Pacific Division Predictions
- Morris
- Oct 3
- 9 min read
(Photo Credit: Sergei Belski - USA Today)
Home to the back-to-back defending Western Conference Champion Edmonton Oilers, the Pacific Division includes some of the league's best, worst, and everything in between.
This season however, with certain teams hopefully on the rise, and possibly others on the fall, there appears to be more up in the air regarding the divisions final standings than perhaps in recent years.
Let's break down the Pacific Division from 10,000 feet.
San Jose Sharks - 8th Place, 64 Points
Projected Lineup
Forwards
Jeff Sinner - Macklin Celebrini - Will Smith
William Eklund - Alex Wennberg - Tyler Toffoli
Phillip Kurashev - Michael Misa - Collin Graf
Barclay Goodrow - Adam Gaudette - Ty Dellandrea
Defensemen
Mario Ferraro - Timothy Liljegren
Nick Leddy - John Klingberg
Shakir Mukhamadullin - Dmitri Orlov
Goalies
Yaroslav Askarov - Alex Nedeljkovic
Synopsis
The future is bright for the San Jose Sharks, especially at the forward position.
After stockpiling recent top draft picks in Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Michael Misa, and William Eklund, skill and speed up front won't be lacking in the Bay Area any time soon.
Defensively, however, the Sharks blue line isn't great and with the New York Islanders jumping ten spots in the NHL Draft Lottery - they leap frogged San Jose and selected Matthew Schaefer from right underneath them.
The Sharks lack a true No. 1 defensemen both on their NHL roster, and or in their system, and Schaefer would have undoubtedly become that.
So while drafting Michael Misa 2nd overall was still a great addition - he wasn't the selection San Jose needed in hoping to complete their positional rebuild efforts.
But while defending will remain a struggle for the Sharks, hopefully former Nashville Predators 1st round draft pick in 2020, Yaroslav Askarov, can be a bright spot in net.
Ultimately, until San Jose's blue line drastically improves via drafting a No. 1 defensemen, or trading for one - they'll continue to be among the lower ranked teams in the league.
Seattle Kraken - 7th Place, 77 Points
Projected Lineup
Forwards
Jared Mccann - Matty Beniers - Eeli Tolvanen
Jaden Schwartz - Shane Wright - Jordan Eberle
Mason Marchment - Chandler Stephenson - Jani Nyman
Tye Kartye - Frederick Gaudreau - Ryan Winterton
Defensemen
Vince Dunn - Adam Larsson
Jamie Oleksiak - Brandon Montour
Ryan Lindgren - Ryker Evans
Goalies
Joey Daccord - Phillip Grubauer
Synopsis
Seattle is an interesting team, in that they have a lot of good players, but no real great players - at least at the moment.
Matty Beniers, and Shane Wright still have levels they can reach.
Joey Daccord is arguably a top three American goalie in the NHL behind Connor Hellebuyck, and Jake Oettinger.
From there it's down to Daccord and Jeremy Swayman.
Jared Mccann, Jordan Eberle, Jayden Schwartz, Chandler Stephenson, and Mason Marchment are all good forwards who will provide varying degrees of production.
But there isn't a current superstar among the forward group.
Nor are there any on the back end.
Vince Dunn, Brandon Montour, Adam Larsson, Jaime Oleksiak, Ryan Lindren are all defensemen who offer different skill sets and are each capable of effectively logging top four minutes.
But they are all far from being Norris candidates.
The Kraken will be competitive, and if all goes well could possibly finish near the middle of the division and in a wild card hunt - but for now they're predicted finishing 7th.
Vancouver Canucks - 6th Place, 86 Points
Projected Lineup
Forwards
Jake DeBrusk - Elias Petterson - Brock Boeser
Evander Kane - Filip Chytil - Johnathan Lekkerimaki
Nils Hoglander - Teddy Blueger - Conor Garland
Drew O'Connor - Aatu Raty - Kiefer Sherwood
Defensemen
Quinn Hughes - Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson - Tyler Myers
Derek Forbort - Elias Nils Pettersson
Goalies
Thatcher Demko - Kevin Lankinen
Synopsis
Vancouver has the 2nd best defensemen in the world in Quinn Hughes, and arguably a top ten goaltender in Thatcher Demko.
But beyond those known commodities, there's way too many questions surrounding a Canucks team that has been chock full of drama and inconsistencies over the past handful of seasons.
Which Elias Petterson shows up?
The one who scored 102 points in 80 games played back in 2022-2023, or the one who scored 45 points in 64 games this past season?
Here are his point totals in his other seasons:
66 points in 71 games played
66 points in 68 games played
21 points in 26 games played
68 points in 80 games played
89 points in 82 games played
When you add it all up, Petterson has produced at less than a point per game in 5 of his 7 seasons.
He's clearly a real good offensive player, but the Canucks need him to be great.
They also need him to defend better as their uncontested top center with J.T. Miller now in New York.
Brock Boeser is another forward whose production level the Canucks just can't rely on year to year.
Outside of one 40 goal, 73 point season in 2023-2024, Boeser has mainly been a 25 goal, 50-55 point producer throughout his eight year career.
Jake DeBrusk is a bit mis-casted in a top line role.
In 2022-2023, DeBrusk scored 50 points in 64 games playing on a line with Patrice Bergeron, and Brad Marchand. That's an 82 game scoring pace of 64 points - low end top line production, but top line production indeed.
But aside from that one year?
DeBrusk has scored 264 points in 483 games played - that's a point per game pace of .55, and an 82-game scoring pace of 45 points.
Which is a great as a middle-six forward, but not as a top liner producer.
So those three wild cards make up Vancouvers top line ...
After that, it's a bit underwhelming.
Quinn Hughes is a superstar on an otherwise pedestrian blue line - but he's so dynamic at driving the teams offense at event strength, and on the power play that as long as he's in the lineup, Vancouver has a chance to win on most nights.
Calgary Flames - 5th Place, 89 Points
Projected Lineup
Forwards
Joel Farabee - Nazim Kadri - Yegor Sharangovich
Johnathan Huberdeau - Morgan Frost - Matt Coronato
Connor Zary - Mikeal Backlund - Blake Coleman
Ryan Lomberg - Martin Pospisil - Adam Klapka
Defensemen
Kevin Bahl - Rasmus Andersson
Joel Hanley - Mackenzie Weegar
Zayne Parekh - Brayden Pachal
Goalies
Dustin Wolf - Ivan Prosvetov
Synopsis
The Flames missed the postseason last year despite having more points (96) than two Eastern Conference playoff teams in Montreal (91), and New Jersey (91).
Obviously the Flames are in the Western Conference but point being, they were right there and in the mix with some of the lower ranking playoff teams around the league.
In fact, regardless of what division or conference a team is in, 96 points is good enough to at least qualify as a wild card team most years.
Tough luck for Calgary, and what's even tougher - is that it feels like they missed the playoffs in a year where they overachieved.
I expect them to fall back down to earth a bit.
They have some good pieces up front in Nazim Kadri, Jonathan Huberdeau, Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, Yegor Sharangovich, Matt Coronato, Mikeal Backlund, and Blake Coleman but it's far from a top offense in the league.
The blue line is interesting.
Rasmus Andersson is coming off of a down year and is a pending UFA at seasons end - but he, Mackenzie Weegar, Kevin Bahl, and Joel Hanley make a respectable top four.
Zayne Parekh will be a fascinating player to watch.
Calgary's 1st round, 9th overall selection, in 2024 tallied 33 goals, 77 assists, and 107 points in 61 games for the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL last season.
Dustin Wolf is a key cog here. If he can stop the puck the way he did a year ago then Calgary will once again be in the playoff hunt - but if he takes a step back, i'm not sure if they'll be able to score enough to qualify for the postseason.
Anaheim Ducks - 4th Place, 92 Points
Projected Lineup
Forwards
Chris Kreider - Leo Carlsson - Troy Terry
Cutter Gautier - Mason McTavish - Mikeal Granlund
Frank Vatrano - Ryan Strome - Alex Killorn
Tim Washe - Ryan Poehling - Sam Colangelo
Defensemen
Jackson LaCombe - Radko Gudas
Olen Zellweger - Jacob Trouba
Pavel Mintyukov - Drew Helleson
Goalies
Lukas Dostal - Petr Mrazek
Synopsis
Here's our first real bold prediction.
After a decade of rebuilding, the Anaheim Ducks seem primed to finally contend for a wild card spot in the Western Conference.
They have a great combination of young, high end skill in Leo Carlsson, Troy Terry, Cutter Gautier, Mason McTavish, Jackson LaCombe, Olen Zellweger, Pavel Mintyukov and Drew Helleson, to go along with productive veterans in Mikeal Granlund, Frank Vatrano, Chris Kreider, Ryan Strome, and Alex Killorn, as well as physical leadership in Radko Gudas, and Jacob Trouba.
If Lucas Dostal can take a step forward, it really does feel like Anaheim is knocking on the door of playoff contention.
From there, they will need to continue to evolve and improve before reaching contender status, but team success is on the distant horizon in orange county.
Edmonton Oilers - 3rd Place, 98 Points
Projected Lineup
Forwards
Leon Draisaitl - Connor McDavid - Trent Frederic
Isaac Howard - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - David Tomasek
Andrew Mangiapane - Adam Henrique - Matthew Savoie
Vasily Podkolzin - Mattias Janmark - Kasperi Kapanen
Defensemen
Mattias Ekholm - Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse - Jake Walman
Brett Kulak - Ty Emberson
Goalies
Stuart Skinner - Calvin Pickard
Synopsis
Edmonton has the ability to win the Pacific Division - hands down.
However, the two-time defending Western Conference Champions have played a lot of hockey over the last two years, and will probably pick and choose their spots to pace themselves throughout the year in an effort to save up their attrition for a hopeful long spring.
Elsewhere, Zach Hyman continues to be on the shelf, and while a traffic cone could probably produce playing with Connor McDavid, and Leon Draisaitl, time will tell if Trent Frederic is the appropriate third line mate to start the season.
It's clear Frederic will be told to simply be hard on the forecheck, win battles, down low, and park his rear in front of the net (a la Hyman, and Corey Perry) while McDavid, and Draisaitl take care of the rest - but his lack of foot speed, and slow decision making in transition likely won't mesh well with the pace McDavid wants to play at and it could lead to someone else getting a look on that line.
Isaac Howard, and Matthew Savoie are interesting young forwards to watch.
Mattias Ekholm, Evan Bouchard, and Darnell Nurse will lead the way defensively.
Stuart Skinner will continue to be a wild card. He's lucky he's played behind two of the best forwards in the world because a sub .900 save percentage usually doesn't get teams very far.
Ultimately, as always, there's too much high end talent for Edmonton to not make the playoffs and they'll once again be in contention for the Western Conference crown.
Los Angeles Kings - 2nd Place, 103 Points
Projected Lineup
Forwards
Andrei Kuzmenko - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala - Quinton Byfield - Alex Lefferiere
Warren Foegele - Phillip Danault - Trevor Moore
Jeff Mallot - Alex Turcotte - Joel Armia
Defensemen
Mikey Anderson - Drew Doughty
Joel Edmundson - Brandt Clarke
Brian Dumoulin - Cody Ceci
Goalies
Darcy Kuemper - Anton Forsberg
Synopsis
In what has been announced as Anze Kopitar's final season in the NHL, the Kings are going to do all that they can to make it a lasting one.
With Kopitar's career coming to and end soon, Drew Doughty getting towards the end of his career, and Adrian Kempe possibly leaving next summer as a pending UFA - it's possible the Kings take some steps back in the next couple of years.
But not this year.
This season feels like one last kick at the can in the immediate future.
And they're set up well.
LA has a deep forward group even behind Kopitar and Kempe with Quinton Byfield, Andrei Kuzmenko, Kevin Fiala, Alex Lefferiere, and Phillip Danault.
Doughty, Mikey Anderson, and Brandt Clarke are three real good players who will be supported by role players in veterans Joel Edmundson, Brian Dumoulin, and Cody Ceci.
When three of six defensemen in a d-core have Stanley Cup rings to their names - two of them multiple - you know experience isn't an issue.
Speaking of Stanley Cup rings, Darcy Kuemper won one with Colorado in 2022 and was a Vezina finalist last year for the Kings.
Top to bottom, Los Angeles is a very solid team.
They have questions to answer, and holes to address beyond this year - but for now, they're a contender.
Vegas Golden Knights - 1st Place, 108 Points
Projected Lineup
Forwards
Ivan Barbashev - Jack Eichel - Mitch Marner
Reilly Smith - William Karlsson - Mark Stone
Brandon Saad - Tomas Hertl - Pavel Dorofeyev
Brett Howden - Colton Sissons - Keegan Kolesar
Defensemen
Brayden McNabb - Shea Theodore
Noah Hannifin - Zach Whitecloud
Jeremy Lauzon - Kaedan Korczak
Goalies
Adin Hill - Akira Schmid
Synopsis
The 2023 Stanley Cup Champion, Vegas Golden Knights, are positioned for a big year after acquiring Mitch Marner from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Marner, and Jack Eichel will be magical together.
Beyond them up front, it's just pure depth, and experienced producers in Mark Stone, Ivan Barbashev, Reilly Smith, William Karlsson, Tomas Hertl, Pavel Dorofeyev, Brandon Saad, and Brett Howden.
Time will tell if Alex Pietrangelo plays again - he's currently on IR rehabbing from hip surgery - but even if Vegas plays the entire year without him, Shea Theodore is primed to lead the way on the back end with Noah Hannifin, Brayden McNabb, and Zach Whitecloud right behind.
Adin Hill is a quality, championship caliber goaltender more than capable of backstopping the Golden Knights to a divisional title, and hopefully beyond.
Vegas is the real deal, and among the true contenders in the NHL.
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