The Anaheim Ducks took a competitive step forward Thursday by acquiring veteran left winger Chris Kreider from the New York Rangers.
Kreider joins a Ducks team that has added other experienced veterans in recent years, including defensemen Jacob Trouba and Radko Gudas and forwards Alex Killorn and Ryan Strome. Kreider’s acquisition makes it more clear that the Ducks are in a Pacific Division that’s going to be considerably more competitive next season.
We added up all the standings points in each of the four NHL divisions. While the results aren’t an exact science in discovering which divisions were the toughest, it does give you an inkling of which divisions did the most damage this year.
It’s no surprise that the Pacific had the fewest points, with 710, an average of 88.75. The Atlantic Division led the way with 737 points (92.13), followed closely by the Central Division (735, 91.86) and the Metropolitan Division (713, 89.13). But we’ve got an inkling that the Pacific will be far tougher in 2025-26.
For one thing, you’ve got the Ducks, which still have $32.1 million in salary cap space, even after the Kreider acquisition. Most of Anaheim’s core is under contract, but Ducks GM Pat Verbeek has the money and the motivation to be a big player on the trade and free agent fronts this summer. Despite finishing 21 points out of a playoff spot this season, the Ducks could be quite better next year.
The rest of the Pacific is far from a gallery of mediocrity, either.
For one thing, the Edmonton Oilers could win the Stanley Cup this season, and they still have two of the top five players on the planet, a deep lineup and a GM, Stan Bowman, who will likely make them better in 2025-26.
The Vegas Golden Knights, which finished first in the division this season, won the Cup in 2023 and are a lock to be a playoff team next year. Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon is famous for pulling off big moves to make his squad better, so we anticipate Vegas will lead the Pacific next season.
The Los Angeles Kings finished second in the Pacific and are playoff locks as well. The Kings have a new GM in Ken Holland, who will be rather active in improving his roster with $21.7 million in cap space to use on his pending free agents and acquisitions.
Right away, you’ve got three Pacific teams that are all but guaranteed to be Stanley Cup playoff teams. But the rest of the Pacific is also likely to be better next year.
The Vancouver Canucks finished 11 points out of a playoff spot last year, but they had major injuries and off-ice drama to contend with. If management has settled things down, and if Canucks GM Patrik Allvin makes good use of the $12.1 million he has in cap space, the Canucks should be much more competitive and get back into a playoff position next year.
Meanwhile, the team that was nine points better than Vancouver – the Calgary Flames – might be better next season. This writer thinks the Flames are better off to strip down some of the roster and embark on a fuller rebuild, but that probably isn’t likely, given some of the comments made by Flames GM Craig Conroy. Instead, Calgary may choose to add veterans this summer with the $26.8 million they have in cap space, and that could be enough to push them into a post-season spot.
Finally, the Seattle Kraken and San Jose Sharks round out the Pacific. The Kraken have changed their GM and coach, and they have $19.9 million in cap space, while the Sharks have a young team in a full rebuild that still has a whopping $41.7 million in cap space. Absent some blockbuster moves that bring in many veterans, the Sharks should still be considered a long shot to make the playoffs next year. But the Kraken are another story, as they have a mix of youth and experience that could see them battling for a post-season spot right through the end of the regular season.
That means there are seven out of eight Pacific Division teams that can reasonably be considered to be in the playoff mix next year. That means at least three of those teams, if not four, will miss out on the post-season.
So while the Ducks took a step forward with the addition of Kreider, they’re still going to battle tooth-and-nail to jump high enough in the Pacific standings to be a playoff team.
The Pacific teams will be in for a heck of a battle from Game 1 to Game 82, and Pacific team fans are going to have much to cheer for right out of the gate. It’s going to be a blast, and the Pacific is going to be vastly better next year.
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