As we approach September, it’s a great time to post some predictions for the 2025-26 NHL season.
Below, you’ll see this writer’s rankings of an NHL division, the picks made in The Hockey News’ Yearbook & Fantasy Guide 2025 and BetMGM's odds of each team winning the division. We will not only argue for the rankings we made but also acknowledge why we might be wrong about each team.
Today, we’re starting the predictions series with a look at the Pacific Division.
1. Vegas Golden Knights
The Hockey News Yearbook Division Rank: 2nd
BetMGM Pacific Division Winner Odds: 2.50 (+150)
Why I've Ranked Them First: The addition of former Toronto Maple Leafs star right winger Mitch Marner was the biggest coup of the summer, and Vegas now has one of the best playmakers on the planet. Only two teams finished higher than Vegas in our NHL summer splash rankings, and the Golden Knights once again have a stacked roster that can excel at both ends of the ice.
Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon pushed in all his chips to bring Marner aboard, and the Golden Knights – who finished first in the Pacific last season – are primed to be an even better offensive force and emerge as one of the deepest teams in the NHL.
Why I Could Be Wrong: To afford Marner’s $12-million cap hit, the Golden Knights had to move out a couple of solid foot soldiers in center Nicolas Roy and defenseman Nicolas Hague.
But the biggest blow is losing star defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who’s stepping aside indefinitely, potentially permanently, due to injury issues. The Golden Knights’ depth on ‘D’ is not as impressive as it used to be, and that could have an impact on the performance of starting goalie Adin Hill. While we’re all but certain Vegas will be a playoff team next season, they could slip down the ranks of the Pacific and be overtaken by teams like the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks.
2. Edmonton Oilers
The Hockey News Yearbook Division Rank: 1st
BetMGM Pacific Division Winner Odds: 2.70 (+170)
Why I've Ranked Them Second: The Oilers proved to be the best team in the Pacific last season – at least, in the playoffs.
In the regular season, Edmonton finished third in the Pacific, behind the Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings. So to argue the Oilers will make that jump to the top spot in the Pacific felt like too big a stretch from this writer’s perspective.
Edmonton has undergone some significant roster turnover, losing veteran wingers Connor Brown, Evander Kane and Corey Perry, among others. To replace them, they’ve turned to young players, such as left winger Isaac Howard and center Matthew Savoie, but they also added Andrew Mangiapane and European free-agent David Tomasek as well. Those changes could lead to the Oilers rising higher in the Pacific standings, but it may take time for the younger players to get settled in.
Why I Could Be Wrong: The Oilers played as well as they did despite a (relative) down season from superstar center Connor McDavid. Similarly, star left winger Zach Hyman’s goal total fell to half of what he produced two seasons ago. Getting bounce-back years from those two could elevate Edmonton to the top spot in the Pacific.
The rookies and additions could ratchet up the energy levels for this Edmonton team. The Oilers are a virtual lock to get home-ice advantage, but where they finish specifically could be a coin flip.
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3. Vancouver Canucks
The Hockey News Yearbook Division Rank: 4th
BetMGM Pacific Division Winner Odds: 16.00 (+1,500)
Why I've Ranked Them Third: After winning the Pacific in 2023-24, a lot went wrong for the Canucks last season. There was a reported feud between star center Elias Pettersson and center J.T. Miller, injuries to star players, such as defenseman Quinn Hughes, goalie Thatcher Demko and Pettersson, and inconsistent play from the rest of the roster. Most, if not all, of those situations have been addressed this summer.
The Canucks acquired Kane from the Oilers, but otherwise, their roster is largely the same as the one in the spring.
While the yearbook has the Canucks finishing fourth in the Pacific – and out of a playoff spot – we feel like a bounce-back year is coming for them. If they can get anywhere close to their level of two years ago, Vancouver can not only be a playoff team but leapfrog the wild-card spots.
Why I Could Be Wrong: The Canucks lost coach Rick Tocchet just a year after he won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s best bench boss. That’s not a positive sign for Vancouver.
Meanwhile, the play of Demko when he was healthy, including an .889 save percentage, was nothing to write home about.
The Canucks may not rise as high as we envision, but Vancouver missing the playoffs for two straight years would be inexcusable..
4. Los Angeles Kings
The Hockey News Yearbook Division Rank: 3rd
BetMGM Pacific Division Winner Odds: 5.00 (+400)
Why I've Ranked Them Fourth: Few teams made as many moves as the Kings did this summer.
They hired GM Ken Holland, who reshaped their roster with a slew of signings, including Perry, right winger Joel Armia, veteran defensemen Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin and goalie Anton Forsberg. Their biggest departure was defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, who went to the New York Rangers.
While Holland changed things around the edges of his roster, we now see the Kings as now being less than the sum of their parts.
They look more like a wild-card team. That’s a step back for L.A., as the Kings finished second in the Pacific last season. There’s still lots to like about them, but they may have bigger, foundational questions to ask themselves next summer if they do as we expect.
Why I Could Be Wrong: Holland has earned his reputation as an above-average team-builder – he was part of the Oilers’ more recent successes when he recently served as their GM – and if he’s done nothing else with this Kings roster, he’s added a bunch of experienced hands to handle the pressure to not only get into the playoffs but to actually win a round or two. That’s something Rob Blake, Holland’s predecessor as Kings GM failed to do – once they do get into the post-season.
Either way, there’s next-to-no-chance L.A. misses the playoffs next season. There’s too much talent on the roster for that.
5. Anaheim Ducks
The Hockey News Yearbook Division Rank: 5th
BetMGM Pacific Division Winner Odds: 36.00 (+3,500)
Why I've Ranked Them Fifth: The Ducks won 35 games last season – their most since 2018-19. But for the seventh straight season, they missed the playoffs.
While we do like the Ducks to improve on their sixth-place finish in 2024-25, it’s going to be especially difficult for them to unseat one of the teams we’ve put ahead of them in our projected Pacific standings.
Anaheim has a new coach in Joel Quenneville and new faces in left winger Chris Kreider and center Mikael Granlund. But if they’re going to climb up the Pacific standings, they’ll need their youngsters to do the heavy lifting. We can see that happening for the Ducks, but not to the degree that would make them a playoff team in ’25-26.
The good news is they’re likely to keep getting better, but patience is a virtue for rebuilding teams, and Anaheim fans need to be patient for a bit longer as this Ducks team cements its identity.
Why I Could Be Wrong: With talent like right winger Troy Terry, center Leo Carlsson, left winger Cutter Gauthier, left winger Mason McTavish and defensemen Jackson LaCombe and Pavel Mintyukov, the Ducks have the foundation of a terrific team. And with young No. 1 goalie, Lukas Dostal, signed to a long-term contract extension, Anaheim could sneak up on opponents and find a way to squeeze into a post-season slot.
Ducks GM Pat Verbeek has painstakingly built his team’s lineup into a competitive one, so the days of Anaheim languishing at the bottom of the Pacific are almost certainly over.
6. Seattle Kraken
The Hockey News Yearbook Division Rank: 7th
BetMGM Pacific Division Winner Odds: 101.00 (+10,000)
Why I've Ranked Them Sixth: The Kraken finished fourth in the Pacific in 2022-23, but they got progressively worse after that, finishing sixth and seventh in the division in the last two seasons.
That is not a trend they wish to continue.
Seattle made major moves this summer, promoting former Buffalo Sabres GM Jason Botterill to its GM role and replacing coach Dan Bylsma with former New York Islanders bench boss Lane Lambert.
Unfortunately for Lambert, the Kraken still have a dog’s breakfast of talent, with no truly generational players other than maybe center Matty Beniers. That’s going to keep them in the lower half of the Pacific for the time being, but we don’t see Seattle as a true bottom-feeder.
The Kraken are still likely to be inconsistent, but as their younger players develop, they’re on the road to being an above-average team. They just won’t get there this season.
Why I Could Be Wrong: We’ve picked the Kraken to finish out of the playoff mix, but if the yearbook is correct, they’ll finish seventh again. To be fair, that is a possibility for a team that has too few needle-movers and too many middle-of-the-road players.
The Kraken are living in the shadow of another recent expansion team – the Golden Knights, which found a way to win a Stanley Cup and be a perennial mover-and-shaker. It hasn’t come nearly so quickly for the Kraken, and they may need another few years of no playoffs and high draft picks to set this team up for the long haul.
7. Calgary Flames
The Hockey News Yearbook Division Rank: 6th
BetMGM Pacific Division Winner Odds: 36.00 (+3,500)
Why I've Ranked Them Seventh: Calgary arguably overachieved last season. Even then, they finished fourth in the Pacific and out of a playoff spot.
This summer, they added no one of significance while losing winger Anthony Mantha and goalie Dan Vladar. And we’re supposed to see the Flames as keeping up with the Joneses in the Pacific? Sorry, but we just don’t see it.
The Flames have potential trade chips – defenseman Rasmus Andersson chief among them – who can help out Calgary’s long-term potential by being traded this season.
But in the short term, when you put the Flames’ roster alongside most other Pacific teams, it’s obvious that Calgary doesn’t have the depth or experience to be a true rival to the playoff contenders. That almost certainly makes them a reasonable candidate to plummet down the Pacific standings next year.
Why I Could Be Wrong: The Flames made the most of what they had last year. When you have proud veterans in the room, such as left winger Jonathan Huberdeau, center Nazem Kadri, captain Mikael Backlund and blueliner MacKenzie Weegar, you’re not going to be pure pushovers.
So, could Calgary ride the performance of burgeoning star goalie Dustin Wolf to at least be in the conversation for a playoff berth in the West? Sure, we’re not ready to completely count them out.
8. San Jose Sharks
The Hockey News Yearbook Division Rank: 8th
BetMGM Pacific Division Winner Odds: 301.00 (+30,000)
Why I've Ranked Them Eighth: There’s no doubt about where the Sharks will finish.
San Jose was 24 points behind the seventh-place Kraken last year. That should tell you how far the Sharks have to go to get back to a respectable place in the standings.
Nevertheless, we like what San Jose GM Mike Grier has been doing. He’s building a reliable winner the most proven way – by being absolutely terrible for a long span and building through the draft. While it’s going to be another long season for the Sharks, in the macro picture, San Jose is well on its way to having the core components of a long-term winner.
Why I Could Be Wrong: Let’s be honest – we may be wrong about many of our predictions, but this Sharks prediction is nearly 100 percent guaranteed to be accurate.
Even after San Jose made veteran additions, including defensemen Dmitry Orlov and Nick Leddy, the Sharks simply don’t have the type of proven needle-movers to stay out of the Pacific basement.
Three or four years from now, San Jose may be a first-rate Cup threat. But right now, the Sharks are nowhere near good enough to even dream about the playoffs.
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