The two best teams in the Pacific Division are both in Alberta Canada. The Calgary Flames (1) and Edmonton Oilers (2) will be fighting in the Battle of Alberta and for the top of the Pacific Division. Edmonton has the best player on Earth, Connor McDavid and maybe the second-best player Leon Draisaitl. These two centers have Evander Kane and Zach Hyman on the left but rotating underachievers on the right. Calgary lost two hundred point scorers up front ( Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk) but 
became a better team. Jonathan Huberdau can replace Johnny Hockey’s scoring. Nazem Kadri can replace Tkachuk scoring and fire. Kadri is a much better defensive player than Tkachuk. Kadri is also a center which inherently is more valuable than a winger. The Flames wingers Tyler Toffoli and Andrew Mangiapane are snipers. Milan Lucic provides the muscle. The Flames also received defenseman MacKenzie Weegar in the trade with Florida. Weegar, Rasmus Andersson, Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev and Oliver Kylington give Calgary a championship level blueline. Edmonton’s Darnell Nurse is a special player but every other Oiler defensmen is slotted higher than their pedigree. Calgary’s netminder Jacob Markstrom collapsed last post season but he is Vezina caliber. Jack Campbell being an upgrade in net in Edmonton tells you how bad their goaltending combo of Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen was last year. Edmonton’s Head Coach Jay Woodcroft gave the Oilers a boost mid-season but will he continue to inspire? Calgary Head Coach Darryl Sutter is an Alberta legend and a two- time Stanley Cup winner.
The Los Angeles Kings (3) rebuild has been accelerated after the Kings made the playoffs last year and took Edmonton to seven games in the first round. They did it with Hall of Famer defenseman Drew Doughty on IR. The LA blueline is young (except Doughty and Alex Edler) and skilled. Sean Durzi is primed for a breakout year. Upfront Adrian Kempe had a breakout season last year. Phillip Danault’s sensational play at second line center rejuvenated number one center Captain Anze Kopitar. The acquisition of Kevin Fiala over the summer adds more firepower to the Kings offense. Viktor Arvidsson and Alex Iafallo are solid wingers and can help fill the leadership void caused by Dustin Brown’s retirement. Legendary goalie Jonathan Quick still hasn’t relinquished his net to Cal Petersen. If forwards Quinton Byfield and Arthur Kaliyev can take the next step in their development the Kings can make a deep playoff run.
The Vancouver Canucks (4) under Bruce Boudeau played so well down the stretch last season they trashed their plan to rebuild. They are in win now mode. They resigned JT Miller and Brock Boeser to play with superstar in waiting Elias Pettersson. Bo Horvat needs a contract but is happy with the team’s new outlook. Vancouver’s number one defenseman Quinn Hughes may not be as flashy as some in his class but gets the job done. The rest of the defensemen are veterans led by Oliver Ekman -Larsson and Tyler Myers. Thatcher Demko is a sensational goalie.
The Vegas Golden Knights (5) did not make the playoffs for the first- time last season. They won’t make it this year either. Vegas finally got their number one center Jack Eichel. Did he arrive too late? Mark Stone, William Karlsson, Reilly Smith are aging but hoping for healthy bounce back seasons. Jonathan Marchessault had thirty goals last year. Vegas will need that production again since Max Pacioretty had to leave for salary cap reasons. Phil Kessel maybe the answer for more scoring but not team defense. The Golden Knights defense also took a step back last year. Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore will play better. Alec Martinez is nearing the end. Two years ago Vegas had Vezina winner Marc- Andre Fleury in net. Now they have three goaltenders ( Adin Hill, Logan Thompson, Michael Hutchinson ) or none.
The Anaheim Ducks (6) have the most exciting player in the NHL, center Trevor Zegras. He is a human highlight reel. Winger Troy Terry became a goal scoring machine last season. Dylan Strome, Jakob Silfverberg and Frank Vatrano will provide secondary scoring Who will provide leadership since Captain and Duck legend Ryan Getzlaf retired? Anaheim will need to find toughness. Their young kids were abused after Nic Deslauriers was traded. Acquiring number one defenseman John Klingberg was shrewd. He can run the power play and fetch a nice return at the trade deadline. John Gibson is a All – Star goalie who unfortunately gets burned out by Thanksgiving on this team.
The Seattle Kraken (7) inaugural season was a disappointment. They should have been better than they were. Jared McCann is the only Kraken forward who played well. GM Ron Francis added wingers Oliver Bjorkstrand and 2 time Cup winner Andre Burakovsky to holdovers Yanni Gourde, Alexander Wennberg and Brandon Tanev. Francis is hoping for top picks Shane Wright and Matty Beniers to spark the offense. The Kraken defense played like defensemen exposed in an expansion draft. The only thing worse than Philipp Grubauer’s goaltending was Dave Hakstol’s coaching.
The San Jose Sharks (8) are a disaster. Newly hired GM Mike Grier needs to roll up his sleeves and rebuild this one proud franchise. Timo Meier, Tomas Hertl and captain Logan Couture are foundation players to build around. Defenseman Erik Karlsson is as healthy as he’s ever been in San Jose but he can’t play sixty minutes. Kaapo Kahkonen is expected to upgrade their goaltending. That’s how bad it was last season.
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