The two best teams in the West are on a collision course. The Vegas Golden Knights will want revenge on the San Jose Sharks after their historic collapse in last season’s playoffs. Calgary, Arizona and Vancouver each have a shot at the third seed in the playoffs. Edmonton, Anaheim and Los Angeles do not. At least the fans in Southern California can watch the NBA playoffs or go to the beach.
The Vegas Golden Knights (1) are the best team in the Pacific Division. The Knights have the best top six forwards in the Western Conference. The high-flying top line (Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson, Reilly Smith) is backed by a grittier second line (Max Pacioretty, Paul Stastny, Mark Stone). The second line is better than most team’s first line. The Knights defense has no superstars, but each defender could play on a championship team. The Knight’s superstar is goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. The Hall of Famer shows no sign of slowing down like many of his contemporaries.
The San Jose Sharks (2) have two superstars on their blue line. Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns each have Norris Trophies. The Sharks have tons of talent up front too. Logan Couture, Timo Meier, Evander Kane (suspended for three games following preseason game misconduct) and Tomas Hertl usher in a new era of Sharks hockey with explosive offense. Former Sharks captain Big Joe Thornton remains from the old era. Last season’s captain Joe Pavelski does not. Replacing Little Joe’s leadership and clutch goals will be a major challenge for the Sharks. Sharks goaltender Martin Jones’ challenge is to be the goaltender who took the Sharks to the Cup Final in 2016 not the mediocre goalie he was last regular season.
The Calgary Flames (3) were on fire last regular season but they were extinguished easily in the playoffs. Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Matthew Tkachuk are a dynamic top line but the Flames lack forward depth. Milan Lucic was traded for this summer. The big man will help protect Calgary’s stars but can he still score? The Flames defense anchored by last year’s Norris winner Mark Giordano is better than average. Flames net minding like their forward depth is not championship caliber. David Rittich has not shown he can be a consistent starter. Cam Talbot has shown he is nothing more than a journeyman.
The Arizona Coyotes (4) were a few big goals away from making the playoffs last season. This summer the Coyotes brought in a man who scores big goals, Phil Kessel. Arizona’s other forwards will play HC Rick Tocchet’s up-tempo aggressive style. The Coyotes defense is underrated. Oliver Ekman –Larsson, Alex Goligoski and Niklas Hjalmarsson won’t win any Norris trophies but they won’t be out of position either. They are not overly physical but they move the puck as well as anyone. Goaltenders Antti Raanta and Darcy Kuemper give the Desert Dogs a chance to win every night.
The Vancouver Canucks (5) have two young superstars in Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser. They are talented but slight of build. This summer GM Jim Benning added JT Miller and Micheal Ferlund to provide protection and leadership. Add Bo Horvat and Jake Virtanen the Canucks have enough talent up front to make the playoffs. The back end is a different story. At least newly acquired monster Tyler Myers will eat a lot of ice and minutes. Jacob Markstom is no better than adequate in net.
The Edmonton Oilers (6) cleaned house in the front office this summer. Hall of Fame GM Ken Holland and veteran HC Dave Tippett were hired. Holland brought in James Neal. Neal is a high scoring winger with more baggage than United airlines. Neal’s reputation aside this will open the way for Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to play on two different lines. It’s the first step in making the Oilers a legitimate playoff team. Darnell Nurse and Oscar Klefbom are the only Oiler defensemen who would play for a legitimate playoff team. Overpaid goalie Mikko Koskinen is another reason the Oilers will not make the playoffs.
The Anaheim Ducks (7) started last season by playing talented rookies and winning games. The holidays arrived along with aging veterans and losing streaks. The Ducks have moved on from aging veterans Corey Perry and Ryan Kesler. HC Randy Carlyle was replaced over the summer by Dallas Eakins. Captain Ryan Getzlaf is still in Anaheim, but Eakins will rely on those talented rookies (Troy Terry, Sam Steel, Max Jones, Max Comtois). Rickard Rakell and Jakob Silfverberg need to find themselves on the scoresheet instead of in trade rumors. The Ducks defense last season was beyond disappointing. Formerly reliable Hampus Lindholm, Cam Fowler and Josh Manson were terrible on most nights. Goaltender John Gibson started last season brilliantly but was worn down by season’s end due to the amount of shots he was facing each night.
The Los Angeles Kings also hired a new coach this summer, Todd McLellan. The Kings did not however move on from under producing veterans. Ilya Kovalchuk, Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli are still Kings because nobody else wanted them. Stanley Cup winners Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown need bounce back seasons. Young forwards Alex Iafallo and Adrian Kempe need to continue evolving for the Kings to avoid another disastrous season. Veteran defensemen Drew Doughty and Alec Martinez also need bounce back seasons because the rest of the blueline is very inexperienced. Jonathan Quick’s reign in net is coming to an end. Jack Campbell’s stellar play as the backup is nudging Quick to the bench and the trading block.
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