The Pacific Division had the distinction of being the league’s worst last season.
Not a single Pacific team cracked 100 points to finish the 2025-26 campaign, compared to one Metropolitan, three Central and four Atlantic. Additionally, three Pacific teams finished with fewer than 80 points, while the other three divisions each had just one.
And when looking at the league’s bottom 10 teams, four of the basement dwellers — the San Jose (24th), Seattle (27th), Calgary (29th) and Vancouver (32nd) — all belonged to the Pacific. Interestingly, the Vegas Golden Knights finished first in the Pacific with 95 points, which was good for just 13th overall in the league.
That’s not to say the competition didn’t exist within the division; it was actually the tightest of all four, as the difference between the top five teams was just nine points. The playoff race came down to the wire, with only the Canucks having no real shot at the post-season after being eliminated from contention in March and finishing the season with just 58 points.
After examining the best- and worst-case scenarios for teams in the Atlantic and the Metro, we now turn our attention to the West, starting with the Pacific.
Vegas Golden Knights
Key additions: Marc Gatcomb, C; Victor Olofsson, W; Parker Wotherspoon, D
Key subtractions: Colton Sissons, C; Pavel Dorofeyev, W; Keegan Kolesar, W; Kaedan Korczak, D; Akira Schmid, G
Cap space today: $-8,661,182
Best case: Dorofeyev's loss is offset as Vegas makes another Stanley Cup push
Worst case: Rookie coach, aging roster and shaky goaltending cause machine to sputter
The Golden Knights have qualified for the playoffs in eight of their nine seasons, winning five divisional titles, and advanced to the Final three times, including last season when they came within two wins of their second championship. As they enter their 10th season, the high standards and expectations since their inaugural season remain.
But while we should expect the Golden Knights to fare well again in 2026-27, matching last season's success may be a tougher task. Vegas traded away Pavel Dorofeyev in June after he scored a career-high 37 goals and 64 points last season, leading the team in goals for the second straight season. The Golden Knights have plenty of other offensive heavyweights, including Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner and Mark Stone, but their other subtractions, including Colton Sissons, compared with their off-season additions, leave them arguably weaker — and with the fourth-oldest roster in the league, average age being 30.00.
The Golden Knights will be led by their third coach since March, following the firing of Bruce Cassidy, who was replaced for eight regular-season games and the playoffs by John Tortorella. Vegas opted not to bring Torts back, instead promoting first-time NHL head coach Ryan Craig from their AHL affiliate to become the fifth head coach in franchise history. Another point of uncertainty for Vegas is the goaltending tandem of Adin Hill and Carter Hart. Neither had stellar regular seasons, with Hill posting a .871 save percentage and Hart a .891.
Key additions: Alex Formenton, W; Ryan Shea, D; Frederik Andersen, G; Devon Levi, G
Key subtractions: Jack Roslovic, C; Darnell Nurse, D; Calvin Pickard, G; Connor Ingram, G
Cap space today: $1,078,334
Best case: Babcock proves to be missing piece as Oilers finally become champions
Worst case: Another season of McDavid and Draisaitl's prime goes to waste
A new season for the Edmonton Oilers will open with a lot of questions. Most centring around the decision to hire new head coach Mike Babcock in June, following the firing of Kris Knoblauch in May and clearance from the NHL after an investigation into his time with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The move drew mixed reactions from outside the organization, but within, Babcock appears to have the support of the Oilers’ superstar tandem of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Similar to the fanbase, McDavid and Draisaitl want nothing more than to reach the ultimate level of NHL success by winning their first Stanley Cup and the franchise’s first since 1990. After back-to-back Final appearances and losses in 2024 and 2025, the Oilers exited the playoffs in the first round after a six-game upset loss to the upstart Anaheim Ducks. And with McDavid locked in Edmonton for just this season and next, time feels very precious for the Oilers.
The biggest roster concern is goaltending, as it has been for years now. The Oilers acquired Devon Levi and Frederik Andersen this off-season — the former has just 36 career starts at the NHL level, while the latter is expected to be unavailable until late October due to what is believed to be a lingering knee injury. The new netminders join Tristan Jarry, who recorded a .858 save percentage in 19 games last season. A large part of the Oilers’ success in net will rely on creating a strong defensive team environment.
Anaheim Ducks
Key additions: A.J. Greer, W; Jeff Malott, W; Nick Jensen, D; Laurent Brossoit, G
Key subtractions: Mason McTavish, C; Chris Kreider, W; John Carlson, D; Jacob Trouba, D; Radko Gudas, D; Olen Zellweger, D
Cap space today: $9,073,395
Best case: Young core makes the leap from future to present
Worst case: Off-season departures leave Ducks with significantly weaker defence
The Anaheim Ducks did not have the best off-season. They lost a substantial amount of talent and veteran experience, especially on the blue line, and added only one defenceman, Nick Jensen, as a replacement. Following a seven-year post-season drought, the Ducks made the playoffs in 2025-26 and surprised many by eliminating Edmonton, but may struggle to repeat that result.
Anaheim was also pressured into giving one of its star players a massive pay raise after the Philadelphia Flyers tendered a five-year, $90 million offer sheet to centre Leo Carlsson. He temporarily became the NHL’s highest-paid player, which has since heavily influenced the contract market, including the Ducks’ subsequent extension for Pavel Mintyukov, who was also offer-sheet eligible. It is also likely impacting general manager Pat Verbeek’s negotiations with restricted free-agent winger Cutter Gauthier, who remains unsigned after leading the Ducks in goals and points last season.
The Ducks are prioritizing the youth movement, and how they do this year will hinge largely on the development of those players. Sliding back out of the playoffs would obviously be a step backwards.
Key additions: Corey Perry, W; Mats Zuccarello, W; Erik Haula, W
Key subtractions: Anze Kopitar, C; Andrei Kuzmenko, W; Mathieu Joseph, W
Cap space today: $1,775,000
Best case: Offence finally clicks as playoff consistency turns into actual run
Worst case: Kopitar’s retirement and Father Time catches up with Kings
The Kings’ franchise icon retired after 20 years, but the departure of Anze Kopitar, who was 38 at the time of his final NHL game, hasn’t lowered the roster’s average age. In fact, it’s gotten higher, rising from 29.76 to 30.83, the oldest in the league. L.A.’s three key off-season additions are all in the latter stages of their careers: Erik Haula, 35; Mats Zuccarello, 39; and the ageless Corey Perry, 41.
Having not won a single playoff series since winning the Cup in 2014, despite making the post-season the last five years, the Kings are stuck in a cycle of being good but not good enough when it counts. For four straight years, from 2022 to 2025, they were bounced by the Oilers in Round 1, and a new matchup last season didn’t change the outcome, as they were quickly swept by Colorado.
The Kings’ new bench boss, Peter Laviolette, was hired in June to replace interim head coach D.J. Smith, who took over from Jim Hiller after his termination in March. Laviolette will no doubt be focused on improving the team’s offence after it ranked 27th in shooting percentage and 28th on the power play, while finishing 29th in goals for. Steps taken by Quinton Byfield and Brandt Clarke should help, along with strong seasons from Artemi Panarin and Adrian Kempe, plus Kevin Fiala being healthy again.
Key additions: Ivar Stenberg, W; Mason Marchment, W; Darnell Nurse, D; Jacob Trouba, D; Michael Kesselring, D
Key subtractions: Philipp Kurashev, C; William Eklund, W; Shakir Mukhamadullin, D; Mario Ferraro, D; John Klingberg, D; Vincent Desharnais, D
Cap space today: $3,335,695
Best case: Become a legitimate Western Conference contender ahead of schedule
Worst case: Off-season spending falls flat, forcing Sharks to reconsider timeline
Sam Jose finished 24th overall in the league and had the ninth-best odds, but somehow secured the second overall selection in the draft by jumping seven spots in the lottery. Selecting in the top two for the third straight year, the Sharks used that pick to draft winger Ivar Stenberg after selecting Macklin Celebrini at No. 1 in 2024 and Michael Misa at No. 2 in 2025.
That good fortune made it a productive off-season for San Jose, but the Sharks also brought in additional talent in the hopes of pushing for their first post-season appearance since 2019. Most notably on defence, where three big additions bring experience to a young roster. One of the team's biggest uncertainties this season will be how goalie Yaroslav Askarov performs after taking over as starter in 2025-26, posting an .884 save percentage.
The Sharks also lost some skilled players, most notably William Eklund. Trading him away marks a significant loss of top-six production as Eklund posted 53 points last season. The Sharks now have the weight of expectations, plenty of which rests on Celebrini following his 115-point season. He drove much of San Jose's offence, with Will Smith's 59 points the next-highest total on the team. The supporting cast will need to step up.
Key additions: Curtis Douglas, C; Mackie Samoskevich, W
Key subtractions: Eeli Tolvanen, W; Jaden Schwartz, W; Jamie Oleksiak, D
Cap space today: $17,847,203
Best case: Depth makes up for lack of superstar as Kraken return to playoffs
Worst case: Remain one of NHL’s lower-scoring teams and don’t improve PK
The Kraken have secured a post-season playoff berth just once over the past five years. They had a strong first half and then some last season, entering the NHL’s Winter Olympic pause in the third playoff spot with 63 points in 56 games. But when play resumed, Seattle struggled mightily, and two bad stretches ensured missing the post-season for a third consecutive year.
A major challenge the franchise has faced since joining the league is attracting star talent, and it took two more shots this off-season, with reports that Jason Robertson declined a massive contract offer and that Shane Wright requested a trade. The Kraken did land winger Mackie Samoskevich via trade in June and signed centre Bobby McMann to a six-year extension after acquiring him from Toronto in March.
Both of these players should help improve an offence that ranked 28th league-wide in goals per game last season, and the hope is that some of the team’s younger forwards — like Berkly Catton, Matty Beniers and Wright, if he sticks around — can break out. General manager Jason Botterill has said he is excited by the possibility of seven or eight forwards under 23 making the roster come opening night. Meanwhile, another vital area for Seattle to improve is their penalty killing, which ranked 31st in the league last season.
Key additions: Maxim Tsyplakov, W; Simon Nemec, D; Jake Middleton, D
Key subtractions: Victor Olofsson, W; Ryan Lomberg, W; Blake Coleman, W; Olli Maata, D
Cap space today: $14,883,334
Best case: Young core shows signs of being a team on the rise
Worst case: Finish in no-man’s land, missing out on playoffs and top pick
The only player remaining on the Flames’ roster from the team’s last trip to the post-season is captain Mikael Backlund. Calgary better embraced their rebuild status last season by trading away three key pieces over the second half of the season: Rasmus Andersson, Nazem Kadri and Mackenzie Weegar. And that trend continued when they moved Blake Coleman in July, signalling a go-forward focus on developing younger players, which will no doubt bring growing pains and require fan patience.
One hope moving forward is that the youth movement can spark some offence. It’s hard to win games in the NHL if you’re not scoring goals, and the Flames came dead last in 2025-26 with just 212. They only had three players crack the 20-goal mark: Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee and Coleman, and Matt Coronato’s 45 points were a team-high. Jonathan Huberdeau’s eventual return could bring promise, but his timeline after hip resurfacing surgery in March remains uncertain.
Despite finishing 29th in the league, Calgary fell to sixth overall in the draft lottery and used that pick to select Carson Carels. The franchise has never selected higher than fourth overall, and the 2027 draft would be a great time for that bit of history to change. Although the Flames want to put together a strong season in their final ride at the Saddledome, it’s likely going to be quite a while before they are genuinely considered competitive. For the fanbase, doing just well enough to miss the playoffs while also missing out on a top prospect in an exciting draft class could be the worst possible outcome.
Key additions: Brendan Gallagher, W; Paul Cotter, W; Jamie Oleksiak, D; Luke Schenn, D
Key subtractions: Teddy Blueger, C; Nils Hoglander, W; Evander Kane, W; Marcus Pettersson, D
Cap space today: $17,814,1677
Best case: Rebuild the culture and take meaningful strides towards competing again
Worst case: Another season in the NHL's basement — and no first overall pick to show for it
Over the last couple seasons, the Canucks have gained the not-so-great reputation as a place where off-ice drama exists. But the roster has changed a lot, and so has the front office. Moving forward, improving the culture appears to be a main priority as Daniel and Henrik Sedin take over as co-presidents, Ryan Johnson as general manager and Manny Malhotra as head coach. This summer’s player acquisitions reflect that, too, with the Canucks bringing in a trio of veteran leaders to guide the next generation.
The 2025-26 campaign marked the worst 82-game season in the organization’s history and ranked third-worst all-time in terms of point percentage at .354. However, despite being as far down in the NHL basement as possible, they lost out on the first-overall pick in this summer’s draft to the Toronto Maple Leafs. They instead selected third overall, taking Malhotra’s son Caleb, which was a nice consolation but doesn’t necessarily instill the same hope and excitement for the future as Gavin McKenna would have.
We should expect the Canucks to be in the draft lottery hunt again; the bigger question is how long their rebuild will take. They are in the midst of a two-year playoff drought and have only advanced to the post-season twice in the past decade. There are opportunities for improvement this season, such as Elias Pettersson bouncing back and Thatcher Demko returning and staying healthy, but completely turning their fortunes around after finishing tied for 30th in goals, 32nd in goals against and 32nd on the penalty kill isn’t very likely.
