Predict the Pacific Standings

[TheIronMaiden]

The pacific division is bound to be one of the weakest in the NHL once again. All the same, here is my best guess.

Calgary Flames
Vegas Golden Knights
San Jose Sharks
--Playoffs--
Vancouver Canucks
Arizona Coyotes
Anaheim Ducks
Los Angeles Kings
Edmonton Oilers

[ComixZone]

1. Calgary Flames
2. Vegas Golden Knights
3. San Jose Sharks
4. Vancouver Canucks
--Playoffs--
5. Anaheim Ducks
6. Edmonton Oilers
7. Arizona Coyotes
8. LA Kings

[Yrebmi]

Flames
Sharks
Yotes
Knights
Nucks
Ducks
Kings
Grease

[GullFoss]

1. Vegas Golden Knights
2. Calgary Flames
3. San Jose Sharks
--Playoffs--
4. Anaheim Ducks
5. Arizona Coyotes
6. Vancouver Canucks
7. Edmonton Oilers
8. LA Kings

[Toonage]

Knights
Flames
Sharks
Coyotes
Canucks
Ducks
Kings
Oilers

[Knut]

Knights
Flames
Sharks
Coyotes
Ducks
Oilers
Canucks
Kings

[TheScorpion]

Vegas
Calgary
Arizona
San Jose
-- playoffs --
Vancouver
Anaheim
LA
Edmonton

[vicarious]

1) Vegas - If Fleury and Tuch stay healthy and if Stone lives up to his contract. Vegas is the team to beat in the Pacific
2) Flames - If Rittich and Talbot can put up even average numbers the Flames should be fine. Not really any question marks on this team.

3) Coyotes - Just missed last year, should be in this year
4) Sharks - They will really miss Pavelski and their goalies are inconsistent
5) Canucks - hot start as usual, then injuries pile up, as usual. Better but not good enough to be a playoff team.
6) Ducks - Ageing team that will run into injury trouble again.

7) Kings - Not expecting much from another ageing roster

8) Oilers - Exciting times for Oilers fans that they will be a lottery team once again

[Lanny_McDonald]

Knights
Flames
Canucks
Coyotes
Sharks
Ducks
Kings

[Lanny_McDonald]

Oilers (so bad they deserve to be in a post by themselves).

[Erick Estrada]

Knights
Sharks
Flames
Canucks
Kings
Coyotes
Oilers
Ducks

[getbak]

1. Flames
2. Knights
3. Coyotes
4. Sharks
5. Canucks
6. Kings
7. Ducks
8. Oilers

[Plett Me Tell You]

1. Knights
2. Flames
3. Sharks
4. Coyotes
5. Canucks
6. Ducks
7. Oilers
8. Kings

[Textcritic]

1. Calgary
2. VGK
3. SJ


4. Arizona
5. Vancouver
6. Anaheim
7. LA
8. Edmonton

[Dx54]

Vegas
Calgary
San Jose
---------
Arizona
Vancouver
Edmonton
Anaheim
LA

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Vegas
Calgary
Arizona
San Jose
-- playoffs --
Vancouver
Anaheim
LA
Edmonton

I wouldn't mind opening up some discussion here. What makes you think AZ will be a playoff team? I have to admit they are a team I don't think about very often.

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

I wouldn't mind opening up some discussion here. What makes you think AZ will be a playoff team? I have to admit they are a team I don't think about very often.

I have always liked their depth. They have a lot of solid players slotted in reasonable spots.

Derek Stepan, Vinnie Hinostroza, Michael Grabner, Christian Dvorak, Carl Soderberg. None of these guys are going to be on their top line, but they're all very good players who, if they stay healthy, can be expected to be key contributors. All of them are capable of scoring 40+ points in this league.

Past that, they have guys like Conor Garland, Christian Fischer, Brad Richardson, and Lawson Crouse. This is their tertiary scoring, but all of these guys scored 10+ goals last season. They all bring something a little bit different, too. Crouse is a nasty SOB, Richardson is excellent defensively, Garland has a great motor. Fischer is a bit more of a project, but he's a year removed from a 33-point season.

The issue with Arizona has always been their high-end players. They haven't really had any offensive stars since the days of Roenick and Tkachuk. But their top line of Clayton Keller, Phil Kessel, and Nick Schmaltz has the capacity to be the Coyotes' most potent top line in years. Schmaltz and Keller displayed great chemistry in their brief time together last year, and adding Kessel, a true star in this league, should represent a huge upgrade over whatever Alex Galchenyuk was last year.

I also really like that defense. Ekman-Larsson and Demers work well as a pairing, Niklas Hjalmarsson is still an excellent shutdown option, Jakob Chychrun showed great improvement last season, and Alex Goligoski is in a perfect role as their #5. Compared to some other disastrous defense corps(es) in the Western Conference, I think Arizona's is excellent (and given that they finished 6th in GA last year, I think that's a reasonable opinion).

Antti Raanta and Darcy Kuemper are two good goalies with injury issues, but, provided that one of them remains healthy at all times, they should be in good hands.

Barrett Hayton is another guy who I think could surprise this season. The Coyotes took him fifth-overall in 2018, and I think he has legitimate #1C potential. I expect him to start the year as the Coyotes' #3C.

For my money, this looks like one of the deepest rosters in the West:

Keller - Schmaltz - Kessel
Soderberg - Stepan - Hinostroza
Dvorak - Hayton - Grabner
Crouse - Richardson - Garland
Fischer

Ekman-Larsson - Demers
Chychrun - Hjalmarsson
Oesterle - Goligoski
Lyubushkin

Raanta
Kuemper

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

I wouldn't mind opening up some discussion here. What makes you think AZ will be a playoff team? I have to admit they are a team I don't think about very often.

I think Arizona could be a playoff team. They were within four points of a playoff spot last year, and made some intriguing roster improvements over the summer:

OUT: Galchenyk, Panik, Cousins, Archibald, Kempe, Strome, Perlini
IN: Kessel, Söderberg, Schmaltz, Bunting(?, Hayton(?)

[dissentowner]

Calgary
Vegas
San Jose
Arizona
Vancouver
Anaheim
LA














Edmonton

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I think Arizona could be a playoff team. They were within four points of a playoff spot last year, and made some intriguing roster improvements over the summer:

OUT: Galchenyk, Panik, Cousins, Archibald, Kempe, Strome, Perlini
IN: Kessel, Söderberg, Bunting(?, Hayton(?)

If you're counting Strome and Perlini as OUT then Schmaltz should be counted as IN