NHL training camps are underway and whether your favorite team is a contender or a rebuilder, there is excitement and optimism in the air. We will be predicting the standings for each NHL division. First, we have arguably the weakest division in the league, the Pacific Division.
8th | San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks had a historically bad 2023-2024 season. They finished with only 47 points, 12 points behind the seventh place Anaheim Ducks. They added veteran goal-scoring winger, Tyler Toffoli to pair with youngsters William Eklund, Macklin Celebrini, and Will Smith. The Sharks also acquired goaltender, Yaroslav Askarov from the Nashville Predators. Askarov, (22) was a first-round pick (11th overall) in 2020. They have great young pieces they can build around, as well as their future number one goaltender.
However, they are still a few years away from competing for a playoff spot. Despite their offseason moves and solid drafting, they should still finish last. This young core will experience growing pains, just like any rebuilding team. While they will be better than last season, 12 points is a lot of ground to make up. However, they should be competitive in their games this season. The Sharks have an extremely bright future, but unfortunately, their time is not now. Expect another eighth place finish in the Pacific Division.
7th | Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are in a weird spot. They have a few bad contracts that are seemingly untradeable. They have five more years of Nazem Kadri with a $7 million cap hit, and seven more years of Jonathan Huberdeau with a $10.5 million cap hit. Huberdeau will be 38-years old when that contract expires. That is not an ideal situation.
The Flames also have a few trade pieces to help acquire future assets for their rebuild. It is likely that they will trade Andrei Kuzmenko, Anthony Mantha, and Rasmus Andersson. This team could look vastly different come the trade deadline, which will likely result in them falling down the standings.
The Flames traded goaltender Jaccob Markstrom this offseason, which means 23-year old Dustin Wolf is their guy going into the future. Expect a mediocre season from the Flames this year, as they kick start their rebuild. They should get surpassed by the up-and-coming Anaheim Ducks, therefore the Flames should finish seventh in the Pacific Division.
6th | Anaheim Ducks
Like the Sharks, the Anaheim Ducks are also building towards the future. They have an extremely young forward group that consists of Leo Carlsson, Trevor Zegras, Cutter Gauthier, and Mason McTavish all under 24-years old. Anaheim also has Troy Terry who is only 27-years old. They have decent veterans surrounding these younger players such as Ryan Strome, Robby Fabbri, Alex Killorn, and Frank Vatrano. Vatrano is coming off a career high, 60 point campaign. These veterans complement their youth nicely. On defense, they have Olen Zellweger and Pavel Mintyukov, both under 22-years old. They have a solid foundation to build around.
However, this team is still a few years away from truly contending for a playoff spot. Their young core will all be developing together at the same time which is really beneficial. A major priority this year should be moving on from goaltender, John Gibson, and looking to find a goalie to lead them into the future. They might already have that in 24-year old, Lukas Dostal, if they would just give him the reins. They finished seventh last season, and they should take a minor step forward with a sixth place finish in 2024-25.
5th | Los Angeles Kings
Don’t be surprised if the Los Angeles Kings miss the postseason this year. Their big move was trading forward Pierre Luc Dubois to the Washington Capitals for goaltender Darcy Kuemper. Both players needed a change of scenery, so the deal made sense. However, it did not make the team better. Some could argue that the Kings got worse. Kuemper was not good last year, posting a 3.31 goals against average (GAA), with a .890 save percentage (SV %). Cam Talbot was much better for the Kings last season.
The Kings also made some smaller moves, adding Warren Foegele and Tanner Jeannot to their bottom six. Ultimately, the Kings did not do enough to compete with the Canucks, Golden Knights or Oilers, and could fall out of the playoff picture as a result.
4th | Seattle Kraken
The Seattle Kraken are positioned to push for a wild card spot this season. Their big offseason acquisitions were adding defenseman, Brandon Montour, and forward, Chandler Stevenson. Even though the Kraken massively overpaid Stevenson, and gave him 7-years of term, he makes them better short-term.
Seattle does not have the star power like other teams, but they have three really effective scoring lines which makes them a dangerous group. They need 21-year old forward, Matty Beniers to be a major offensive contributor. He only had 37 points last season which is 20 less than the previous year. He is their top line centre and needs a major bounce back performance if they are going to have any chance of making the playoffs.
Seattle also has a really good top four defensive unit with the Montour addition. They also have blueliners, Vince Dunn, Adam Larsson, and Jamie Oleksiak. They should finish fourth in the Pacific Division and battle the LA Kings, St. Louis Blues, and Utah Hockey Club for the last potential wild card spot. Let’s get Kraken.
3rd | Vegas Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights are always in the mix. While this may be the weakest Vegas team we have seen since they entered the league, they should take advantage of their weak division and get the final divisional playoff spot. They did lose some key pieces in Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault. But, they will have a full season of Thomas Hertl, and hopefully Mark Stone can remain healthy for the whole season. Vegas is still a deep team and have four lines they can roll.
The Golden Knights defense is the same as last year. They are led by Alex Pietrangelo, Shea Theodore, Noah Hanifin, and Brayden McNabb. This unit is extremely tough to play against.
They still have Adin Hill between the pipes. Hill has been consistent throughout his entire tenure in Vegas, and that shouldn’t change. Vegas should make some big moves by the trade deadline like they always do. If that’s the case, this team should have no problem making the playoffs.
2nd | Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks won the Pacific Division last season. While they may take a minor step backwards, they are still a really good team and should be a shoe in to make the playoffs. They lost both Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm to the Boston Bruins in Free Agency, while adding former Bruin, Jake Debrusk to the roster. While they did replace Lindholm with Debrusk in the top six, they failed to find a suitable replacement for Zadorov. They did add third pairing defensemen, Vincent Desharnais, but that’s a downgrade to what Zadorov brought to the table.
The Canucks do have an elite netminder in Thatcher Demko. However, his health is concerning. He is entering training camp at less than 100%. He’s battled injuries over the course of his career, and Canuck fans are hoping he can stay on the ice. If Demko misses time, the Canucks will need to rely on Arturs Silovs and Kevin Lankinen to get the job done. The status of Demko is a huge reason why the Canucks will not repeat as Pacific Division champions.
1st | Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers were one of the busiest teams during the offseason. They lost Warren Foegele, Ryan McLeod, Cody Ceci, Dylan Holloway, and Philip Broberg. But, they added two legitimate top six wingers in Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson to play with Leon Draisaitl. The Oilers have arguably the best top six in the league, and should be an offensive juggernaut.
Their blue line is still a major concern. Their defensive core consists of Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, Darnell Nurse, Ty Emberson, Brett Kulak, and Troy Stecher. The Oilers should be fairly active on the trade market, and will be seeking to add a top four, right-shot defenseman at some point before the trade deadline. They should have extra cap room to spend with the Evander Kane injury.
The key for the Oilers is to get off to a much better start. They were 2-9 to start the season last year and had to fight from behind just to make the playoffs and secure home ice advantage in round 1. Even with the holes in their lineup, they are still the front runners to win the incredibly underwhelming Pacific Division. The Oilers are looking to win their division for the first time since 1987.
While the Pacific Division is fairly predictable, the next division is not. We will dive into the extremely tight Central Division. Keep it locked to Area 51 Sports Network as we gear up for another exciting NHL season.
Pacific / Central (Sep. 26) / Metropolitan (Sep. 29) / Atlantic (Oct. 2)
