ARIZONA COYOTES

Pacific Division preview: Kings, Flames will challenge Ducks’ supremacy

Oct 6, 2015, 6:00 AM | Updated: 7:59 am

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Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving read the Pacific Division news with trepidation this offseason.

“It just seemed like every time you woke up, someone had added a piece to get better,” Treliving said.

In the past three or so months, Edmonton drafted franchise center Connor McDavid, Los Angeles traded for rugged forward Milan Lucic, Anaheim signed forward Carl Hagelin and Calgary got defenseman Dougie Hamilton in a draft-day deal with Boston.

Time will tell if the moves Vancouver, San Jose and Arizona made will bear fruit, but in a division where only three teams made the playoffs last season due to a stacked Central Division, one thing is certain.

“It’s going to be much harder to make the playoffs this season,” Canucks forward Radim Vrbata said. “When you look at the players teams have added, everyone is going to be more competitive.”

As the NHL season gets underway with four games on Wednesday, including Calgary at Vancouver and San Jose at Los Angeles, here is our Pacific Division preview.

THE FAVORITE

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Anaheim Ducks

2014-15 record (div. finish): 51-24-7 (1st)

Playoffs: Lost to Chicago in Western Conference Final, 4-2

Key additions: F Carl Hagelin, D Kevin Bieksa, C Shawn Horcoff, Chris Stewart, F Mike Santorelli

Key losses: F Matt Beleskey, F Kyle Palmieri, D Francois Beauchemin

Key question: Is Hampus Lindholm, 21, ready to become a No. 1 defenseman on a blue line that really needs that element?

At a glance: For the first five games of the 2015 Western Conference Final, Anaheim was a bigger, heavier, better team than Chicago. Then the Blackhawks’ experience and star power kicked in and the Ducks fell one game short of their first Stanley Cup Finals since 2007. GM Bob Murray didn’t rest on his laurels. He added speed and offense by signing Hagelin, he added grit to his lower six with Horcoff, he added depth with Stewart and Santorelli and he added aging defenseman Kevin Bieksa, 34, to provide some toughness on the top pairing with Hampus Lindholm after the loss of Francois Beauchemin in free agency. Centers Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler and wing Corey Perry give the Ducks plenty of firepower and Anaheim has all the ingredients to win the Cup if it can finally escape the deep Western Conference.

THE CONTENDER

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Los Angeles Kings

2014-15 record (div. finish): 40-27-15 (4th)

Playoffs: Did not qualify

Key additions: F Milan Lucic, D Christian Ehrhoff

Key losses: F Justin Williams, F Mike Richards, F Jarret Stoll, D Andrej Sekera, D Slava Voynov

Key question: Is the blue line deep enough without Voynov and Sekera?

At a glance: The Kings became the fifth Cup winner in the expansion era (post 1966) to miss the postseason the following year, joining the 1967 Toronto Maple Leafs, 1969 Montreal Canadiens, 1995 New Jersey Devils and 2006 Carolina Hurricanes. Eleven playoff series and 64 playoff games in three seasons took their toll, playing coach Darryl Sutter’s physically exhausting style. So did the legal troubles of Voynov, who has departed for the KHL. The feeling in camp this season, however, is that the Kings are ready to resume their winning ways. They added Lucic, whose style perfectly suits Sutter. Ehrhoff, 33, could help shore up the blue line but, perhaps most important, the Kings are well rested for a change after a lengthy offseason. Few teams are better constructed for the postseason — L.A. is among the best possession teams, it defends well, it has an elite goalie in Jonathan Quick and with some youth added to the skill of defenseman Drew Doughty, center Anze Kopitar and forwards Marian Gaborik, Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli. This may be the most offensively gifted team the Kings have had under Sutter. Watch out West, L.A is back.

THE DARKHORSE

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Calgary Flames

2014-15 record (div. finish): 45-30-7 (3rd)

Playoffs: Lost to Anaheim in Western Conference semifinals, 4-1

Key additions: D Dougie Hamilton, F Michael Frolik

Key losses: None

Key question: Can the Flames defy the analytics gods for another season, or can their additions and growth render those questions moot?

At a glance: Calgary defied the fancy stats all season with a combination of hard work, old-school muscle, a superb blue line and emerging forward talents like Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau. Even so, the Flames had an unsustainably high shooting percentage, they had poor possession numbers and they led the league with 10 wins when trailing after two periods. To make sure the Flames wouldn’t have to rely on so much good fortune again, Treliving added Hamilton (6-5, 212), a big, young burgeoning talent whom the Coyotes were also chasing. Adding him to a defensive corps that already includes Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie, gives Calgary one of the best blue lines in the NHL. Frolik is an under-the-radar move that will help in so many ways, most notably on the penalty kill where he helped Chicago to a Stanley Cup in 2013. Treliving likens Frolik to a Swiss Army Knife because of his versatility. Forward Jiri Hudler is an underappreciated offensive talent and should team with emerging stars Gaudreau, Monahan and Sam Bennett to help the Flames take another step forward and challenge the elite powers in the West.

THE REST

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San Jose Sharks

2014-15 record (div. finish): 45-33-9 (5th)

Playoffs: Did not qualify

Key additions: F Joel Ward, D Paul Martin, G Martin Jones

Key losses: G Antti Niemi

Key question: Will a coaching change really make a difference or do the Sharks’ underachieving issues stem more from their leadership?

At a glance: The biggest move San Jose made this offseason was to replace coach Todd McLellan with Peter DeBoer in a move that felt like scapegoating. San Jose made some good moves in adding promising goalie Martin Jones, two-way forward Joel Ward and defenseman Paul Martin, but the team took a hit to its toughness when forward Raffi Torres was suspended 41 games on Monday for an illegal check to the head of Anaheim Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg in a preseason game. All-Star forward Joe Pavelski will more help from highly paid, underperforming stars Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau if the Sharks are to climb back into the playoffs. Stop us if you’ve heard that before.

Edmonton Oilers

oilerslogo2014-15 record (div. finish): 24-44-14 (6th)

Playoffs: Did not qualify

Key additions: C Connor McDavid, D Andrej Sekera, G Cam Talbot

Key losses: C Boyd Gordon

Key question: Is McDavid good enough to prevent the Oilers from missing the playoffs for a 10th straight season?

At a glance: The Oilers ticked off the hockey world when they won the NHL Draft Lottery and the right to the first pick in the draft for the fourth time in six years. Edmonton has screwed this up before, but McDavid appears to be that generational talent that makes everyone around him better. Better yet, a viral video of him backchecking from the offensive end to break up a scoring chance in the preseason is the kind of play that sets an example for a team. It is probably too much to ask McDavid to put the Oilers on his back and carry them to the postseason this year, however. He is only 18. Talbot is Edmonton’s latest experiment in goal and the puck-moving Sekera is a nice addition to the blue line, but there are still serious questions about this team’s ability to defend and the Oilers really don’t have a top pairing on their blue line. Edmonton allowed a league-worst 283 goals last season.

Vancouver Canucks

canuckslogo2014-15 record (div. finish): 48-29-5 (2nd)

Playoffs: Lost to Calgary in Western Conference quarterfinals, 4-2

Key additions: F Brandon Prust, C Brandon Sutter, D Kevin Bieksa

Key losses: G Eddie Lack, C Nick Bonino, F Zack Kassian, F Brad Richardson

Key question: Has the Canucks’ aging core of Daniel Sedin (35), Henrik Sedin (35), Alex Burrows (34) and Radim Vrbata (34) passed the point where it can contend for a Cup?

At a glance: Canucks management said the team’s offseason moves were indicative of a franchise in transition. Fans and media are wondering to what the Canucks are transitioning. Trading Zack Kassian for Brandon Prust, who is seven years older, was perplexing, but Prust does add grit. Trading goalie Eddie Lack instead of Ryan Miller is baffling, especially when the Canucks got several calls to move Miller, whose save percentage (.910) was lower than Lack’s while his age (35) is not (27). Dealing Nick Bonino to Pittsburgh for Brandon Sutter was also odd. The Canucks also gave up defenseman Adam Clendening and Anaheim’s second-round pick in 2016 with only a conditional third-round pick in 2016 accompanying Sutter. Bonino had 88 points over the past two seasons; Sutter had 59. Vancouver had to open up more opportunity for center Bo Horvat, its first-round pick in 2013, but it appears to have grown older without getting better.

Arizona Coyotes

coyoteslogo2014-15 record (div. finish): 24-50-8 (7th)

Playoffs: Did not qualify

Key additions: C Antoine Vermette, C/W Brad Richardson, C Boyd Gordon, F Steve Downie, D Nicklas Grossmann, D Zbynek Michalek

Key losses: F Sam Gagner, F Martin Erat, Lauri Korpikoski

Key question: Can the infusion and growth of some of the franchise’s forward prospects provide enough offense to keep the Coyotes competitive in the deep Western Conference?

At a glance: The goal in Arizona is simply to compete for a playoff spot but the preseason raised serious questions about that goal. Arizona scored four goals in six games. It will rely on young stars like Max Domi, Tobias Rieder and Anthony Duclair to complement the offense of Mikkel Boedker, but it may be too soon to expect the pups to produce. Arizona should defend better in front of goalie Mike Smith with Zbynek Michalek, Nicklas Grossmann and Boyd Gordon in the fold, but long-suffering Coyotes fans will likely have to be patient as the prospects find their way at the much faster NHL pace.

Pacific Division projected order of finish

1. Anaheim
2. Los Angeles
3. Calgary
4. San Jose
5. Edmonton
6. Vancouver
7. Arizona

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