The Pacific Division standings are a lot different than one would expect just a week and a bit into the 2024-25 season. Let’s take a quick look at how the opposition is doing so far. 

Calgary Flames

I don’t think anyone expected the Calgary Flames to start the season 4-0-0, but here we are.
So far this season, they’ve defeated the Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers, and Chicago Blackhawks, with two of these victories coming against the two best Pacific Division teams in 2023-24.
A big reason for their strong play early in the season is thanks to the resurging Jonathan Huberdeau, who leads the team with three goals and is tied for the lead in points with six. Rasmus Andersson also has six points, while Connor Zary, Andrei Kuzmenko, and Martin Pospíšil have five points each.
One of the league’s top goaltending prospects, Dustin Wolf, has been terrific to start the season as he has a .944 save percentage and a 2.02 goals-against average in two games played.
Will the Flames’ strong play continue? I would think not, but this isn’t the bottom-of-the-league team we all thought they’d be. In the remainder of October, they’ll face the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, before a three-game home stand where they’ll host the Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes, and Winnipeg Jets. Their last two games of the month will see them head to Vegas and Salt Lake City.

Vegas Golden Knights

One team you can expect to make the postseason is the Vegas Golden Knights, and they’re only going to get better at the trade deadline.
Through five games, they have a 3-2-0 record for six points and second place in the division. Jack Eichel has been terrific for the Golden Knights, scoring two goals and 10 points in five games. Captain Mark Stone has also had a solid season, scoring two goals and nine points. Ivan Barbashev leads the team in goals with four, along with eight points. Shea Theodore has seven points, while they’re getting depth scoring from the likes of Victor Olofsson, Alex Pietrangelo, and Tomáš Hertl.
Goaltending has been a bit sketchy for the Golden Knights this season though. Starter Adin Hill has an .851 save percentage and a 3.81 goals-against average in four of his starts, with a 2-2-0 record. Ilya Samsonov started the other game, allowing one goal on 23 shots.
All three wins came in Vegas, while both their losses have come on the road. They play one more road game on their current trip, a date with the reigning Stanley Cup champions on Saturday. After that, it’ll be a four-game home stand for Vegas, as they’ll host the Los Angeles Kings, Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks, and Calgary Flames. Their final game of the month will be a road game against the Kings.

Seattle Kraken

Like the 31st National Hockey League team, the 32nd National Hockey League team (the Seattle Kraken) has a 3-2-0 record. The Golden Knights are ahead of the Kraken in the standings thanks to more non-shootout wins.
On the first day of the season, the Kraken fell 3-2 to the St. Louis Blues but followed that up with a 5-4 shootout victory over the Minnesota Wild. They were shut out 2-0 by the Dallas Stars, before rattling off two straight wins against the Nashville Predators and the Philadelphia Flyers, scoring 13 goals between the two games.
Jared McCann leads the team in points with three goals and seven points. However, former Oiler and captain Jordan Eberle leads the team with four goals while also picking up four assists in five games. Bother Ryker Evans and Andre Burakovsky have four points, while seven players each have three points.
Goaltending has been hit or miss for the Kraken. Philipp Grubauer has started three of the five games, posting an .877 save percentage and a 3.07 goals-against average. On the other hand, Joey Daccord has a .901 save percentage and a 3.37 goals-against average in two games played.
The Kraken are in the midst of a five-game home stand and will host the Calgary Flames on Saturday. They’ll host the Colorado Avalanche, Winnipeg Jets, and Carolina Hurricanes before a road trip to face the Montréal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs to end the month.

Los Angeles Kings

Last season, the Los Angeles’ Kings first road loss came on Dec. 9, with their first regulation road loss coming two days after. The Kings started the season winning 11 road games and went 11-0-1 over their first 12 games on the road.
Well, they’ve started the season on a long road trip, playing their first seven games away from the Staples Center. It’s gone fine for the most part, as they are 2-1-2, playing in a crazy 8-7 game against the Ottawa Senators where they lost in overtime. Their only regulation loss came two days after, falling 6-2 to the Leafs.
Captain Anže Kopitar continues to play well into his late 30s, as the 37-year-old centre has three goals and seven points, tied for the lead in the former and leading the latter. Kevin Fiala and Alex Laferriere each have three goals, while Adrian Kempe has two goals and five points. Quinton Byfield has yet to score, but has five assists, while fellow youngster Brandt Clarke has four assists.
As was to be expected, the Kings goaltending situation hasn’t been great. They’ve already had three netminders appear in a game, with David Rittch, Darcy Kuemper, and Pheonix Copley all posting a save percentage below .900. Kuemper appears to be the starter, and he has an .890 save percentage and a 3.59 goals-against average in three games. He’s currently out day-to-day.
With all that being said, the Kings have two more road games on the road trip, heading to Anaheim to face the Ducks (so basically a home game), before facing the Vegas Golden Knights. They’ll play two home games, facing the San Jose Sharks and Utah Hockey Club, before going on the road to play the Sharks. Their last game of the month is a home game against Vegas.

Anaheim Ducks

Speaking of the Anaheim Ducks, they’ve played the fewest games in the division so far this season. Overall, they sit 2-1-0, with wins over the San Jose Sharks and Utah Hockey Club, but falling 3-1 to Vegas. It’s worth noting that last season, the Ducks started their season going 7-4, but finished with the third-worst record in the league.
As a whole, the Ducks haven’t had anyone take control of the scoring leaderboards. Troy Teyy and defenceman Pavel Mintyukov each have two goals and two points, while Trevor Zegras and Leo Carlsson each have a goal and an assist. Brock McGinn and Mason McTavish each have two assists.
Netminder John Gibson has been out all season, leaving the net to youngster Lukáš Dostál, who has a .933 save percentage and a 1.99 goals-against average in the two games he’s played. James Reimer allowed three goals on the 32 shots he faced in the loss to Vegas.
The Ducks return to action on Friday as they’ll head to Denver to face the Colorado Avalanche. After, they’ll play two games at home against the two other California teams, before a lengthy four-game road trip to the New York Metropolitan area + Pittsburgh to finish the month.

Vancouver Canucks

There are quite a few contenders who’ve had rough starts to their season. In the Central Division, the Colorado Avalanche and Nashville Predators are both winless in four games, while the Edmonton Oilers had a tough start to their season. Of course, the Vancouver Canucks haven’t had a great start either, as they are 1-1-2.
At one point in their season opener, the Canucks had a 4-1 lead before pulling a Toronto Maple Leafs and falling 6-5 in overtime to the Calgary Flames. They followed that up with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, before losing 4-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. On Thursday, they picked up a 3-2 overtime win over the Florida Panthers for the first win of the season.
Brock Boeser and Quinn Hughes share the point lead with four, while Boeser, J.T. Miller, Conor Garland, and Teddy Blueger each have two goals. Recently acquired Jake DeBrusk has three assists in the four games they’ve played this season. Elias Pettersson has continued to be invisible, an issue since the second half last season, picking up a lone assist in four games.
The Canucks are also missing Thatcher Demko quite a bit. Artūrs Šilovs hasn’t had the same success he had in the postseason, posting an .827 save percentage and a 4.50 goals-against average in two games. Kevin Lankinen has been the better goalie, as the backup has a .932 save percentage and a 1.89 goals-against average in two games.
Vancouver has two more road games on this trip, playing the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, before facing the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. Afterward, they’ll have a three-game home stand to end the month, hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes, and New Jersey Devils.

Edmonton Oilers

For the second straight season, the Edmonton Oilers had a tough start to their season (albeit a lot less drastic). It started with a 6-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on opening night, before losing 5-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks and 4-1 to the Calgary Flames.
However, back-to-back fights in the third period of Tuesday’s game seemed to spark the team, as they picked up a 4-3 overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers, before defeating the Nashville Predators 4-2 on Thursday.
As per usual, Connor McDavid leads the team in points, picking up a goal and four assists. Jeff Skinner has been a great signing, as he has two goals and four points this season, as does Leon Draisaitl. Defenceman Brett Kulak scored twice on Thursday.
Goaltending hasn’t been great. Starter Stuart Skinner has an .845 save percentage and a 4.42 goals-against average in three games played, while backup Calvin Pickard has an .852 save percentage and a 3.28 goals-against average in three games played. It’s an area that needs improvement.
On Saturday, the Oilers return to Dallas to play the Stars in a rematch of the Western Conference Finals. They’ll return home for two games to host the Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins, before heading back on the road for a four-game road trip, playing the Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Predators to finish their month.

San Jose Sharks

It shouldn’t be shocking that the San Jose Sharks aren’t doing all that well. Over their first four games, they are 0-2-2 and are looking to avoid a similar 0-10-1 skid they had to start last season.
The good news is that they landed the first overall pick in 2024, picking Macklin Celebrini. He scored a goal and an assist in his first game but is currently on injured reserve. Their leading scoring is Tyler Toffoli, who has three goals and four points in four games. Mikael Granlund and William Eklund each have three assists, while Fabian Zetterlund has two goals.
Goaltending has been surprisingly strong for the Sharks. Mackenzie Blackwood is rocking a .910 save percentage and a 3.34 goals-against average in two games played, while Vítek Vaněček has a .911 save percentage and a 2.63 goals-against average in two games played.
The Sharks are still a really, really bad team, but they’ve improved since last season.
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