Rather than cram together a 5000-word preview of the NHL’s 2016-17 regular season, let’s look deeper into each of the league’s divisions in the next four weeks and decide which teams should rightfully expect a long Stanley Cup playoff run, which teams are building toward those expectations, and which ones may well be further from championship contender status than they were last year.

We’ll start with the Pacific Division, which finished with the lowest combined standings point total (86.14 average) in 2015-16.

Anaheim Ducks

Key off-season additions: Center Antoine Vermette; head coach Randy Carlyle; wingers Mason Raymond and Jared Boll; goalie Jonathan Bernier

Key off-season deletions: Wingers David Perron, Chris Stewart and Jamie McGinn; goalie Frederik Andersen; centers Shawn Horcoff and Brandon Pirri; head coach Bruce Boudreau

Good Team? Yes. Any team that employs Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, John Gibson and a young and skilled blueline featuring Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen is a team that will feast on a weak division and lock up a high playoff position with relative ease.

Probably great team? Probably, yes. The Ducks narrowly edged the Kings for top spot in the Pacific last season and their first-round, seven-game loss to Nashville spurred GM Bob Murray to make significant changes, but the players he’s kept around still have the potential to replicate their conference final appearance in 2014-15. As with any team we’ll analyze, it’s all about having good luck with health and chemistry with special teams once the post-season rolls around, and if Anaheim is fortunate on both counts, they could mark the 10-year anniversary of their last Cup win with the second NHL championship in franchise history.

Reason for concern it could all go sideways? Yes. The return of Carlyle behind the bench raised eyebrows around the league. It wouldn’t be the first time a team has turned to a once-successful employee and asked them back, but Carlyle isn’t exactly coming in on a career hot streak. His stint in Toronto hurt him, and he’ll have to prove to the skeptics he can adapt to a changing game.

In addition, management dealt Andersen in part due to a salary cap crunch, handing the netminding reins to the 23-year-old Gibson and bringing in former Leafs starter Jonathan Bernier to serve as his backup. Gibson has 66 games of NHL experience, and although he’s availed himself well in that time, if he falters, the Ducks can’t depend on Bernier to step in and thrive as a No. 1. Bernier was a solid citizen in Toronto, but he rarely if ever stole games and only delivered when the pressure was off.

The signing of Vermette may turn out to be a nifty, late-season signing by Murray, but let’s not kid ourselves – the pressure is on this particular core to produce, and produce soon. There just doesn’t seem to be as much depth overall for them to turn to come April-through-June. Another early post-season exit could lead to more pronounced changes.

San Jose Sharks

Key off-season additions: Winger Mikkel Boedker; defenseman David Schlemko; center Michael Latta; goalie Jeff Zatkoff

Key off-season deletions: Center Nick Spaling; winger Dainius Zubrus; defenseman Roman Polak; goalie James Reimer

Good Team? Oh yes. San Jose shook off injuries to star center Logan Couture and blueliner Marc-Edouard Vlasic last year and still made the playoffs thanks to fantastic performances from veterans Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Brent Burns, among others. The Sharks also won a league-best 28 games on the road, and proved many doubters wrong with a memorable charge to the Cup Final before falling to the Penguins. Playing at full health, and adding another level to the desperation they’ll need to demonstrate to power past the many serious challengers in the West, the Sharks absolutely can play well into June once again.

Probably great team? Yes. Goalie Martin Jones more than lived up to his end of things in his first year as a Shark, and at 26 years old, his best days could still be ahead. Considering how he raised his game in the post-season – bringing up his save percentage from .918 in 65 regular-season contests to .923 through 24 playoff games – San Jose’s opponents should remain scared. With all the talent that surrounds him, Jones can be part of the answer that delivers the organization’s first-ever Cup win.

Reason for concern it could all go sideways? Somewhat, but not really. Sure, the Sharks missed the post-season in 2014-15, but that ended a streak of 10 consecutive playoff appearances. GM Doug Wilson is one of the game’s best executives, and his choice to hire veteran Peter DeBoer as head coach last summer proved to be a masterstroke. Unless something catastrophic befalls the roster health-wise, San Jose has the depth, speed and top-end talent to all but assure itself of another ticket to the toughest tournament in hockey next spring.

Los Angeles Kings

Key off-season additions: Winger Teddy Purcell; defenseman Tom Gilbert; center Michael Latta; goalie Jeff Zatkoff

Key off-season deletions: Center Vincent Lecavalier, wingers Milan Lucic and Kris Versteeg; defensemen Luke Schenn and Jamie McBain; goalie Jhonas Enroth

Good Team? Yes. The Kings atoned for shockingly missing out on the playoffs in 2014-15 by winning more games (48) than any other team in the division, and though they were ousted by San Jose in five first-round games last spring, L.A.’s cornerstone players remain some of the very best on the planet. Those players – including blueliner Drew Doughty and center Anze Kopitar – will propel them back into the post-season and make them a danger once they’re there.

Probably great team? Definitely possible. GM Dean Lombardi assembled a squad that plays a punishing style under Darryl Sutter, and he’s been able to augment his stars with competitive personality role players to help make the coach’s job easier. Unfortunately, the cap crunch has restricted Lombardi to a degree, and – with due respect to Gilbert, Purcell and Latta – the Kings aren’t as deep as they were last year and will need to lean on their best players as much, if not more than ever.

Reason for concern it could all go sideways? Yes. Losing Lucic clearly makes L.A. a less-grittier club, and losing Enroth to unrestricted free agency could prove more painful if star Jonathan Quick struggles with consistency. But it’s the declines of some veterans still on the roster – Dustin Brown and Marian Gaborik in particular – that could prove to be the difference between them making and missing the playoffs. The Kings tend to grind out wins, and they do it very well, but if there’s an injury situation involving a key contributor, the domino effect could rapidly trigger a collapse leaving them where they were two years ago.

Vancouver Canucks

Key off-season additions: Defenseman Erik Gudbranson; winger Loui Eriksson

Key off-season deletions: Wingers Linden Vey, Radim Vrbata and Jared McCann; defenseman Dan Hamhuis

Good Team? Potentially, yes. For a month or two in a row, yes. But I’m not sure many people in hockey think the Canucks are capable of establishing themselves as an elite team from wire-to-wire. There’s immense pressure on head coach Willie Desjardins and GM Jim Benning, and team ownership seems bent on contending in the here and now even if that means scraping into a seventh-or-eighth playoff seed at the expense of the future. The Sedin Twins remain Vancouver’s best players, and they’ll turn 36 years old in a month. Sorry, but in this young man’s league, that’s not a great harbinger of what’s ahead.

Probably great team? Probably not. Again, like virtually every team in the league, the Canucks have the potential to put together a run of dominance for a short span. If Ryan Miller is at his best in goal; if the Sedins are healthy; and if new additions Eriksson and Gudbranson add enough experience and depth in needed areas to overcome the departures of Hamhuis and Vrbata, I can see a scenario in which Vancouver makes the playoffs and maybe even wins a round or two. But that’s about it.

Reason for concern it could all go sideways? Very good reason for concern. The Canucks missed the playoffs last year and two of the past three years, and have only won three post-season games in total after making the Cup Final in 2011. They don’t have enough dynamic top-end players and don’t have nearly enough cap space to increase the number of players of that level. And with management not willing to tear down the house and build from the ground floor up, it is more apparent with each day this is a group chasing its tail with little to show for it. This could very easily be a team that fails to reach expectations, and perhaps it will take nothing less than a total disaster of a season to force the type of change that’s necessary.

Arizona Coyotes

Key off-season additions: Wingers Radim Vrbata and Jamie McGinn; defensemen Alex Goligoski, Jamie McBain and Luke Schenn; Centers David Bolland and Pavel Datsyuk; GM John Chayka

Key off-season deletions: Centers Boyd Gordons and Joe Vitale; wingers Jiri Sekac and Alex Tanguay; defenseman Nicklas Grossmann; goalie Anders Lindback; GM Don Maloney

Good Team? A year or two from now? Yes. This year? I’m not convinced. With Maloney gone as GM and Chayka as his replacement, there will be a period of adjustment. Much of that has already taken place on pape, and the analytics-minded Chayka has utilized the cap system to take on “dead money” contracts including those of Datsyuk and Bolland to add prospects and depth to the organization. Thanks in part to Maloney’s legwork, Chayka has an exciting young group with which to work, but they’ll need monstrous years from youngsters Max Domi, Dylan Strome and Anthony Duclair, as well as from veterans Oliver Ekman-Larsson and new arrival Goligoski to push the franchise into the playoffs for the first time since 2012.

Probably great team? Again, barring some otherworldly dominance from their youth movement, I doubt it. Under head coach Dave Tippett, Arizona has displayed a strong sense of systems, but they’ve never had quite the right balance of youth and experience. Vrbata is back after a couple years in Vancouver and he’ll provide some finish on offense and direction in the dressing room. But the Coyotes’ blueline isn’t comparable to those of the true forces in the West, and goalie Mike Smith can’t put them on his back to the degree he’d need to in order to get them into the playoffs and the second or third round. It’s tough for Yotes fans to hear, but this is another year of transition. Getting closer, though.

Reason for concern it could all go sideways? No. The Coyotes are likely to have some growing pains ahead, but there’s so many young players to like here, it’s difficult to envision them bottoming out as they did in 2014-15. It’s a matter of building slowly and properly, and developing/managing the talent in-house. If they can do that, it will be worth the wait in 2017-18 and beyond, when the group truly blossoms.

Calgary Flames

Key off-season additions: Goalies Brian Elliott and Chad Johnson; Wingers Alex Chiasson, Linden Vey, and Troy Brouwer; head coach Glen Gulutzan

Key off-season deletions: Goalies Jonas Hiller and Karri Ramo; Center Joe Colborne; wingers Josh Jooris and Mason Raymond; head coach Bob Hartley

Good Team? Yes. After a complete makeover of their goaltending picture, the Flames have enough depth speed and skill to return to the post-season this year. Elliott and Johnson make for an above-average platoon of sorts in net, and Calgary’s defense corps is one of the more mobile and talented in the league. And with young stars Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Sam Bennett still developing their games, the future and present for the Flames looks very bright.

Probably great team? Probably feels like a strong word for this group this year, but hey, a similar Calgary squad was a Cinderella of sorts in 2014-15, when they made it to the second round of the playoffs before falling to a deeper, more experienced Ducks team. With former Stars coach Gulutzan now running things, it’s not out of the realm of possibility to see the Flames overachieving once again and perhaps getting at least as far as they did two years back.

Reason for concern it could all go sideways? Very little. Elliott and Johnson aren’t considered superstar netminders, but they’re in position to be helped by that strong Calgary blueline and vice-versa. GM Brad Treliving and his staff have managed the team’s cap very well – they have some $8.5 million in space, per GeneralFanager.com – and there’s too much talent here to go sour for a second straight year. If the Flames can clean up an atrocious road record (14-24-3), they’ll be right back in the thick of things.

Edmonton Oilers

Key off-season additions: Defenseman Adam Larsson; goalie Jonas Gustavsson; wingers Milan Lucic and Jesse Puljujarvi

Key off-season deletions: Wingers Taylor Hall and Lauri Korpikoski, defenseman Eric Gryba

Good Team? Eventually. But even after the blockbuster trade that sent Hall to New Jersey for Larsson, the Oilers don’t give off the aura of a team that has truly had its house cleaned. Will they be better than last year’s edition, the one that won just 31 games and had head coach Todd McClellan at his wit’s end mid-season? Sure. Having phenom Connor McDavid healthy for a full year will help immensely in that regard, as will the increased bite Lucic will give the roster. And then there’s rookie Jesse Puljujarvi, who might be the first high-end rookie to fly under the radar in Edmonton for years; he’ll add to the staggering collection of young talent GM Peter Chiarelli can boast of. But this franchise’s woes have been such that even these moves may not be enough to get the Oilers from the very bottom of the West to a playoff spot.

Probably great team? This year? With this defense? No. Larsson is a solid player who’ll strengthen Edmonton’s blueline, but unless starting goalie Cam Talbot stands on his head every night, the Oilers’ defense simply isn’t improved enough on paper for the team to even dream of being a serious Cup contender right now. Until that changes, they’ll be striving just to be in the middle of the pack. It still feels like there's other roster changes needed before they join the league's true competitive elite.

Reason for concern it could all go sideways? The agony has gone on for so long in Edmonton, sideways has been the regular way. But no, with the astonishing skill of McDavid, as well as that of center Leon Draisaitl on board, the Oilers won’t be a laughingstock for much longer. If they do nothing else this year other than indicate those days are gone – even if they lose out on the final playoff berth on the last day of the regular season – it will be a much-needed step forward for a franchise that has failed its fans far too often.

Join the Discussion: » 16 Comments » Post New Comment

» Proteau's Division Predictions

» Proteau's Division Predictions

» Pre-season picks: Atlantic Division

» Pre-season picks: Metropolitan Division

» Pre-season picks: Pacific Division