NHL Quarterly Report Cards: Pacific Division

The National Hockey League will reach the quarter mark of the regular season at the end of this month, which is the line of demarcation when general managers begin to evaluate where their club is at and formulate a plan of action for the rest of the season.

Even though the league under the current salary cap does not allow teams the freedom to shake up their roster if their club was struggling, it is still possible for clubs to do something to course correct and improve their chance for success.

In our final installment, we look at the eight clubs in the Pacific and whether they are exceeding, meeting or are below expectations:

Anaheim Ducks – (3rd place – 11-8-3, 25 points)

The young Ducks were expected to have growing pains, but great starts from Troy Terry, Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale, and Isac Lundestrom to go along with a revitalized Ryan Getzlaf and the always-excellent John Gibson have Anaheim in the top half of the Pacific at the quarter mark.

Grade = Exceeding Expectations

Calgary Flames – (2nd place – 12-4-5, 29 points)

The Flames adapted to the physical style of two-time Cup winning head coach Darryl Sutter, with size and sandpaper (Blake Coleman, Nikita Zadorov, Erik Gudbranson, Trevor Lewis) being the focus of their offseason acquisitions. The Calgary goaltending tandem of Jacob Markstrom and Daniel Vladar lead the NHL with 42 goals allowed and seven shutouts, with Andrew Mangiapane, Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk leading the offense.

Grade = Exceeding Expectations

Edmonton Oilers – (1st place – 15-5-0, 30 points)

The Oilers continue to be dependent on the combo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to carry the bulk of the offensive load, which is sufficient on most nights to get them wins. Secondary players in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jesse Puljujarvi, and Zach Hyman have also contributed, which has covered up some gaps on the blueline and average goaltending from Mikko Koskinen.

Grade = Exceeding Expectations

Los Angeles Kings (6th place – 9-8-3, 21 points)

The Kings started red-hot, but injuries to Drew Doughty and Sean Walker on defense have slowed them down. LA is getting good goaltending from veteran Jonathan Quick, but the additions of Phillip Danault and Viktor Arvidsson have not helped generate offense.

Grade = Meeting Expectations

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San Jose Sharks (5th place – 11-9-1, 23 points)

After a disappointing season and the absence of leading scorer Evander Kane due to suspension, the Sharks were expected to be at the bottom of the Pacific, but a resurgent Erik Karlsson, along with Timo Meier, Logan Couture, and excellent goaltending from James Reimer have San Jose in the mix.

Grade = Exceeding Expectations

Seattle Kraken (7th place – 7-13-1, 15 points)

The expectation that the Kraken were going to contend for a playoff spot and somehow repeat the Vegas miracle was unrealistic. Although GM Ron Francis was able to bring in quality players in Jordan Eberle, Jared McCann, Yanni Gourde, and Brandon Tanev in the expansion draft, and sign free agents Jaden Schwartz and Philipp Grubauer, Seattle is an expansion team with plenty of holes.

Grade = Below Expectations

Vancouver Canucks (8th place – 6-14-2, 14 points)

The Canucks made major renovations in the offseason, giving a first-round to Arizona to dispose of the bad contracts of Antoine Roussel, Jay Beagle and Loui Eriksson and acquire Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland, as well as extending Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, and Thatcher Demko, but their abysmal defensive (73 goals against – tied for 28th in the NHL) and their underachieving offense has GM Jim Benning and head coach Travis Green on the verge of losing their jobs.

Grade = Below Expectations

Vegas Golden Knights (4th place – 12-9-0, 24 points)

The Golden Knights were victimized by a slew of injuries to forwards Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, William Karlsson, and defenseman Zach Whitecloud, but have been able to maintain an above .500 record with a skeleton crew. Vegas acquired the top-line center they have needed for years in Jack Eichel, but the All-Star will likely not be back from neck surgery until after the Olympic break.

Grade = Below Expectations

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