Edmonton Oilers: Predictions for the Pacific Division

Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

Introduction

September is tomorrow and there’s only one week until the Edmonton Oilers hit the ice again for their first preseason game.

Every year, for funsies, I love making those predictions for the standings. Last year, I had the Tampa Bay Lightning winning the cup and I came awfully close this year. However, that’s where most of the glory ends: I had the St. Louis Blues being a cup contender (which they still are, but have so many playoff demons.)

Who had the Calgary Flames finish behind Edmonton for 7th in the Pacific? Who was the guy who had the Columbus Blue Jackets winning the Metro? But hey, for every miss there’s a couple I get right, like the San Jose Sharks missing the playoffs.

So today, I wanted to do my prediction of the Pacific Division, because it’s the most Oiler-related division. Besides, it’s all in good fun.

Next: 7th. Arizona Coyotes

Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

7th. Arizona Coyotes

Additions: Vermette, Downie, Gordon, Scott, Michalek, Grossman, Pronger, Lindback, Richardson

Subtractions: Arcobello, Crombeen, Erat, Gagner, Korpikoski, McGinn, Moore, Moss

If there was a team that was the easiest pick to finish last in their division, it would be the Arizona Coyotes. It’s just a sad looking team from top to bottom.

Up front you have Boedker who was having a great year until he got injured. Hanzal, who is a giant at 6’6 but is always injured. Doan is slowing down at age 38 and is probably a Coyote for life. However, the Coyotes do have some talented youngsters like Domi, Duclair and Samuelsson waiting in the wings. On the back end it’s a big better as Ekman-Larsson is the best player on the team and one of the better defenseman in the league.

Mike Smith was bad last year and needs a rebound in the worse way.

Arizona does not have a lot of positives, except for Matthews as a first overall pick.

Next: 6th. Vancouver Canucks

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6th. Vancouver Canucks

Additions: Prust, Bachman, Bartkowski, Sutter.

Subtractions: Bieksa, Kassian, Clendening, Bonino, Lack, Matthias, Richardson

Uh, Vancouver? What are you guys doing exactly?

I mean they could easily finish 5th or 4th in the division but I am not convinced. Last season, they had a good season. No doubt about that.

But what is going on in Vancouver? The Prust for Kassian trade was weird: You trade for an older more niche player, while Kassian wasn’t being Lucic light, you think he would be worth just a little more. Eddie Lack was their best goalie last year and they traded him for scraps. Is Ryan Miller the answer in net? Despite having 29 wins, he had a middling save percentage. Eddie Lack was plain better. I get that he was a UFA to be and that they want to give Markstrom a chance but man, I’d be upset if I were a Vancouver fan.

The Sutter trade was a bad one. Sutter is a fine 3rd line center but they traded a player who scored more, a defenseman that they traded a draft pick for, and a third round pick to top it off? Then they sign Sutter to almost 4.4 million a season for five years? Yikes. And he’s expectedc to be the second line centre where his career high in points is 40. Back in 2009-10.

Combine that with the Luca Sbisa signing. Sedins, Vrbata and Burrows are all another year older. The Bieska trade was good though. I think he’s declining hard.

It’ll be interesting to see what becomes of the Canucks.

Next: 5th. Edmonton Oilers

Mandatory Credit: Chris LaFrance-USA TODAY Sports

5th. Edmonton Oilers

Additions: McDavid, Letestu, Korpikoski, Sekera, Gryba, Reinhart, Talbot, Nilsson.

Subtractions: Aulie, Bachman, Fasth, Fraser, Gordon, Marincin, Roy.

Yeah, I have the Oilers finishing fifth in the division. Which is in between two predictions I’ve read so far: The Sports Forecaster having them at 4th and the Hockey News having them at 6th. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Oilers and Canucks traded spots.

No playoffs for the Oilers, but I think there’s some progress for sure. I would want to be sitting around the 80 point mark, which would actually be an impressive leap forward. There’s a lot of talent in that front six and some tinkering on the back end. Still, there’s a lot of question marks: the defense is still a bottom third quality and the goaltending is a mystery (even though I think Talbot WILL pan out.).

It helps having a competent GM in Peter Chiarelli and a caliber coach like Todd McLellen. It’ll be nice having a coach who will hopefully not be fired after a year or two.

Patience is still needed in Edmonton.

Next: 4th. San Jose Sharks

4th. San Jose Sharks

Additions: Martin, Ward, Jones

Subtractions: Burish, Fedun, Hannan, Irwin, Niemi, Scott.

Honestly, not a bad off-season from San Jose. I like Joel Ward: he adds a special something in the playoffs and Paul Martin should be a good fit on the defense behind Vlasic and Burns. However: both of those players are 34 years old. Marleau and Thornton are 36. There’s a lot of age for the Sharks and I feel like their window has closed. These moves signal that they are still trying to be competive, which they should be, but not quite enough for a playoff spot Or if they do make the playoffs, nothing past the first round.

Still they have some pieces that are worth liking like Couture, Hertl and Pavelski (who is 31). Mueller is only 20 and Tierney is 21. Martin Jones is a wildcard: getting a chance to be a number one goaltender.

San Jose is a weird one to predict. I think they are still stagnate and miss the playoffs again, despite the new additions. I also think Thornton gets unfairly criticized in San Jose.

Next: 3rd. Calgary Flames

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3rd. Calgary Flames

Additions: Frolik, Hamilton.

Subtractions: McGrattan, Potter, Schlemko

Calgary was a good hockey team last season. Not only that, but they were fun to watch. Those third period comebacks, Johnny Hockey and Sean Monahan. They were gifted Dougie Hamilton from Boston, adding to a really impressive Defensive core unit. I think Calgary probably has the best defense in the league now, especially with Giordano coming back from injury.

It was a season where everything seemed to go right for them despite being against the grain in terms of possession and a high PDO. That tells me they might end up like the Maple Leafs or Avalanche who were defying the possession odds and come crashing down. However, I don’t think it’ll be by much; they did not change their roster and only added two big names in Hamilton and Frolik.

It’s time to give Calgary a bit of respect, even if it’s begrudgingly. It’ll be great that the Battle of Alberta will be relevant again and quite soon.

Next: 2nd. Los Angeles Kings

Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

2nd. Los Angeles Kings

Additions: Lucic, Ehrhoff, Enroth

Subtractions: Jones, Richards, Sekera, Stoll, Williams, Voynov?

For a team that lost quite a bit during the off season, I feel confident in Los Angeles’ abilities to perform next season. I’m a bit biased: I have had a soft spot for the Kings and they are behind the Oilers in terms of teams I enjoy watching. That said, I think a long off season was a good thing for the Kings. They did, after all, play a lot of hockey these last few seasons with the relatively same core. They still have a great center in Kopitar, A stud in Doughty and a top end Goalie in Quick.

I really wanted to see Mike Richards work out in LA and it’s a shame that he flamed out. Dustin Brown has to turn it around though; for the money he’s making posting a 27 point season is pathetic. I think Lucic benefits from a change of scenery and fits in with Sutter’s style of game play. Jake Muzzin is also a guy to really watch for: he came into his own last season and I think that trend continues.

Still, some question marks on D: I put Voynov as a substraction since he’s still suspended (and with good reason). I think Ehrhoff is a good fit, if he can stay healthy.

I think the Kings rebound in a big way.

Next: 1st. Anaheim Ducks

Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

1st. Anaheim Ducks

Additions: Hagelin, Stewart, Horcoff, Bieska, Khudodin

Subractions: Beauchemin, Beleskey, Etem, Fleischmann, Palmieri, Wisniewski

These are your Pacific Division winners and possible Stanley Cup winners too.

The Ducks are a very scary team. It’s hard to single a flaw with them. I think the acquisition of Hagelin for Etem is in Anaheim’s favor and I think Hagelin could be that number one left winger that Anaheim has desperately wanted.

It’s amazing that a team could lose their number one dman, their number one LW and still be fine. Beauchemin was great, but he’s 35 and is going to spiral downwards quickly in my opinion. Beleskey fed off a career year after playing with Getzlaf and Perry. Silfverberg has looked great and it’s scary that he’s their second line RW.

Defense has the emergence of Lindholm and Fowler, with Vatenen and Depres close behind. It’s a very young core, with the oldest being Depres and Vatenen at 24. Bieska (albeit trending downwards) will provide leadership on that backend.

Goaltending is fine too. Andersen proves he’s a number one and Khudodin will allow Gibson time to develop.

Sure there’s some warts, like the Kesler extension, but Anaheim looks poised to win it all this year. They might even be my cup favorites.

Next: Conclusion