The San Jose Sharks are no longer the underachievers of the NHL. They finally did not disappoint their long suffering fans last season and reversed their usual post season failures and made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Sharks now sit atop their California neighbors. The Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks will be competing for second place this year. The Vancouver Canucks are no longer the best team in Western Canada. The Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers are better. The Arizona Coyotes are better than Vancouver too.
- SAN JOSE SHARKS – The San Jose Sharks were the West’s best team last spring. The two Joes (Pavelski and Thornton) dominated on the power play.
Joe Pavelski (8) tries to tip a shot past Penguins goalie Matthew Murray – Photo by Jack Lima
Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau also racked up the points. Youngsters Thomas Hertl and Joonas Donskoi grew into solid NHLers. The Sharks offense will only get better as they added Mickel Boedker over the summer. Brent Burns is one of the game’s best defenseman. Mark Edouard Vlasic and Paul Martin are underrated on the blue line. Both players eat ice and minutes effectively. Martin Jones is the division’s best goalie.
- LOS ANGELES KINGS – Jonathan Quick used to be the division’s best goalie, if not the league’s. Quick’s play recently has taken a dip. The Kings need Quick to regain his old form because the Kings defense is in transition. Drew Doughty is the best defenseman in the league but the Kings have never replaced Slava Voynov. The offense is led by their newly minted captain Anze Kopitar. Kopitar maybe the best player in the NHL not named Crosby. Jeff Carter, Marian Gaborik and Tyler Toffoli will score plenty of goals. The Kings depth forwards have the size and demeanor to play Darryl Sutter’s rugged system.
- ANAHEIM DUCKS – The Duck’s rehired Head Coach Randy Carlyle as a last gasp attempt at a Stanley Cup with this group. Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry looked like the Dynamic Duo of old in the World Cup. Ryan Kesler looked old. The Ducks have ample scoring depth up front with guys like Andrew Cogliano and Jakob Silfverberg. The defense Hampus Lindholm, Cam Fowler, Sami Vatanen) are young although they all played key roles last season. Goaltender Frederick Anderson is no longer in Anaheim so John Gibson will have to go it alone and live up to his pedigree.
- CALGARY PLAMES – Johnny Hockey Gaudreau is a star. Calgary needs to realize this and not play around with his contract. The combo of Johnny and Sean
Johnny Gaudreau – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Monahan will light up the scoreboard. Newcomer Troy Brouwer gives the Flames much needed leadership. Fellow newcomer Brian Elliot gives the Flames something even more needed professional goaltending. Mark Giordano, TJ Brodie are a great top defensive pairing. Dougie Hamilton has yet to live up to his large contract.
- EDMONTON OILERS – Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl give Oiler fans visions of Gretzky and Messier. The problem is Edmonton has no visions of Kurri, Coffey or Fuhr. Milan Lucic is now in Edmonton. Lucic’s hands and fists will make McDavid’s life easier this season. Ryan Nugent Hopkins is still in Edmonton but Taylor Hall was shipped for defenseman Adam Larson. Larson will improve a shaky defense. Darnell Nurse looks like a top four defensemen who needs more seasoning. All the offense in the world won’t get Edmonton into the playoffs without an improved defense and a significant improvement in goaltending.
- ARIZONA COYOTES – The Arizona Coyotes are a fun team to watch.
Anthony Duclair – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Unfortunately, not enough people in Arizona do. This means the owner does not spend enough money to build a true contender. Max Domi, Anthony Duclair and Ryan Strome are a talented group of kids. Shane Doan is a cantankerous old man who can still play. The defense is high octane if not stout. Oliver Ekman-Larsson would be a superstar if he didn’t play in the desert. Louis Dominque winning the number one goaltending job from Mike Smith would be a bonus for the Coyotes.
- VANCOUVER CANUCKS – The Vancouver Canucks are stuck in the past. They refuse to do a total rebuild and now they’re at the bottom of the division. Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi have serious upside but the Sedins are on the seventeenth hole. Loui Eriksson was given way too much money and term. The Canucks won’t be playing Team Finland in the NHL. Erik Gudbranson and Ben Hutton are an adequate number two defense pairing. Chris Tanev and Alexander Elder are not an adequate number one pairing. If Ryan Miller play more games in net than Jacob Markstrom the Canucks will be in the lottery. And its where they need to be.
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