Talking About the Pacific Division

[PugnaciousIntern]

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I've said elsewhere that, even with the same roster and the same coach, that team makes the POs more times than not (heck, they did it the year before with Elliott and Johnson in net).

I don't think the roster is slightly better - it's a lot better as far as team scoring is concerned. Plus, I don't think Backlund has a subpar shooting percentage again. Frolik will go back to a normal shooting percentage, though he may not get the ice time he did, and the third line will be solidified as a result. The bottom line will almost certainly contribute a few more goals.

Those are all good points. I'm just firmly on the fence until I see how the blueline gels without Hamilton and how Lindholm and especially Hanafin play in a Flames jersey. I wouldn't even say firmly on the fence, actually - more like cautiously optimistic.

[Oil Stain]

I'm pretty surprised at Anaheim being so far down on people's rankings, pretty much across the board.

The only old players on that team are Kesler, Perry, and Getzlaf. They finished with 101 points last year despite Getzlaf missing 30 games, Perry continuing his decline, and Kesler missing 40 games, and also being terrible when he was playing.

I don't see too many people predicting declining seasons for Giordano and Smith who are even older than the Duck's oldest players. I think we all tend to do this a bit as fans. We will give the benefit of the doubt to our own teams, but not to others.

An interesting thing about Anaheim is that they didn't have a single player last year that played 82 games.

They had major injury troubles pretty much across the board. Kesler 40 games and terrible when playing. Getzlaf 30 games. Eaves entire season. Fowler, Lindholm, and Vatanen all missed substantial time. All these injuries and they still had a 101 point season, which was their worst in five seasons.

They have a great young goalie, a strong and deep D-core, and they have some talent upfront like Rakell who scored 69 points last year.

I'd have the Ducks pegged for top 2 in the division, even if I don't like them. And honestly, no one likes them. They play like a bunch of jerks.

[Toonage]

#### the Ducks.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

I'm pretty surprised at Anaheim being so far down on people's rankings, pretty much across the board.

The only old players on that team are Kesler, Perry, and Getzlaf. They finished with 101 points last year despite Getzlaf missing 30 games, Perry continuing his decline, and Kesler missing 40 games, and also being terrible when he was playing.

I don't see too many people predicting declining seasons for Giordano and Smith who are even older than the Duck's oldest players. I think we all tend to do this a bit as fans. We will give the benefit of the doubt to our own teams, but not to others.

An interesting thing about Anaheim is that they didn't have a single player last year that played 82 games.

They had major injury troubles pretty much across the board. Kesler 40 games and terrible when playing. Getzlaf 30 games. Eaves entire season. Fowler, Lindholm, and Vatanen all missed substantial time. All these injuries and they still had a 101 point season, which was their worst in five seasons.

They have a great young goalie, a strong and deep D-core, and they have some talent upfront like Rakell who scored 69 points last year.

I'd have the Ducks pegged for top 2 in the division, even if I don't like them. And honestly, no one likes them. They play like a bunch of jerks.

Gibson was the best goalie in the NHL last year. Can he do it again a second year in a row a la Bobrovsky or will he pull a Talbot and naturally have a slippage year?

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

I'm pretty surprised at Anaheim being so far down on people's rankings, pretty much across the board.

The only old players on that team are Kesler, Perry, and Getzlaf. They finished with 101 points last year despite Getzlaf missing 30 games, Perry continuing his decline, and Kesler missing 40 games, and also being terrible when he was playing.

I don't see too many people predicting declining seasons for Giordano and Smith who are even older than the Duck's oldest players. I think we all tend to do this a bit as fans. We will give the benefit of the doubt to our own teams, but not to others.

An interesting thing about Anaheim is that they didn't have a single player last year that played 82 games.

They had major injury troubles pretty much across the board. Kesler 40 games and terrible when playing. Getzlaf 30 games. Eaves entire season. Fowler, Lindholm, and Vatanen all missed substantial time. All these injuries and they still had a 101 point season, which was their worst in five seasons.

They have a great young goalie, a strong and deep D-core, and they have some talent upfront like Rakell who scored 69 points last year.

I'd have the Ducks pegged for top 2 in the division, even if I don't like them. And honestly, no one likes them. They play like a bunch of jerks.

For me, I feel that their team relied heavily on Gibson. Perry is only a 45-50 point winger who may even possibly decline even more next year, and Kesler may not even play a single game next season. They’d have to rely a whole lot on Getzlaf and Rakell, who I both feel can get the job done. But, hockey isn’t the NBA where your stars can play 80-90% of the game. Your stars only play 1/3 of the game. If Kesler is out, they might have to re-sign Derek Grant. Their bottom 6 depth wouldn’t be too good. If they make the playoffs again I wouldn’t be shocked if they got swept again.

[Oil Stain]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Gibson was the best goalie in the NHL last year. Can he do it again a second year in a row a la Bobrovsky or will he pull a Talbot and naturally have a slippage year?

His save % since entering the league:

.914%
.920%
.924%
.926%

I'd probably bet on him being pretty good again next season.

[TheIronMaiden]

Wow people are really high on the Flames to do well. I don't see it. I think that they will make the Playoffs ranked 3rd in the division, or they will be fighting it out for a wild card spot. SJ, Vegas, and the Ducks are still excellent teams. Edmonon and L.A will also provide some competition.

[N-E-B]

San Jose
Anaheim
Vegas
Calgary
LA
Edmonton
Arizona
Vancouver

I think Vegas, Calgary, LA, and Anaheim are all pretty interchangeable.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by Oil Stain

I'm pretty surprised at Anaheim being so far down on people's rankings, pretty much across the board.

The only old players on that team are Kesler, Perry, and Getzlaf. They finished with 101 points last year despite Getzlaf missing 30 games, Perry continuing his decline, and Kesler missing 40 games, and also being terrible when he was playing.

I don't see too many people predicting declining seasons for Giordano and Smith who are even older than the Duck's oldest players. I think we all tend to do this a bit as fans. We will give the benefit of the doubt to our own teams, but not to others.

An interesting thing about Anaheim is that they didn't have a single player last year that played 82 games.

They had major injury troubles pretty much across the board. Kesler 40 games and terrible when playing. Getzlaf 30 games. Eaves entire season. Fowler, Lindholm, and Vatanen all missed substantial time. All these injuries and they still had a 101 point season, which was their worst in five seasons.

They have a great young goalie, a strong and deep D-core, and they have some talent upfront like Rakell who scored 69 points last year.

I'd have the Ducks pegged for top 2 in the division, even if I don't like them. And honestly, no one likes them. They play like a bunch of jerks.

You realize Kesler is done pretty much for the year right?

Gio and Smith are older but both have far less miles than the Ducks you compare then to. . Vatenen was traded early last season why reference him? Perry is in decline that is as clear as day. Getzlaf could still be dominant but Kesler could miss the entire year.

They have a strong Defense and a couple of decent young forwards but there is a good chance they do fall back this year.

[direwolf]

I think the Sharks will likely win the division, with the Flames, Knights, and Ducks battling it out for 2nd and 3rd.

[Oil Stain]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

You realize Kesler is done pretty much for the year right?

Gio and Smith are older but both have far less miles than the Ducks you compare then to. . Vatenen was traded early last season why reference him? Perry is in decline that is as clear as day. Getzlaf could still be dominant but Kesler could miss the entire year.

They have a strong Defense and a couple of decent young forwards but there is a good chance they do fall back this year.

Yeah I realize Kesler may not be back this season. Perhaps what I failed to convey in my previous post is that Kesler only played 40 games last year, and he played very poorly by his standards. So its possible the Ducks won't miss him this season, as they never really had him last season.

I referenced Vatanen because he was with the Ducks to start the year last season, and both him and Lindholm missed the start of the year. So the Ducks started two top 4 D-men down, and then they lost their number 1 center in November, and they basically got brutalized with injuries the entire season and they still finished with 101 points.

I fell like I have to give credit where it's due. The Ducks had a tonne of adversity last season and it didn't really phase them. They are likely to have a lot less this season.

The Ducks had 4 30 point defencemen last year. They have arguably the second best forward in the division. Rakell who had 69 points and 4 other forwards that are 40-50 point guys. That's a pretty good collection of talent.

[d_phaneuf]

3 tiers

Anaheim
SJ
Edmonton

LA
Calgary
Vegas

Arizona
Vancouver

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by d_phaneuf

3 tiers

Anaheim
SJ
Edmonton

LA
Calgary
Vegas

Arizona
Vancouver

please explain?

[djsFlames]

Such a hard division to predict because there are no true contenders (unless you think Vegas sustains/is what they put together last season), but not a low floor either, and even the ones you think will drop closer to the basement of the ranks find a way time and again to show life (the un-aging California...), and every team (minus Van) has enough talent to make a playoff push, even if their team structure is questionable (Edm).

Sharks
Flames
Vegas
(close 3-way race)
LA (WC)
Anaheim
Arizona
Edmonton
(all 3 within a handful of points)
Vancouver

[direwolf]

Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan

hockey isn’t the NBA where your stars can play 80-90% of the game. Your stars only play 1/3 of the game.

Unless you're McDavid who plays at least 2/3 of the game, not including OT where he seemingly never leaves the ice.

[JurassicTunga12]

Flames or Sharks battle it out for the top spot, in my homerish opinion.

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

please explain?

Obviously not going to be a popular opinion here but I think they are a bit of a post hype sleeper

Strong goaltending

I think figuring out RNH with mcdavid and draisaitl on the 2nd line makes them a lot stronger on both of the top 2 lines. Rattie and Rieder arent great players but are good enough to contribute a bit as those right wings, if yamamoto makes the team, it would be probably on the 2nd line and his playmaking should help drai, so one of rattie or rieder improve the bottom 6

They will have the best 1st line in the division, 2nd line should be above average and they just need to tread water on the bottom 6.

Defense doesn't have a superstar, but nurse looks to finally be showing what got him picked that high, sekera, larsson, klefbom are all very dependable 2nd pairing guys.

Thinks like the PK which crushed them last year are improvable and pk save percentage which is super variable from year to year shouldnt be anywhere near as bad

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

I just hope this is the season the Ducks finally fall down the crapper and become irrelevant. I'm so tired of seeing them start the season poorly and be written off, only to come roaring back as the season progresses.

At SOME point after all the perennial spring comebacks, it's gonna be too much for old Getzlaf, Perry and Kesler to pull off, young d-core be damned. Kess-Kess finally hit a wall it looks like just recently too.

That's why I have them just outside. They added nothing in FA or trade, so it's up to the same guys that are in the bottom quarter of their fuel tanks now you have to think.

I wasn't sure in 2013-15 ish if the then-similarly aged Sedins would ever finally slow down but they did and pretty noticeably.

[Robbob]

I also see Anaheim still as one of the top tier teams. I expect them to be better as they were decimated down the middle. Sharks are also up in that tier. Vegas I think is due for a step back when all is said and done. I think a lot of things aligned for them and I think some of the players will struggle to repeat their 2017-2018 performances. I think LA is in a similar boat and that may have them outside looking in.

At the end of the season their may not be that many points that separate the top few teams and with the schedule in April being division heavy, it may just come down to the last week for things to settle in the Pacific.

San Jose
Anaheim
Calgary
Vegas
LA
Edmonton
Arizona
Vancouver