Hot Takes
The Kraken Sink to the Bottom
Last season, the Kraken finished in seventh place in the division, a whopping twenty-four points ahead of last place San Jose. The forward core is wildly unsensational, while the goaltending and defense core have the makings of a wild card team. The Kraken should embrace the tank and move on from some of their stars, looking to receive future wing or D talent in return. After selling at the deadline, they'll just sneak past the Sharks for a dead last finish in the Division standings.
Ducks Climb Past Kings
While most believe the Ducks and Kings are trending in opposite directions, the effects this offseason have had on the franchises are being undersold. For the Ducks, moving on from Greg Cronin was a massive step in the right direction, long overdue for the benefit of this young and rebuilding team. His replacement is former Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville, and growth and increased production from this team’s youth should come across the board as a result of this changing of leadership.
On the other hand, new GM Ken Holland appears to have set LA back in a significant way. Their much-discussed change of guard on the back end was a net-negative across the board, and the value of the once-great D-core should tank, which will result in a step back for Darcy Kuemper. As Anaheim’s young guns rise, a weakened Kings team will be passed up in the division and playoff picture before they even know what hit them.
Only Three Playoff Teams (Again)
If you’ve read my first article, you’ll know that the Pacific having only three playoff teams will start to look like the new norm this season. While Edmonton and Vegas are locks, the rest of the division looks very mediocre, especially when asked to compete with the loaded Central Division for two wild card spots. While there are plenty of Pacific teams that have the talent to be in the mix, they can’t hold a candle to the overall depth the teams in the Central possess.
Standings Predictions
1. Vegas Golden Knights- 116 Points
The Knights shouldn’t only top this division, but the entire league, winning the Presidents' Trophy. After signing Toronto’s estranged son Mitch Marner via free agency, Vegas might have the best high-end forward talent in the entire league on paper. There won't be a learning curve for Marner with a group this talented, and he will have a career year in the regular season, finishing top five in Hart Trophy voting. While the main men up front (Stone, Barbashev, Eichel, Hertl, Karlsson) aren’t getting any younger, the addition of Marner pushes all of their chips into the window of the current core, ensuring they’ll be great for the next five years as opposed to pretty good for the next seven.
As good as the forward group is, there are still question marks throughout the rest of the lineup. Due to a tragic injury ending Alex Pietrangelo's career, there is a sizable hole in what once was a daunting defensive group. As far as top pairings go, Noah Hanafin and Shea Theodore are as good as it gets. While McNabb and Whitecloud are great, neither are a sure thing in an elevated second-pair role in Pietrangelo's absence. In between the pipes, the biggest question marks arises with Adin Hill. While his magical 2023 playoff run lives fondly in Knight’s fans memories, he may falter in the regular season with a weakened d-core in front of him, and we saw chinks in Hill’s armor last postseason, playing poor in both of the Knight’s series.
Ultimately, expect this team to be a phenomenal regular season team, mostly powered by their high-octane offense. Their Russian Wingers (Barbashev & Dorofeyev) should post career-highs as the beneficiaries of some of the best passers the league has to offer (Marner, Eichel & Stone). While this group isn’t a Stanley Cup lock, Vegas is still a safe bet to sit atop the Pacific.
2. Edmonton Oilers- 111 Points
Like Vegas, the Oilers will dominate through their high-end offensive talent. A healthy and vengeful Connor McDavid will be a lock for 100 assists, hopefully with better goal-scoring numbers than we’ve seen since his 60-goal explosion in ‘22-’23. Alongside him, Leon Draisaitl will likely hit last year’s statline of 50-50–100 again, as he plays just as good with or without McDavid (particularly at even strength). The depth of both the forward and D-core looks as strong as it’s ever been, with Matt Savoie and Isaac Howard looking to lock down a roster spot on the forward group. Deadline pickup Jake Walman rounds out a solid top four for the Oilers, with Evan Bouchard leading a unit particularly suited to help provide even more offense from the back end. For the third year running, the issue seems to be in net. While it's clear what this group can do come playoff time, they will only go as far as Stuart Skinner will let them, but he should do just fine throughout the regular season.
3. Anaheim Ducks- 98 Points
While Joel Quenneville is a much-needed upgrade over Cronin, the real catalyst for the Ducks 18-point improvement will be the players, both new and old. The biggest leaps will be taken by Cutter Gautheir and Leo Carlsson, who both showed their upside despite not being fully trusted under Cronin. Expect thirty goals for Gauthier, who will benefit from his elite-level release and Leo Carlsson feeding him the puck, who should get at least sixty-five points right alongside him.
While defenseman Jackson Lacombe and goalie Lukas Dostal took their leap last season, they’ll continue to trend upward. The youth on the left side of the Ducks defensive pairings (Lacombe, Mintyukov and Zellweger) will both learn from and out-perform their respective partners on the right (Gudas, Trouba and Helleson). While this team still has their flaws, this team’s youth will finally get to fully fledge under a new head coach, and they should end the season in a playoff spot because of them.
4. Los Angeles Kings- 95 Points
Last season, LA found success due an elite defensive group and system, supplemented by a team effort in the scoring department. While their good forward group is still in tact, they have no true superstar. Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala have consistently produced at a top-line level, while Anze Kopitar continues to be an ageless wonder, keeping up alongside Kempe and Fiala well into his late thirties. Although the forward core remains intact, this offseason saw the Kings recipe for success (defense) begin to show cracks. They lost Vladislav Gavrikov to the Rangers, figuring that paying him $7 million until he’s 36 would be too much for too long. In his place, they signed Cody Ceci and Brian Dumolin, who they will pay a combined $8.5 million to until they are 35 and 36. Both defenders are far less effective than Gavrikov, and will likely be overpaid bottom-pair guys until their deals expire. While the signings were confusing, the rest of the defensive unit still looks great. Mikey Anderson and Brandt Clarke should take steps as Drew Doughty and Joel Edmunson continue to hold down the fort. However, the difference in value provided by Gavrikov last year and Dumolin & Ceci this year will affect the group as a whole, particularly goaltender Darcy Keumper. After finishing third in Vezina voting last year, Kuemper will suffer the greatest form the changes in personnel in front of him.
While I don’t have the Kings pegged for a playoff position, it could still be in the cards for them. For that to happen, Brandt Clarke and Quentin Byfield will have to take a massive leap. Kopitar and Doughty (37 & 35) are the guys keeping Clarke and Byfield from being the team’s number 1 D-man and center, and they need to take the reins from the aging duo eventually. If Byfield can put up thirty goals and seventy points, and Clarke can be consistently effective on both sides of the puck, the Kings should be in the mix until the very end.
5. Vancouver Canucks- 92 Points
While this is certainly not what Canucks fans want to hear, there are more good things than bad to be said about this Vancouver team. While their forward depth is questionable at best, Elias Pettersson is long overdue to get back on course. The 102 points he put up in 2022-23 might be too much to ask for after his 45 point season last year, but he should fall far closer to the 89 points he put up in 2023-24. Alongside him will be Brock Boeser, who will look rejuvenated under his new deal.
On defense, the star of the show (and star of the team as a whole) is obviously Quinn Hughes, a great Norris Trophy bet if he can remain healthy. Alongside him is a defensive unit with exceptional depth. While Thatcher Demko looked like one of the best goalies in the league when he was fully healthy, there is greater cause for concern for him than other players on the team. His .889 save percentage in twenty three games last year is cause for concern, particularly after signing a three-year contract with an $8.5 million cap hit. This team has plenty of playoff-level pieces, but the forward depth and goaltending questions see them on the outside looking in for my predictions.
6. Calgary Flames- 86 Points
The Flames are a tricky team. Just last season, they finished with 96 points, (tied for) the most ever by a non-playoff team. While they have some talent on their roster, it is not nearly enough to endorse an improvement on last year’s tally. Like LA, they relied on an excellent defensive system to shut teams down, coupled with sensational play by rookie goalie Dustin Wolf. Big things should be expected from Wolf, though a sophomore slump could very well be in his immediate future. Calgary’s entire team will take a slight step back, which will have its effects on the team’s system, which will have an effect on Wolf. Superstar prospect Zayne Parekh should start next season full-time, but the smaller rookie will struggle with both an incomplete defensive game and the physicality at the NHL level. As good as Matt Coronato’s deal is, he set high expectations for himself with his rookie year, and he might underperform in comparison next year. This could be offset by improved numbers from either Connor Zary or Jonathan Huberdeau, but last year’s leap just felt a few seasons too soon for the Flames, though the future still looks bright long-term.
7. San Jose Sharks- 62 Points
As laughably bad as a sixty-two point season is, it would still be a ten point improvement for San Jose. While it must be frustrating for Sharks fans to see the team continue to perform this poorly, it’s all apart of GM Mike Grier’s master plan. This offseason, the Sharks added forwards Ryan Reaves, Phillip Kurashev and Jeff Skinner, as well as defenseman Dimitri Orlov, John Klingberg and Nick Leddy. While most of these players are net-negatives (especially when factoring in their contracts), the Sharks needed to sign all of these guys just to be able to pay out the minimum amount of salary. Along with the salary floor incentive, this coalition of players likely holds San Jose back from doing anything other than ending up at the bottom of the standings yet again, which would be great in a draft class that includes players like Gavin McKenna. To offset the negative value from the new guys, youth development from Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith will keep the team trending (slowly) upwards. Smith should get sixty points in year number two, and Celebrini could score up to eighty-five points in his age nineteen season. Alongside them, rookies Micheal Misa and Sam Dickinson could star, given the right opportunities alongside the aforementioned Celebrini, Smith or veteran scorer Tyler Toffoli. While the team as a whole looks bad, the young high-end talent should make this team even more fun to watch than they were in 2024-2025, and a double-digit jump in points should be the outcome.
8. Seattle Kraken- 61 Points
At the bottom of the barrel, we have the Kraken. As exciting as their 2022-2023 debut season was, the team has been on a downward spiral ever since, and it’s in their best interest for that to continue. The forward unit consists of exactly one player that can put up first-line production (Jared McCann), maybe two if you want to bet on a bounceback season from Matty Beniers for the second straight year. Like the rest of the team, I’ll need to see Beniers revert to his 2023 form to believe it.
While goaltender Joey Daccord can win the team a few games, it won’t be nearly enough for this team to sniff playoff action. While Seattle could still be in the mix at the turn of the calendar year, a poor first two months of 2026 and a selloff of both Vince Dunn and/or Jared McCann at the deadline will see the Kraken end the season on a terrible run (see last year’s Bruins post-deadline). If you look at this team’s prospect depth, they really should look for anything but centers in their return packages, building towards a more well-rounded unit of the future. Sorry Seattle fans, this year might not be the best for you.
Final Thoughts
When compared to my first article looking at the Central Division, the Pacific is comparatively dull and hierarchical. Both Edmonton and Vegas are clearly at the top, very far ahead of the rest, particularly after LA’s offseason. The second tier teams include Anaheim, LA, Vancouver and Calgary, any of whom have an outside shot of making the playoffs (don’t expect any fight from whichever team from this group makes it to the postseason). Our bottom tier sees the Sharks and Kraken, both of whom could be entertaining, but these units are already constructing their rosters for seasons beyond this upcoming one. While there’s plenty to see in the Pacific Division, predicting the division felt pretty straightforward.