Thoughts and Predictions on the Pacific Division
1. Edmonton Oilers
Last year the Western Conference champions finished second in the Pacific during the regular season with 104 points.
This offseason the Oilers added Viktor Arvidsson, Jeff Skinner, Matthew Savoie, Vasili Podkolzin and Ty Emberson. They lost Sam Carrick, Warren Foegele, Jack Campbell, Vincent Desharnais, Ryan McLeod, Philip Broberg, Dylan Holloway and Cody Ceci.
The forward core is unreal. I don't have to explain how good McDavid and Draisaitl are, any forward core with those two guys will be dangerous. Zach Hyman is coming off a 54-goal season, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is a solid forward, and keeping Henrique is huge with how good the third line was with him on it.
Adding Jeff Skinner adds at least 20 goals to the forward core and I think he could reach 30 goals with Edmonton. As I've written before, Viktor Arvidsson is a good addition and if he can stay healthy he'll score at least 20 goals. If he does get banged up, that would be tough but that is 4 million in LTIR space they can use. Edmonton is a high-octane offensive team that will be fun to watch.
I'm not a fan of their blue line but they proved they can go to game seven of the cup final with a similar defence core. The first pair of Ekholm and Bouchard is great but after that, I have question marks on each pair. Nurse is overpaid but he can still be an effective player and Kulak is fine for them. It will be interesting to see how Ty Emberson fits with the team after only playing 30 games in the NHL last year with the San Jose Sharks. He is currently projected on the second pair.
Stuart Skinner had an up-and-down year last year so it will be interesting to see how he performs this year. I'm not a Skinner fan but he played well enough throughout the year, including in the playoffs to get to game seven of the cup final.
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The Oilers will win the Pacific and will also be a cup contender out of the west.