2025-26 NHL Preview: Pacific Division

Hockey season is right around the corner, and I couldn't be more excited for it. I look forward to the start of October every year, though the agony the next several months bring will take years off my life. Instead of doing one big preview, I've broken it down by division to give each team the respect it deserves. Last season, the Vegas Golden Knights triumphed over their seven division rivals, but the Edmonton Oilers earned the last laugh. The defending Western Conference champions repeated, setting themselves up for a rematch with the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final, though they fell short once again, losing in six games. 

I'll do this for all four previews, but this is your reminder that I'm not an expert. I'm just a fan, so some of my predictions will be very wrong. Here are some of the takes I had last season that proved incorrect about the Pacific Division:

• Edmonton wins the division (they finished 3rd, albeit by just 9 points)
• San Jose over Anaheim in the division (Anaheim finished with 28 more points)
• Seattle finishes 5th (they finished 7th)
• Vancouver makes the playoffs (they finished 6th, missing the playoffs by 6 points)

I do this for fun. It's not meant to be taken too seriously. Some teams I'm more knowledgeable about than others. I try my best and expect the worst. 

8. San Jose Sharks

The Sharks aren't quite there yet. In fact, they might be a few years away. Still, there is plenty of reason for excitement in San Jose with the youth movement that is sweeping through the Bay. Macklin Celebrini was a finalist for the Calder Trophy last season, finishing 3rd, and they have another candidate this season after selecting Michael Misa with the 2nd pick in June. Add guys like Will Smith, William Eklund, Sam Dickinson, and Yaroslav Askarov to the mix, and this will be a fun team down the line. This season, they loaded up on veterans with one-year deals, so they'll be very active at the trade deadline this year. Hang in there, Sharks fans. It'll get better.

7. Seattle Kraken

This team will either be really good or really bad, and I'm banking on the latter. They have good players. Kaapo Kakko proved to be a good fit after being acquired midseason. They added Mason Marchment from Dallas. Matty Beniers is becoming a solid player. Shane Wright is moving in the right direction. The forward core is fine. The further back you go, the more problems pop through. The big question mark is their goaltending. They're paying Philipp Grubauer starter's money to sit behind Joey Daccord, who makes $5 million himself, and Grubauer still has a year left after this. There's a chance that Seattle surprises me and sneaks into the playoffs, but I'm not holding my breath.  

6. Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks are another team that I think could outperform their current expectations. They did exactly that last season, finishing with 80 points as they began to climb back toward the playoff picture. They went all-in on Lukas Dostal, extending him and trading John Gibson to the Red Wings. Anaheim also traded Trevor Zegras, allowing him to get a fresh start with the Flyers. Adding Chris Kreider should add a little more scoring, parking him in front of the net for redirections on the power play and being a general nuisance. Mikael Granlund was their big signing during free agency, giving him 21 million over three years. The biggest cloud hanging over their heads was the Mason McTavish situation. The RFA began training camp without a deal, but they got one ironed out at the 11th hour to keep him in Anaheim for six years. That in itself is a big win, and it should set up Anaheim for a good year.

5. Calgary Flames

It wasn't a very aggressive offseason in Calgary after barely missing the postseason a year ago. They focused on themselves internally, signing Dustin Wolf to a massive contract after finishing as the runner-up for the Calder Trophy. Connor Zary also earned a nice pay increase, while captain Mikael Backlund re-upped for two years as he entered the final year of his deal. Whether they succeed this season or not will depend on whether their offense is able to score. Despite fighting until the bitter end, the Flames finished with the 4th-fewest goals in the league last season. With Wolf pretty much on his own this season, that's a lot of pressure to put on a young goalie. Their defense isn't good enough, and it might get worse if Rasmus Andersson is out the door this season, too. He's been rumored to want a trade, with Vegas as his preferred destination. A slow start could doom Calgary, force their hand, and begin the long road to a mediocre season. 

4. Los Angeles Kings *(WC2)

As we learned at the start of training camp, this is Anze Kopitar's last hurrah. As a stalwart for the Kings entering his 20th season, the Kings will try to do everything in their power to get him one last Stanley Cup. The first step should be avoiding the Edmonton Oilers in the 1st Round. Through two games, it looks as if they'd figured out how to stop them. Instead, the Oilers rattled off four straight wins to eliminate them for the 4th straight season. Honestly, they didn't get any better this offseason either. I'd argue their defense got worse. Adding Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin makes them more experienced, but they already had plenty of guys in their 30s on the back end to go with Brandt Clarke and Mikey Anderson. Keeping Vladislav Gavrikov would've been a better investment. They're going to score goals, so I'm not concerned about that. Darcy Kuemper was fantastic last season, and adding Anton Forsberg to back him up is a good get. I think the Kings should be a playoff team, but I don't see them getting Kopitar a 3rd Stanley Cup.

3. Vancouver Canucks*

Everything that could go wrong for the Vancouver Canucks last season went terribly wrong. Between health concerns preventing key players like Quinn Hughes, Filip Hronek, Elias Pettersson, and Thatcher Demko from the ice, to locker room drama (allegedly) between Pettersson and JT Miller, leading to the latter's shipment to New York, it wasn't a pretty season. They finished outside of the Top 3 and missed the playoffs after winning the division in 2023-24. Here's the thing: I still like this team when they're healthy. They have great top-end forwards, one of the best defensemen in the league, and a top-tier goalie, if he's on the ice. They didn't do a ton this offseason. They sent Arturs Silovs to Pittsburgh after leading them to a Calder Cup, though he was stuck behind Demko and Kevin Lankinen. They also traded Dakota Joshua to Toronto. In his place, the team added Evander Kane. I think the fluidity of the Pacific Division could allow the Canucks to slide into the Top 3, so long as everyone can stay on the ice and out of the press box.

2. Edmonton Oilers*

It feels like the only relevant story for the Oilers surrounded Connor McDavid signing an extension, and what the potential deal could look like. Entering the final year of his contract, there was no doubt that McDavid would become the highest-paid player in the league. Instead, he opted for a two-year deal worth only $12.5 million. He must really want to win with the Edmonton Oilers. Along with reigning Rocket Trophy winner Leon Draisaitl, they feel like shoo-ins for 100 points every season. Can the rest of the team provide enough support to get them over the hump? The team failed to address its goaltending this offseason, seemingly starting the season with Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard manning the nets. Some young guns could make an impact for the group in Isaac Howard and Matthew Savoie, both of whom feel poised to make the roster. This is still a very good team, but they'll only go as far as McDavid and Draisaitl carry them.

1. Vegas Golden Knights*

I don't know why we allow Vegas to keep getting away with landing the best players every year. The biggest fish on the market heading into the offseason was Mitch Marner. There was nonstop speculation about where he'd end up, either re-signing with Toronto, signing with Carolina, or signing with Vegas. Marner didn't even make it to July 1, with a sign-and-trade completed with Toronto. The price was Nicolas Roy, but that's hardly an issue when the prize is one of the best wingers in the league. It adds to the embarrassment of riches that the Golden Knights possess. However, like Edmonton, they have a superstar in need of an extension. Jack Eichel is entering the final year of his contract, but I'm very confident that something will be worked out. Alex Pietrangelo is likely out for the season, though they received a "positive" update this week. I'm not too worried about them, outside of staying healthy. They should repeat as division champions, though Edmonton winning the division wouldn't surprise me.