With NHL training camps less than a month away, it’s time to start sorting out the Pacific Division, and the picture begins with the Edmonton Oilers.
Edmonton looks like the team to beat, now with Mike Babcock behind the bench. German star Leon Draisaitl recently said that “Babs” will hold he and fellow superstar Connor McDavid accountable.
That comes with some obvious baggage attached, but the Oilers should be ready to roll by October. The club also appears to be better off after moving on from Darnell Nurse, a change that clears both cap space and, in the view here, a player who had become a symbol of Edmonton’s uneven defense.
Goaltending remains a question, even with Stanley Cup champ Freddie Anderssen coming over from the Hurricanes. He’ll be 37 soon, so the answer there is still to be determined.
The San Jose Sharks are next, and they’re moving up fast behind Macklin Celebrini. Their blue line got a lot bigger and meaner with the additions of Nurse and Jacob Trouba, and that should make life miserable for opponents.
Up front, Mason Marchment’s production after leaving the Kraken last season was impossible to ignore: 15 goals and 17 assists in 39 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He’s already on his fourth NHL team since 2024, which is something to keep an eye on.
Former Kraken center Alex Wennberg is expected to handle the third line, and while the roster still includes some older pieces, a healthy Sharks team should be quick and nasty.
Vegas slides in after that, even if another Stanley Cup Final hangover wouldn’t be a surprise. The Golden Knights lost real scoring when Pavel Dorofeyev, who had 37 goals in the regular season and 12 more in the playoffs, was sent to the New York Rangers for picks because of salary cap pressure.
Still, once they settle in, this is a familiar Vegas team with a familiar look. In a weak division, that should be enough to keep them in the mix.
Anaheim rounds out the top four. The offseason got weird fast when the Flyers forced the Ducks to match a huge offer sheet for Leo Carlsson, who will now make $18-million per season for the next five after his entry-level deal.
Cutter Gauthier then turned down $14-million a year, which only adds to the noise. On the back end, the Ducks are still very young, aside from 35-year-old Nick Jensen, and they’ve made a major commitment to 25-year-old lefty Jackson LaCombe.
Pat Verbeek clearly wants this group to grow together. Anaheim made the playoffs last season and beat the Oilers in the first round, and there’s a path for them to finish as high as second.
The Kings land fifth. Drew Doughty is still chugging along at 36, but longtime captain Anze Kopitar has hung up his skates.
Los Angeles has tried to fill the gap with veteran wingers Artemi Panarin and Mats Zuccarello, both ex-Rangers, while Quinton Byfield is being asked to take over top-line center duties. There’s veteran toughness and scoring sprinkled through the lineup, and former Kraken defenseman Brian Dumoulin should be part of the third pair.
The goalie tandem of Darcy Kuemper and Anton Forsberg is a little hard to trust, though Kuemper, now 36, has the kind of track record that suggests he could still catch fire. He won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022.
Seattle was originally slotted fifth, but the Kraken are now placed sixth after a second look. The explanation here is simple: there’s already plenty of daily breakdowns on the team, and the broader point is that the Kraken fan base can only hope the youth movement starts paying off sooner rather than later.
Calgary checks in seventh. Simon Nemec, acquired from the New Jersey Devils, is the headline addition on defense, and Jacob Middleton, brought in from the Wild, adds another solid veteran presence.
Beyond that, the Flames are a mix of aging pieces and a chemistry puzzle that still needs solving. Their goaltending duo is at least interesting, with undersized Dustin Wolf and bigger Devin Cooley expected to see plenty of action.
Vancouver sits last, though the Canucks could technically push up if things break right. More likely, they’re thinking about the NHL Draft Lottery again.
The additions of Luke Schenn, Brendan Gallagher and Jamie Oleksiak don’t exactly scream a turnaround, though Oleksiak is the youngest of the three. Manny Malhotra is taking over as head coach in a full rebuild, and the team even drafted his son Caleb in the first round this summer.
Caleb won’t be making an impact anytime soon. One name to watch is Zeev Buium, acquired in the Quinn Hughes deal with the Minnesota Wild, who brings puck-moving ability on the blue line.
Those are the early Pacific Division calls, with the Kraken still very much part of the conversation as the season gets closer.
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Kraken Still Have A Tough Call To Make On Physical Forward
Jacob Melanson remains in limbo with the Kraken as the offseason rolls on. The physical forward is a restricted free agent without arbitration rights, and Seattle has already made the qualifying offer to keep the door open on a new deal. After appearing in 36 games last season and leading the club in hits, Melanson has carved out a clear identity as the kind of depth piece who can add edge and energy, even if the contract he is expected to sign would likely only bring a modest bump.
The wrinkle for Seattle is roster management, because moving Melanson out of the lineup is not a simple paper shuffle. If the Kraken wanted to send him to Coachella Valley, he would have to clear waivers first, which gives his situation a little more weight than a routine unsigned RFA. There has not been any confirmed trade involving him, so for now the team is left weighing whether to bring him back in the same role or risk a tricky next step with a player who has already shown he can make himself useful. [Read more 🡒]
Kraken Suddenly Sit Near The Center Of The NHLs Next Moves
The Kraken keep popping up in places you would not normally expect a Seattle hockey team to show up, from the leagues broader marketing push to other clubs leaning into theme nights of their own. One example is the Kings upcoming Hello Kitty night on Jan. 19, another sign of how the NHL keeps trying to widen its reach and sell its teams as part of a larger entertainment package, not just a winter schedule item.
Seattle also finds itself brushing up against some of the leagues bigger off-ice storylines. There are reports the NHL may be ready to add a 33rd franchise before long, and another familiar name in the Krakens orbit recently moved into a major ownership role elsewhere in pro sports. For a franchise still building its own identity, it is a reminder that the business side of the league is moving quickly around it, even when the on-ice picture is what usually grabs the spotlight. [Read more 🡒]