The 2025 NHL off-season was certainly one of the more uneventful ones compared to past summers. Nevertheless, most teams did make several changes to their rosters.

With less than a month to go until the start of the regular season, let’s take a closer look at the Pacific Division, diving into how each team performed in 2024-25, what they accomplished in the off-season, and how they should project for 2025-26.

*All stats via Natural Stat Trick and EvolvingHockey unless stated otherwise

Anaheim Ducks

The Anaheim Ducks certainly saw considerable progress this past season, improving from 59 points in 2023-24 to 80 points in 2024-25. Still, it wasn’t enough for them to make the jump into the playoffs.

Although Anaheim’s goaltending was quite good, they had perhaps the worst defensive skater group this past season, allowing more high-quality 5-on-5 chances than any other team. In addition, their overall offence was quite subpar, and they also had perhaps the worst special teams in the NHL.

But on the bright side, multiple of their younger players did take crucial steps forward. Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish, Anaheim’s second and third overall picks in 2023 and 2024, put up 45 and 52 points. 24-year-old defenceman Jackson LaCombe had 43 points alongside some strong underlying numbers, 21-year-old winger Cutter Gauthier put together a solid rookie season with 44 points, and 25-year-old goalie Lukas Dostal proved that he could handle a starting role.

In the off-season, Anaheim fired head coach Greg Cronin and hired Joel Quenneville in his place. They also made a pair of significant trades, acquiring Chris Kreider from the New York Rangers, trading their longtime starter John Gibson to the Detroit Red Wings for goalie Petr Mrazek plus a couple of draft picks, and trading Trevor Zegras to the Philadelphia Flyers for forward Ryan Poehling and some draft picks. They also signed UFA forward Mikael Granlund in free agency.

All in all, it’s safe to say that this young Ducks squad has a promising future. For 2025-26, it’s not totally unreasonable to think that making the playoffs, perhaps as a wild card, could be a possibility for Anaheim. If their younger players continue to make significant progress, while their veteran additions also chip in, it is definitely achievable. But, Anaheim’s special teams and especially their overall team defence are major question marks for this upcoming season, areas that haven’t seen nearly enough improvement on paper this past summer. We’ll see how it all shakes out.

Calgary Flames

The Calgary Flames had a very fascinating season in 2024-25. Prior to the season, the organization had a long list of key departures at the 2024 Trade Deadline and during the 2024 off-season, highlighted by Elias Lindholm, Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin, Andrew Mangiapane, Jacob Markstrom, and more, while not nearly adding enough players to make up for them. Many expected them to rank near the bottom of the standings.

However, the Flames finished the 2024-25 season with a modest 96 points. Unfortunately for them, it wasn’t enough for them to make it into the playoffs, as although they tied in points with the St. Louis Blues for the final wild card spot, they failed to qualify due to the regulation win tie-breaker. This also caused them to give up their best first-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens due to the conditions of the Sean Monahan trade. Still, they certainly surpassed expectations.

The biggest reason why the Flames fared better than expected was Dustin Wolf. The 24-year-old goaltender saved 26 goals above expected this past season, earning him second place in Calder Trophy voting. Veteran forwards Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri also put together 60+ point seasons. However, the team’s overall offence reamined extremely subpar, ranking 29th in the NHL in 5-on-5 goals, while their special teams too were mediocre.

Calgary’s 2025 off-season was extremely uneventful. Aside from middle-six winger Anthony Mantha leaving in free agency, there were no major departures for the team, nor were there any significant additions. They signed KHL goalie Ivan Prosvetov, who could be Wolf’s backup, but that’s really about it.

Heading into 2025-26, the Flames remain in somewhat of a “retool” stage, likely to compete for a wild card spot again. On the bright side, there are a couple of reasons for hope. For one, Calgary had the second-lowest shooting percentage in the NHL this past season, so perhaps their offence will be better. Their defence could get a big boost if 19-year-old Zayne Parekh has a breakout year, and if Dustin Wolf continues his play, a chance for the playoffs is absolutely achievable.

Still, a shooting percentage regression may still not be enough to make up for their otherwise unspectacular forward core, and their defensive depth outside of Mackenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson (who could very well be dealt) remains a question mark. The possibility of a playoff spot is definitely there, but it’s far from a guarantee.

Edmonton Oilers

I’ve already analyzed the Edmonton Oilers in great detail throughout my articles this summer, so I won’t be as detailed for them in this piece.

Overall, I’d say that the Oilers did not fully meet their expectations in the regular season. Obviously, they comfortably made the playoffs, but expectations should be quite high at this point for a cup contender like them, and simply put, Edmonton’s 5-on-5 goal differential was below the league-average, their previously dominant PP regressed, and they were rather mediocre defensively. Fortunately, they did make up for it with yet another deep playoff run to the Stanley Cup Finals, but they lost to the Florida Panthers, again.

In the off-season, the Oilers’ defensive core and goaltending tandem remained intact. However, on the front end, they saw the departure of five notable forwards in Connor Brown, Corey Perry, Evander Kane, Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson. In their place, the only bona fide top-nine player that they added was Andrew Mangiapane, while Curtis Lazar and David Tomasek are depth signings. The Oilers will be placing a lot of hope on young guns Matthew Savoie and Isaac Howard to take big steps and fill those holes.

Heading into 2025-26, starting the season strong and winning the Pacific Division should be a key goal for the Oilers, as it would allow Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to rest and play fewer minutes in the second half of the season, while also securing home-ice advantage for the playoffs.

Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Kings certainly had an excellent regular season in 2024-25. They finished sixth in the NHL and second in the Pacific Division, tying their all-time record of 105 points. All season long, the Kings were an outstanding defensive team, ranking second in the NHL in goals allowed per hour and first in expected goals allowed per hour. Their offence, at least at 5-on-5, was also quite strong, notably highlighted by Adrian Kempe who had his second consecutive 70+ point season. Young players such as Quinton Byfield, Brandt Clarke, and Alex Laferriere all took steps forward, and UFA signing Warren Foegele turned out to be a highly effective second-line winger. Not to mention, goaltender Darcy Kuemper had an exceptional year, finishing third in Vezina voting after putting up a 0.922 save percentage and saving nearly 30 goals above expected.

But unfortunately for them, they lost to the Edmonton Oilers in the post-season — again. The 2024-2025 campaign was the fourth consecutive season in which the Kings were eliminated by Edmonton in the first round.

In May, the Kings mutually parted ways with Rob Blake, who had been their general manager since 2017, and hired former Oilers GM Ken Holland in his place. And the Kings certainly made multiple Holland-esque moves in the summer.

On the backend, they dealt 24-year-old Jordan Spence for a couple of draft picks, while Vladislav Gavrikov left in free agency, and in their place, the Kings signed 34-year-old Brian Dumoulin to a three-year, $12M contract, and 31-year-old Cody Ceci to a four-year, $18M contract. Up front, LA added a couple of depth forwards in 32-year-old Joel Armia and 40-year-old Corey Perry. In other words, the Kings became older and slower.

Overall, I would expect the Kings to remain within the top-three of the Pacific Division, likely at third place to be exact. Though with all of that in mind, regular-season performance should matter relatively little for the organization in the first place if they fail to make any progress in the playoffs again.

Los Angeles should have one bare minimum goal for 2025-26: win a playoff series. The organization has yet to advance past the first round since their Stanley Cup victory all the way back in 2014.

If they don’t face the Oilers in the first round, and if they can continue their strong defensive play while their younger offensive forwards take a step forward, perhaps there is a decent chance. But LA’s defensive core downgraded this past season, their offence has not meaningfully improved on paper, and key players in Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty are now 38 and 35, respectively. The clock is ticking for them to take that next step.

San Jose Sharks

The rebuilding San Jose Sharks were expected to be at the bottom of the league heading into 2024-25, and that’s exactly what happened. The Sharks ranked dead last in the Pacific Division and the overall NHL standings this season.

Of course, there’s no doubt that the Sharks have an incredibly bright future. 2024 first overall pick Macklin Celebrini proved his potential as an NHL superstar, putting up 63 points in his rookie season, more than any 18-year-old in franchise history. The Sharks also had excellent seasons from 2021 seventh overall pick William Eklund and 2023 third overall pick Will Smith, scoring 58 and 45 points, respectively. And, not to mention, the Sharks drafted Michael Misa second overall in the 2025 NHL draft.

This past off-season, San Jose did not make any major splashes, but they signed a large list of veteran free agents, such as Dmitri Orlov, Jeff Skinner, John Klingberg, and more. Many, if not all, of these players could likely be dealt at the trade deadline for picks.

Heading into 2025-26, the Sharks are expected to be a lottery team again near the bottom of the standings, as this young roster remains multiple years away from true playoff contention.

Seattle Kraken

The Seattle Kraken took a step backwards in 2024-25, ranking 27th in the NHL and second-last in the Pacific Division. There were a couple of positives, such as 2022’s second overall pick, Shane Wright, developing into an impact NHL player, while Brandon Montour had a solid showing in his first season with the organization, but otherwise, it was quite an underwhelming season.

Perhaps the biggest problem with Seattle’s roster as currently constructed is that they have plenty of solid depth players, but not nearly enough top-end star power, and it’s reflected by the fact that they only had two players with over 20 goals. In addition, they were hurt by several players not living up to their contracts, such as Chandler Stephenson, who was signed to a seven-year, $43M contract in the summer of 2024 but has not been much beyond a decent 2C. In addition, while starting goalie Joey Daccord was fairly solid, backup goalie Philipp Grubauer, who’s currently on a $5.9M cap-hit for two more years, was absolutely abysmal, sporting a 0.875 save percentage in 26 games.

In the off-season, the team made a couple of leadership changes, firing head coach Dan Bylsma after just one season and hiring former Islanders head coach Lane Lambert in his place. Ron Francis was also moved from General Manager to President of Hockey Operations, while Jason Botterill was promoted to the GM role. But in terms of roster moves, they were relatively unextraordinary. Andre Burakovsky and Michael Eyssimont were on the way out on the front end, while bottom-six forward Frederic Gaudreau and middle-six forward Mason Marchment are on the way in. Ryan Lindgren was added to the defensive core, and Matt Murray was added as goaltender depth.

All things considered, the Kraken did not make any meaningful improvement on paper this past summer. With sufficient progression from the likes of Shane Wright and Matty Berniers, they could see an improvement in the standings compared to 2024-25, especially as the Pacific Division is rather wide open, but at the moment, their roster does not possess a great chance to make it into the playoffs. Expect them to continue to be a middling team.

Vancouver Canucks

In 2023-24, the Vancouver Canucks had a fantastic season, ranking sixth in the NHL and first in the Pacific Division. But, they had an incredibly sustainable PDO (a proxy for puck luck) of 1.03, one that was surely not going to last. And predictably, they regressed in 2024-25, and in a big way as they completely fell out of a playoff spot with their PDO regressing almost exactly to the mean (0.998).

Alongside their unsurprising regression, a long list of things went wrong for the Canucks this past season. Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes, Brock Boeser and Dakota Joshua all missed time due to injuries. Thatcher Demko sustained a knee injury the prior season and only returned in December of 2024, and when he did play, his performance was subpar (0.889 SV%). There were reports of a significant locker room rift between Pettersson and J.T. Miller, and eventually, Miller was traded to the Rangers, while on the other hand, Pettersson had a hugely disappointing season with 45 points in 64 games, well below the expectations for a player who makes over eleven million dollars. It really seemed that every Canucks player regressed in 2024-25 with the exception of Quinn Hughes.

Vancouver’s off-season was nothing awe-inspiring. Head coach Rick Tocchet stepped down as head coach and assistant coach Adam Foote took his spot. Their notable NHL additions were Evander Kane and Pierre-Olivier Joseph, while Arturs Silovs, Dakota Joshua, and Pius Suter departed. Really, the main highlight of the summer for Vancouver was re-signing and keeping Brock Boeser.

In 2025-26, I expect the Canucks to compete with the Flames, Ducks, Kraken, and mid-tier Central Division teams for the wild card spots. If they remain healthy, and if both Elias Pettersson and Thatcher Demko bounce back, I could definitely see them making the playoffs, and in my opinion, they have better rosters than both Calgary and Anaheim on paper. There may even be an outside chance of third place in the division if LA takes a bigger step backwards than expected.

Still, those are pretty big “ifs” considering the significant injury history of many of Vancouver’s core players. Furthermore, the team’s centre depth is a glaring weakness at the moment, especially if Elias Pettersson does not bounce back. As such, there are numerous big question marks for the Canucks heading into this season.

Vegas Golden Knights

In just their eighth season of existence, the Vegas Golden Knights ranked atop the Pacific Division in 2024-25 for the fourth time in franchise history.

Last year, Vegas was not particularly elite at any one facet. Instead, what made them successful was how incredibly well-rounded they were in nearly all areas of their game. Offensively, they were led by Jack Eichel and Mark Stone, both of whom had career-highs of 94 and 67 points, while their power-play was third-best in the league. Defensively, they ranked top-ten in most goal, shot and scoring chance suppression metrics, and in net, Adin Hill had another strong season with a +12 GSAx. They wound up losing to the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the 2025 playoffs, but regardless, it was a fairly solid season.

In addition, Vegas had perhaps the most eventful off-season this past summer. In particular, it was highlighted by the signing of star forward Mitch Marner while Alex Pietrangelo announced that he would step away from hockey, likely never playing in the NHL again. They also let go of a couple of depth forwards in Nicolas Hague, Nicolas Roy, Tanner Pearson, and Victor Olofsson, while adding forward Colton Sissons and defenceman Jeremy Lauzon.

After taking a lot of heat for multiple disappointing playoff performances in Toronto, Marner’s performance will be an intriguing storyline to watch this upcoming season. This is an elite playmaker that could form an excellent duo with Jack Eichel. But on the other hand, Vegas’ offensive depth is likely to be a concern; without Eichel and Stone in the 2025 playoffs, they held a terrible 43 percent goal differential at 5-on-5 in the playoffs. Unless they plan to play Eichel, Stone, and Marner each on separate lines, the addition of Marner alongside the subtraction of multiple depth forwards may wind up making the team more top-heavy.

Furthermore, the loss of Alex Pietrangelo could also have a significant impact on Vegas’ defensive core. While Shea Theodore and Noah Hanifin form a strong LD core, the RD depth is quite bleak. Brayden McNabb, Zach Whitecloud, and Kaedan Korczak are projected to play on the right side, but none of them boasts Pietrangelo’s dynamic offensive and puck-moving ability, and with the RHD market being quite bleak, this is a difficult area to address.

Nevertheless, there should be little doubt that Vegas’ roster remains among the best in the league on paper, and their core players have Stanley Cup-winning experience from 2023. Barring unforeseen circumstances like major injury, I believe it is safe to predict that the Oilers and the Golden Knights will be top-two in the Pacific Division. Who ultimately finishes first depends on several big unknowns.

The Oilers’ biggest question marks will be if their young players can take a step forward and if their goaltending can finally maintain consistency, while the Golden Knights’ biggest question marks will be the quality of their offensive and defensive depth. Time will tell how they ultimately fare.

Find me on Twitter (@NHL_Sid)

Featured

Editorials

Recent articles from NHL_Sid

Which NHL teams are primed to regress to the mean?

Digging into why Edmonton’s offence has been underwhelming at even strength

Why Jack Roslovic has been an excellent fit for the Oilers