The Pacific Division has star players just about everywhere, but the depth at left wing isn't what it once was. Which elite talents are still holding down the fort on the left side, and which are emerging?
The Pacific Division is home to some of the very best players at their positions in the league, like Connor McDavid, Macklin Celebrini and Mitch Marner, among others.
But one area where the Pacific is a bit deficient is on the left wing.
Between aging, rebuilds, trades, and signings, the left side has gotten a little hollowed out for the West Coast teams. But there's still talent there, some of it really coming into its own these days and into the future.
So who are the best left wingers in the Pacific for 2026-27? Here are the top three based on everything we know right now:
1. Artemi Panarin, Los Angeles Kings
One of the most recent additions to the Pacific Division is also its best at the position.
For all his faults, Panarin was certainly one of the 30 or 40 most valuable players in the league between the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings last season. In fact, when he got to his new home and settled in, he really delivered in a way that was alllllmost enough to remind you of the really good years.
This past season was his ninth straight of putting up more than a point per game, and while he's not going to become the 120-point guy he used to be, it's really easy to project 90-plus for next season. The Rangers are just a franchise adrift right now, and at least LA has a direction to point him in and more of a supporting cast.
The floor on what Panarin will bring if he stays healthy (and he usually does) is still quite high, but the ceiling is a bit lower. The opposite is probably true of the next guy up…
2. Cutter Gauthier, Anaheim Ducks
Gauthier actually played a number of games at both wings for the Anaheim Ducks this season and into the playoffs, but most of his time is on the left, and that's what he's listed as on the NHL website, so that's what we're going with.
He also saw his ice time fluctuate wildly between 12 or 13 minutes and 16 or 18. So, safe to say he spent his second season being deployed conditionally, but that did not stop him from finishing just outside the league's top 10 with 41 goals. And he got less ice time than everyone in front of him.
It's really hard to score 40-plus goals in back-to-back seasons. Gauthier wouldn't be the first or last to hit that mark and never get back to it, especially because his total more than doubled from his rookie to sophomore seasons.
Even still, if he splits the difference and settles in as a 30-goal guy who's not any sort of huge defensive liability for the next couple of seasons, that's a good place to be. As his game matures, there's tons to like.
However, he doesn't have a new contract yet, and it could be extremely costly for the Ducks, just because there are so few comparables with his production and at his age in recent years.
Among all NHLers who played at least 1,000 minutes before their 23rd birthday since 2007-08, Gauthier's 1.47 goals per 60 minutes ranks seventh, behind Alex Ovechkin, Auston Matthews, Steven Stamkos, Michael Grabner, Bobby Ryan, and Jason Robertson. He's right ahead of Davis Pastrnak.
Rarified air. And still lots left to learn.
3. Zach Hyman, Edmonton Oilers
There is such a big gap between Gauthier at No. 2 and just about anyone you want to argue for No. 3 – Hyman, Ivan Barbashev, Jared McCann, Chris Kreider, etc. – that it's tough to really make a case that they're even in the same league.
But Hyman, I think, was perceived as having a kind of down year the last two seasons, and he scored 27 in 73 games, then 31 in 58.
Whatever other aspects of his game you might think are lacking, putting the puck in the net is absolutely not one of them.
He's not likely to ever hit the 54 he had in 2023-24, but if nearly a point-per-game average and the 13th-most goals per 60 minutes in the league among players with at least 1,000 minutes played is a "down year," most teams and left wingers would kill for that kind of down year.
Yes, he's riding shotgun with two of the best centers in the league on the Edmonton Oilers. Yes, he's on the back nine of his career. But he's been a borderline-elite goal-scorer for five years (19th in that span, with 175), and until someone in the Pacific besides Gauthier can surpass that, there's not really a conversation here.
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