It looks as though there will be a bit of everything in the Pacific Division this coming season. The Edmonton Oilers are considered the Stanley Cup favourite, while the Vancouver Canucks and Vegas Golden Knights also figure to be legitimate threats. The LA Kings have a strong chance at making the playoffs for the fourth-straight year, while the Seattle Kraken figure to be in the hunt. Then, you have the bottom feeders.
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The San Jose Sharks were the worst of all 32 teams last season, and will be in a similar position once 2024-25 wraps up. The Anaheim Ducks weren’t a whole lot better, and still have a ways to go in their rebuild. Then there’s the Calgary Flames.
The Flames weren’t nearly as bad of a team as the Sharks and Ducks in 2023-24, but they may be a lot closer this coming season. General manager Craig Conroy has opted for a rebuild, and partly out of intention, has put together an underwhelming roster in the hopes of getting a top pick for the 2025 Draft. While the long-term future looks promising, it could cause for some difficult divisional matchups against rivals this coming season. Here’s how they stack up against all seven opponents.
Anaheim Ducks
- Forwards: Flames
- Defencemen: Flames
- Goaltending: Even
While the Flames do figure to struggle, their roster, at least on paper, remains stronger than the Ducks. The Ducks do have some solid young forwards who have star potential in Mason McTavish, Leo Carlsson, and Cutter Gauthier. They also have two others capable of producing strong numbers in Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry. That said, they have more holes than the Flames, and don’t have anyone that matches up with Nazem Kadri.
The Ducks are also one of very few teams with a worse blue line than the Flames. Cam Fowler remains a solid player, but would be better suited for a second-pairing role, as would Brian Dumoulin. Pavel Mintyukov is a promising prospect, but still has plenty of development ahead of him. As for goaltending, John Gibson is far more experienced than Dustin Wolf, but is nowhere close to being the elite netminder he was early on in his career.
Edmonton Oilers
- Forwards: Oilers
- Defencemen: Oilers
- Goaltending: Oilers
This shouldn’t come as a big surprise to anyone. The biggest gap between these two teams is up front, as the Oilers have the best forward group in the entire NHL with superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, along with a great supporting cast in Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Viktor Arvidsson, Jeff Skinner, and potentially Evander Kane if he can get healthy.
The Oilers’ back end, while still ideally needing another top-four piece, is nothing to scoff at, either. Their top pairing of Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm is one of the best in the league, which in itself puts them over the Flames. Stuart Skinner is by no means an elite goaltender, but is still improving at 25, and at this point is a better option than Wolf.
LA Kings
- Forwards: Kings
- Defencemen: Kings
- Goaltending: Kings
The Kings have been a solid team the past few seasons, but have had to face the Oilers in the first round of the playoffs in three consecutive years. While they aren’t a Stanley Cup contender, they have a solid forward group led by Anze Kopitar, Kevin Fiala, and Adrian Kempe.
The Kings blue line is solid as well, with a top pairing of Mikey Anderson and Drew Doughty. Things cool off from there, though Brandt Clarke has a very bright future and could wind up being very impactful this coming season. Some will disagree with the Kings getting the edge in goaltending, though prior to his struggles the past two seasons, Darcy Kuemper was regarded as a solid starting netminder. Perhaps the change in scenery allows him to turn things around.
San Jose Sharks
- Forwards: Flames
- Defencemen: Flames
- Goaltending: Flames
The Sharks are the only team on this list where the Flames come out on top in all three categories, proving just how difficult of a season the California-based team is in store for. Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, and William Eklund point towards a bright future, but the next year or two will still prove to be difficult.
As for the back end, there is no team with a weaker one than the Sharks. A team relying on Mario Ferraro to potentially be a top-pairing option is simply not a team that is looking to be competitive. As for goaltending, both MacKenzie Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek are very underwhelming options.
Seattle Kraken
- Forwards: Kraken
- Defencemen: Kraken
- Goaltending: Kraken
Though the Kraken will be a better team than the Flames this coming season, there isn’t a huge difference in the strength of their forward group. What gives the Kraken the slight edge in this scenario is their depth, as their third and fourth lines figure to be stronger than the Flames bottom six.
The Kraken’s blue line is also stronger, as they have a strong first pairing in Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson, while also being able to make a big addition in free agency with the signing of Brandon Montour. Rounding out their top four is another solid option in Jamie Oleksiak. As for goaltending, Joey Daccord was impressive in 2023-24, and will be looking for more of the same this coming season.
Vancouver Canucks
- Forwards: Canucks
- Defencemen: Canucks
- Goaltending: Canucks
Much like the Oilers, there isn’t much of a competition here. The Canucks have a very strong forward group that includes J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and recent signee Jake DeBrusk. Their bottom six is nothing to scoff at either with players such as Conor Garland and Dakota Joshua.
The Canucks also have a relatively strong blue line, including a great first pairing of Filip Hronek and Quinn Hughes. They boast one of the strongest goaltenders in the NHL in Thatcher Demko. The only question about him is his health, as he was forced to miss all but one game of the playoffs due to injury.
Vegas Golden Knights
- Forwards: Golden Knights
- Defencemen: Golden Knights
- Goaltending: Golden Knights
Once again, there isn’t a whole lot of competition here. The Golden Knights are a weaker team heading into 2024-25 after losing Jonathan Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson to free agency, but still have a number of other highly talented forwards including Jack Eichel and Mark Stone.
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The Golden Knights’ strongest point may be their back end, as they have three top-pairing defencemen in Alex Pietrangelo, Shea Theodore, and former Flame Noah Hanifin. Goaltender Adin Hill has injury concerns, but when healthy is capable of great things, proven by him leading the way to the Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup championship in 2023.
Long Season Ahead
There is no denying that this is going to be a long, gruelling season for the Flames. That said, fans seem to be embracing it, as they were growing increasingly frustrated by the old management regime throwing out mediocre rosters year in and year out. Opting for the rebuild route will cause for some painful stretches, but is a wise plan for the future of this organization.
