It was a hard-knock life in the Pacific Division last season. Those playing in it knew it all too well. “At times last year, it was a bit like every night that a Pacific team lost, every Pacific team lost,” Vegas center Jack Eichel said. “Just one of those years.” Eichel and the Golden Knights finished first with fewer points than the top three teams in every other NHL division. Then they made a run to the Stanley Cup Final. The much-maligned Pacific does have three of the league’s foremost rebuilding teams, but it is top-heavy with at least two championship contenders in Vegas and Edmonton with San Jose and Anaheim on the rise, chock full of young talent. “I don’t discredit any of the teams in our division,” Eichel said. “Anaheim had a really good team last year, and they’re on the (way) up. San Jose made some moves in the offseason. You have to presume they’re going to be better this year. Edmonton is Edmonton. LA is competitive.” Los Angeles now has Peter Laviolette, who has led three teams to the final, as coach after a series of first-round exits. Mike Babcock is now behind the bench for the Oilers, who hope he is the right choice to get Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl the Cup after it has eluded them for more than a decade. On the rise The Sharks look like they’re going to be dangerous for years to come, with Macklin Celebrini joining McDavid, Draisaitl and Eichel among the top hockey players in the world. Is this the year they break through like the Ducks did last season? “I think we can do a similar kind of jump,” Celebrini said. “Everyone’s just going to take a step. I think that everyone’s had that goal in mind all summer. That’s something that we were talking about last year. If we made the playoffs last year, that would have been a huge accomplishment — but now it’s kind of more of an expectation.” San Jose got better on defense by acquiring Darnell Nurse and Michael Kesselring and signing Jacob Trouba, while also adding a rookie-of-the-year candidate by selecting winger Ivar Stenberg with the second pick in the draft. Anaheim could also continue trending up after locking up Leo Carlsson long term by matching the five-year, $90 million offer sheet he signed with Philadelphia. Cutter Gauthier also got a new deal, and the Ducks’ young core should be better with the playoff experience of winning a series before losing to Vegas in the second round. On the decline Laviolette is the Kings’ fourth coach in the past five seasons, which have included five first-round exits. Anze Kopitar is gone, Drew Doughty is still around as his successor as captain and there are plenty of questions around what they are at this stage. Seattle took a big swing to try to acquire scoring winger Jason Robertson from Dallas, but he declined to go and sign long term. Perhaps that will be a source of motivation for the Kraken, who have made the playoffs just once in their first five seasons in existence. “If you don’t want to be here, we don’t want you anyway,” top center Matty Beniers said. “Every team, you want guys that want to be there. You don’t want to bring someone in that doesn’t want to be there. It just won’t work out.” Vancouver is building from the bottom of the league with new coach Manny Malhotra. Calgary has been mired in mediocrity, but young forward Matt Coronato thinks the Flames can build off finishing 8-5-2 last spring. “The more time that goes by, the better we’re going to continue to get,” Coronato said. “We have a lot young guys that are going to take a step and keep developing, so I think it’s an exciting time for us.” On the hot seat Lane Lambert goes into his second season with Seattle, which has already hired and fired two other coaches for a lack of success. But at some point winning has to begin in the Pacific Northwest. Predicted order of finish Edmonton, Vegas, San Jose, Anaheim, Los Angeles, Calgary, Seattle, Vancouver. Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
