I see the Sharks taking a massive step this season and finishing at the top of the pacific. While this is definitely a bold take, I can see it becoming reality. Last season, the Sharks took massive strides, becoming a competitive team, and competing for a playoff spot, but ultimately falling short. Macklin Celebrini truly solidified himself as a generational talent, and the sky is the limit for him. I expect Celebrini to have another 100+ point season and be among the best in the league. On top of Celebrini, I really like the Sharks forward group. They have several young players that I see taking a big step and being impactful. This young core includes players like Ivar Stenberg, Michael Misa, and Igor Chernyshov. None of these guys have had a full season in the NHL, and I think they will each have a role in the Sharks' success. While they still lack top of the lineup defenders from the back end, their defense has improved with additions like Darnell Nurse, Jacob Trouba, and Michael Kesselring. While you can definitely question if some of these acquisitions were smart decisions for their future, they definitely should improve their team for next season. While their goaltending is currently below average, I do see potential in Yaroslav Askarov. I wouldn't be shocked if he struggles again this season, but there is clearly talent there. This is around the time you would hope to see some significant improvement in his game. Overall, I think the Sharks will end their seven-year playoff drought and contend for the regular season division title.
There is a sense of panic for the Oilers with their early playoff exit last postseason, and Connor McDavid's short team contract extension. However, I think it's overblown to an extent. The Oilers had made it to two consecutive finals, and that wear and tear from all that extra hockey caught up to them. At the end of the day, if you stick Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the same team, you will probably see some regular season success at the very minimum. I would have liked them to be a little more aggressive in the offseason to fix their goaltending and depth issues, but their high-end star power should be enough to elevate them back into the playoffs with home ice advantage in the first round.
While I believe Vegas is kind of on the down swing, I still think they will be a solid team next season. They have some high-end players, like Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Mark Stone, and Shea Theodore. They will miss Alex Dorofeyev, but the top half of their lineup is pretty solid. The organizational depth has fallen off quite a bit in the past few seasons, and it's just going to get worse over time due to their poor prospect pool. However, it's still good enough to get the job done. They are an older team, so I'm a little worried that they might have some wear and tear from this past post season, where they played an extra 22 games making it to the cup finals.
I predict the Kraken will take a leap in the standings next season. However, I don't see them making the playoffs. They didn't really improve significantly over the offseason, but a lot of other Pacific Division teams got worse, which helps. I don't think the Kraken really standout in any area but have a lot of decent qualities. I think their goaltending is their biggest strength. Joey Daccord is a solid starter, and Philip Grubauer was actually pretty good as their backup last season. I think the top of their lineup is pretty bleak. They have some good players like Jared McCann, Vince Dunn, and Jordan Eberle, but they don't have enough quality scorers. Their centers aren't great. Matty Beniers, Shane Wright, and Berkly Catton all have talent, but haven't taken that step as a true top 6 center. Chandler Stephenson has been one of their more productive centers since joining Seattle, but I actually think he would be a better fit on the wing at this stage of his career. They have some young players that are very due to make a step up. However, I also don't love how they utilize their young players, so I can't really say I'm super confident in anyone taking a big leap in production. While I have said a bunch of negative things about the Kraken, there are positives to this team which is why I put them in the top half in their division.
The Anaheim Ducks had a disastrous offseason. Last season they broke out with several young players like Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, and Beckett Sennecke cementing themselves as stars. Coming into the offseason, they seemingly had enough money to play around with to fill up wholes in their lineup and extend the guys they need to. After negotiations went south with Leo Carlsson, he agreed to an offer sheet making him the highest player in NHL history. This signing had a rippling effect on what other Duck's RFA's asked for. They barely had enough to sign Cutter Gauthier and Pavel Mintyukov. In the process, they had to trade Mason McTavish, terminate Chris Kreider's contract, and lose the whole right side of their defense in NHL free agency. They still have a lot of talent upfront, but the team just isn't well rounded enough. Their defense is very weak after losing more than half of their defenders. Troy Terry is also out for the beginning of the season, which won't help the cause.
Last season, the Kings snuck into the playoffs with the last wildcard spot. I don't think they'll be that lucky this season. They lost their star captain, Anze Kopitar, to retirement over the offseason. They will also be without Kevin Fiala for the beginning of the season. Their center group is weak, and their defense is not great either. I don't have much confidence in Darcy Kuemper to be a reliable starting goalie this season at 36 years old. Mats Zuccarello was a nice acquisition, and having Artemi Panarin for a full season will help, but it won't be enough in this case. There also an older team, that is pretty slow. I see the transition game as a pretty big weakness for the Kings, which will be hard to overcome.
I think this season will be very rough for the Flames this season. I see them being a lottery team this year. Other than goaltending, this team has no strong suits. They are bad down the middle, and they have very little high-end skill. The forward group is rough, the defense is rough, this is not a good team. The Flames' best-case scenario this season is that their young players have a good developmental season.
Last season, the Canucks had a historically bad season, finishing at the bottom of the NHL with 58 points. I don't see them being any better this season. On paper, it's a pretty similar team. The Canucks underlining numbers were horrible last season. The Canucks scored 210 goals (31th best in NHL) and gave up 314 (worst in NHL).