The Pacific Division, much like the Atlantic, is very cutthroat to make it to the playoffs. They have one of the best fighting for the spots, and with the predicted semi-disappointing Central Division, I’m expecting them to come close to sweeping the wildcard spots for the Western Conference. With some notable young players, I think that we may be surprised by some of the teams going through development periods, and this season may give us a glimpse at who could be expected to become a powerhouse.
- Vegas Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights just keep making great player decisions, and it’s certainly paying off in terms of results. Their most recent addition was signing Mitch Marner from the Toronto Maple Leafs, because they obviously needed another elite player to add to their elite roster. The duo of Marner and Jack Eichel will almost certainly become one of the top duos in the entire league; they’ll complement each other extremely well. I think that Vegas could very well be a major contender for the cup this year. The addition of Marner may be the exact thing that was preventing the Knights from winning the past two years.
- Edmonton Oilers
I have a deep personal hatred for the Edmonton Oilers, so it’s very hard for me to rank them second in the Pacific, but you can’t make it to the cup finals two years in a row without being a talented team. I’m sure the expectation here is for me to rave about Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and I will be talking about them, but probably not as expected. It is so clear that McDavid and Draisaitl are tired of Edmonton. They’re staying loyal to the team for now, but after the contract scare over the offseason, with a bunch of talks that McDavid wouldn’t resign only to take a two-year contract, Edmonton needs to take it as a wake-up call. It’s downright unintelligent to expect two people to make the difference in whether you win the cup or you don’t, because as they’ve shown these past two years, they can’t do it on their own. If Edmonton doesn’t act fast on bringing in more talented players, it’ll lose its star two. An elite player doesn’t sign for only two years if he has confidence they’ll pull it off very quickly.
- Los Angeles Kings
Maybe I just didn’t pay enough attention, but from my point of view, the LA Kings became majorly revived in the last couple of years. They have some major talent on their roster; Anze Kopitar, Quinton Byfield, Adrian Kempe, and Kevin Fiala are the players who stand out to me. They did very well in the playoffs last season, and I could see them doing well in the playoffs again this season. However, I don’t think that the Kings will make it to the finals. I think other contenders have a better chance, and when it comes to the playoffs, other contenders can beat them.
- Calgary Flames (Wildcard)
The Calgary Flames have made some questionable trades over the years, but have somehow managed to finish in pretty similar places every season. I would argue that the beginning of Calgary’s pretty average span that they’re currently stuck in was when they decided to ship Matthew Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers, who then proceeded to win the cup two years in a row, and then lost Johnny Gaudreau pretty much right after that to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Those were two of their elite players, and they haven’t really been able to make up for that loss since. They still have some great players, Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri, and their new goalie, Dustin Wolf, to help them out, but it’s not enough to carry them through the playoffs. So while I do predict that the Flames will pull out the wildcard spot, I don’t think they’ll really do anything with it.
- Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a good team, but they haven’t been ending with the best results as of late, and I think that a part of that could be the leadership. Quinn Hughes has all the ability to be a good captain, don’t get me wrong, but I think that he went into his captaincy with the thought of not exactly being the most respected, as he was on the much younger side of the scale, and just never fully grew out of that thought process. I’ll see clips of Canucks games and sometimes see Hughes make decisions, but not look fully confident in them, so how are his teammates supposed to be confident in plays when he himself doesn’t show full confidence? There were also a lot of rumors circulating about Quinn Hughes wanting a trade at the end of last season and during the offseason, which rumors are rumors, there’s no indication that there was truth behind the claims or not, but it can cause uncertainty in the eyes of some teammates, especially the younger ones who don’t know him as well yet, about his commitment to Vancouver, and I think that ultimately that circle of doubt could be why the Canucks aren’t quite at the point they used to be at.
- San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks have been very clear about their standing as a developing team in past seasons, but I think that this season will show that they’re closer to being developed than some may think. The key to their development, which I very rarely see in developing teams, is that they didn’t rest the weight of their future on one player’s shoulders; they gave him a reliable right-hand man to carry that with him. I am, of course, talking about Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini, who the Sharks brought in at the same time, causing them to create a bond so tight that their duo may rival that of McDavid/Draisaitl someday. Then they brought in even more reliable players to cover all aspects of the team, meaning that they can play good hockey almost every shift. They don’t have the best win record, which I believe is partially blameable on their not-so-great goalie duo, but they play good hockey without a doubt. You know a team has great potential when they keep losing, but they’re so fun to watch when they play, and that pretty much sums up San Jose perfectly.
- Seattle Kraken
The Seattle Kraken have pretty much all of the pieces they need to be a good team, yet unfortunately end up short time and time again. They have some recognizable names, for example, Matty Beniers, Jordan Eberle, Kappo Kakko, Mason Marchment, Vince Dunn, Joey Daccord, and Philipp Grubauer; so it doesn’t make all that much sense why they just don’t seem to click. Sometimes, all a team needs is one player who can work as a glue for the players, someone who doesn’t have to be the best on the team but has a standout attitude. Maybe that’s what Seattle is missing, maybe they just need someone who can carry them in points, who knows, but for certain, the Seattle Kraken need help.
- Anaheim Ducks
I’m just going to say it, I don’t think the Anaheim Ducks want to win. They traded away arguably their most elite player, Trevor Zegras, and then traded their star goalie, John Gibson, to Detroit for a goalie, Petr Mrazek, who is arguably much worse. They have another goalie that they have a lot of confidence in, but it’s still not that effective if the other half of their goalie duo doesn’t pull their weight. And yes, they added Jacob Trouba, so maybe they’re trying to change the way they play hockey in Anaheim, but without another mean defender, it doesn’t work trying to be tough. They have players with talent, but it looks like the Ducks are playing uninspired, as if they don’t care whether they win or lose, and that can be extremely dangerous.
