The Oilers will be active on the trade market over the next few months, but what will the rest of the division do? Let’s take a look.

The Golden Knights already made a big splash, acquiring Rasmus Andersson from the Calgary Flames earlier this month. They now sit with limited cap space and very few assets remaining in their system, but that’s never stopped them before.

The expectation is that the Golden Knights will be looking to add a forward to their top-nine as they continue to beef up their roster.

I think Brayden Schenn would be a great fit there, considering his connection to GM Kelly McCrimmon, but it’s hard to envision them fitting in their cap hit. I think they might have to check down, but I still expect them to find a way to make another addition.

The Ducks were expected to take a step forward this season and they’ve done exactly that. The seasons been a bit of a rollercoaster but they should be a playoff team.

They have all the cap space that they could need and six total draft picks in the first two rounds of the 2026 and 2027 drafts. If they want to make a big splash, they could do it.

There are rumblings about Artemi Panarin being a fit there, but considering where they’re at, I doubt that happens until Panarin signs an extension.

I could see them being in on veteran players who come with some term attached to them. Maybe someone like Ryan Hartman to add some jam to their top-nine and give their very young top-nine a bit of a different look. Also, what team couldn’t use more centre depth.

Unlike the Ducks, the step forward that the San Jose Sharks have taken this season has been very surprising. They are a year ahead of schedule and because of that, I think GM Mike Grier will do a little bit of buying and a little bit of selling.

He already acquired Kiefer Sherwood from the Vancouver Canucks to beef up their forward group, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he looked to add a defenseman. They were linked to Dougie Hamilton going back to the summer and he’s on the market.

I also think they will sell off some pending UFA’s to clean up their roster a bit. Jeff Skinner, Vincent Desharnais and maybe even someone like Mario Ferraro could be pieces they ship out, although the latter seems unlikely if they’re still in the playoff mix.

The Kings have been one of the biggest disappointments in the NHL this season, and first-year GM Ken Holland is likely going to want to do something to spark his group.

They need to get more scoring up front and have been linked to players like Vincent Trochek. I also think they need to prioritize adding a puck-moving defenseman, an area that Holland did nothing to address this summer, although I’m not sure how many of those are on the market.

Consider them a team to watch in the Artemi Panarin sweepstakes as well.

They have some cap space after trading away Philip Danault earlier this season, so expect Holland to make at least one aggressive move before March 6th.

This is an interesting team because what I think they should do and what they reportedly want to do are two very opposite things.

What they should do is trade off all of their pending UFAs like Jaden Schwartz, Jordan Eberle, Jamie Oleksiak, and Eeli Tolvanen and then tank towards the bottom half of the standings in order to land a high-end draft pick and finally give their franchise a true star-level player to build around.

What they apparently want to do is package Shane Wright and other future assets to try to land a top-of-the-lineup young player who could help them push for the playoffs. Those trades are often easier said than done.

What they likely will do is stand pat and hope they get into the playoffs, which I doubt they will, and they’ll be stuck picking 14th at the draft.

The Flames will continue to sell after moving on from Andersson.

Blake Coleman seems like the likeliest name to go but as David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported earlier this week, Nazem Kadri has told the team that he’d be open to a change of scenery.

Ryan Lomberg and Zach Whitecloud are two other names to watch as the sell-off continues in Calgary.

It’s a fire sale in Vancouver.

At a minimum, players like Evander Kane and Teddy Blueger will be traded to contenders looking to add to their bottom-six.

They reportedly want to try and move on from Connor Garland before his no-movement clause kicks in this summer and I think there’s a real chance that they find a new home for him.

If they were to get really crazy, then they could trade Elias Pettersson, although that feels like a move that’s more likely to happen around the draft this summer. But you never know.

The Oilers will likely be one of the more active buyers in this division, although the pieces they add will likely be depth players that will help their bottom six and maybe a veteran defenseman.

If any team is going to surprise us with a shocking addition, my money would be on either the Kings or Ducks.

Either way, the Pacific Division could look very different five weeks from now.