Edmonton Oilers: How’s the division going to shake down?

The next tier in the division

At this point in the division you could really flip a coin on where the next three teams will finish. All of them are either in various stages of rebuild or spinning their wheels. Let me tell you why I picked the Kings next.

3. Los Angeles Kings – the playoff losers

I picked the Kings for the next spot in the division because they strike me as the best of the motley crew of teams after the Oilers and Knights. The Oilers and Knights are really the only teams with a realistic chance of success in the NHL this year, everyone else will be fodder for the rest of the NHL to a certain extent.

In a perfect world, there would be a better team in this spot, but like I said before the Pacific division is weak in comparison to the other divisions in the NHL.

The Kings will make the playoffs in the last spot by default, and you heard it here first, they’ll be picked apart in the first round by either Vegas or Edmonton, whoever draws them.

I like LA in this spot because out of all the rebuilding teams, they’re furthest ahead in their rebuild. Second, they made some fantastic acquisitions in the offseason. Snagging Phillip Danault for a contract was nothing short of a coup for the Kings – at 28 he’s in the prime of his career and will definitely move the needle for the franchise. He’ll make a great second line center for them, and is always amongst the league leaders in faceoff wins – I know this because he’s been on my fantasy hockey team most seasons simply because of this. He’s going to a team in LA that has more upside than the Habs do.

Despite the fact Viktor Arvidsson had been on the decline for two seasons in Nashville, Nashville as a franchise has been spinning their wheels for a long time now, so Arvidsson probably saw this move as a get out of jail free card. He’ll provide some much needed depth at RW. The second overall pick from the 2020 draft, Quinton Byfield, will be anchoring the third line, so I love the depth the Kings have at center between Anze Kopitar, Danault, and Byfield.

I’m not as big a fan of the acquisition of old man Alex Edler, but in Vancouver he was playing top pairing minutes, much like the Oilers are doing with Duncan Keith they’re hoping a lesser role will rejuvenate him.

Goal is nothing to write home about for the Kings. Cal Peterson is a decent first option, but he’s still very young so it’s tough to know exactly how he’ll do next season. The boat anchor contract of Jonathan Quick, no longer one of the NHL’s best goalies, is who’s backing him up, and probably will be until his contract expires two seasons from now.

I’m actually surprised to see that GM Rob Blake has put together this team, as nepotism usually doesn’t work in NHL GM positions – we as Oiler fans know this as much as anybody.

Best case scenario – Third place in the division, no playoff success

Worst case scenario – Faltering and falling out of a playoff spot

Who are they to the Oilers? The team that will stink the least in the division. The lowest meat shields, if you will.