the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best all-around defenseman. 

Along with having the league's best record, they are also one of the most exciting teams in the league and are averaging a league-best 3.78 goals per game. They are also allowing the second-fewest goals per game at just 2.54 per game. 

Winnipeg has one of the NHL's best goalies in Connor Hellebuyck and are the only team in the NHL allowing fewer goals per game than the Canucks. 

The Jets and Canucks also both made significant in-season trade additions over the past week with the Jets getting center Sean Monahan from Montreal and the Canucks getting Elias Lindholm from Calgary.

Then we have Toronto. The Maple Leafs have been a consistent postseason disappointment in recent years, winning just one playoff series in the past seven seasons despite having an extremely expensive core led by Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander. 

Matthews is the best goal-scorer in the league right now and all four of their core forwards are playing great hockey. But they need to sure up their defense and goaltending to make a serious run at the Cup.

The fact the Canucks, Jets and Oilers all play in the Western Conference certainly increases the odds that one of them can get through to the Stanley Cup Final. 

The Montreal Canadiens (1993) were the most recent Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup. 

Vancouver (1994), Calgary (2004), Edmonton (2006), Ottawa (2007), Vancouver (2011) and Montreal (2021) have all reached the Stanley Cup Final and lost since then. 

Winnipeg and Toronto are the only two Canadian franchises that have not reached the Stanley Cup Final during that stretch.