2025-26 NHL Pacific Division Predictor

Courtesy of Fanduel, here’s their prediction for the Pacific Division in the 2025-26 NHL season. Plus some notes from the home office in Boca Raton, FL:

Interestingly, here’s the order of the toughest division, by wins, from last season: Atlantic (350), Central (333), Metro (328), Pacific (290).

Based on that, we conclude that the Pacific Division was the weakest in the NHL in 2025-26, yet they produced the Western Conference champion – the Vegas Golden Knights – who finished with 39 wins; less than Detroit (41) and Florida (40), both of whom missed the playoffs. What’s the lesson in there? Just do enough to make the playoffs, including making the right deadline moves, and get hot at the right time.

1 – EDMONTON OILERS: We all know the off-season overhaul of the Oilers, one season removed from back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final. Head coach Kris Knoblauch was turfed for the mercurial Mike Babcock, Freddie Anderson was signed in free agency to shore up the goaltending, and the rest comes down to keeping Connor and Leon happy. It’s Stanley Cup or bust for the Oilers as McDavid’s two-year deal kicks in.

2 – VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS: For us it all begins and ends on the bench. Ryan Craig takes over as head coach, his first ever NHL top job, and while it feels like a gamble by GM Kelly McCrimmon to opt for a rookie over John Tortorella – who took them two wins way from a Stanley Cup title – we gave up doubting McCrimmon decades ago. Other than that, the roster is largely the same other than dealing away top scorer Pavel Dorofeyev at the Draft. The Golden Knights are a Top 5 Stanley Cup contender according to Fanduel, as always.

3 – LOS ANGELES KINGS: Peter Laviollette is in and Anze Kopitar is out. This ranking seems high for us but the Kings are perennial playoff participants and clearly management feels all they needed was a tweak at the top. We’ll see.

4 – ANAHEIM DUCKS: We’d have flipped the Ducks and Kings. Joel Quenneville led the Ducks out of the wilderness last season and should’ve been given Coach of the Year consideration, yet we all know why he didn’t. A first round ouster of the Edmonton Oilers in a six-game series served notice to the NHL that the Ducks have landed. They’ll be fun to watch this season.

5 – SAN JOSE SHARKS: The Sharks are below the postseason cutoff line but will battle the other two California teams all season to make the cut, or claim a wildcard spot. While it seems the Sharks are “Macklin Celebrini and 19 other guys”, they may be the most exciting young team in the NHL. Watch for them to surprise.

6 – SEATTLE KRAKEN: All we can do is quote Kelly McCrimmon when referring to Seattle and the fact their expansion rules were the same as Vegas’s. “Where are they?” Good question. It’s Year 2 under Swift Current product Lane Lambert and we’re always watching the Kraken due to all their Sask boys on the roster including Jordan Eberle, Chandler Stephenson and Cale Fleury, and other former Regina Pats such as Josh Mahura and Ryker Evans. We’re rooting for them too.

7 – CALGARY FLAMES: Not good. It’s the last season for the Flames in the Saddledome and the outlook is bleak as the team gets ready to move into the new building one year from now. Calgary hockey fans have been assured there’s a plan under GM Craig Conroy and head coach Ryan Huska but for the moment, it’s not evident. Could be another long winter.

8 – VANCOUVER CANUCKS: They are ranked dead-last by Fanduel’s Stanley Cup odds. Welcome to your first NHL job, head coach Manny Malholtra. Rookie GM Ryan Johnson says they’ll be patient with the recovery of goaltender Thatcher Demko but even if he’s healthy, it’s a team with a real bad culture problem. The good news: there’s nowhere to go but up.