Factoring in the season-to-date, recent form and post deadline rosters, we share our thoughts on which team is best inside the Pacific Division.
Todd Cordell
I really liked Edmonton’s deadline moves and have been impressed with their play in recent months. Still, I have to go with Vegas.
They rank 1st in Corsi (57.6 CF%) and Expected Goals (58.10 xGF%) over the last 25 games. They spend a lot of each game on their toes, and they have the talent to take advantage of that.
When healthy, I think they have two elite top lines (Pacioretty/Stastny/Stone, Marchessault/Karlsson/Smith). They have depth. Headlined by Shea Theodore, their defense is mobile and will get up in the play.
There really aren’t many holes on their roster, which allows them to dictate and attack in waves every single night.
The only concern was goaltending, particularly if Marc-Andre Fleury needed a night off. That’s not an issue with Robin Lehner in the mix. He’s 3rd in save percentage since the beginning of the 2018-19 season. He can not only spell Fleury, but flatout takeover if Fleury is struggling or banged up.
I think Vegas is the best team in the division, and is in the conversation for tops in the entire conference.
Sean Maloughney Despite still feeling some adrenaline from the Oilers overtime win against the Dallas Stars I am going to let logic prevail and say the Vegas... yeah no I'm still picking Edmonton.
The Oilers have 3 of the top point producers since the beginning of January in Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, and Ryan Nugent Hopkins, with two of those players being in the running for the Hart. The high end offensive ability of the Oilers is absolutely ridiculous, but this is also a team that can win a game like we saw last night against the Dallas Stars, due to brilliant goaltending.
Vegas is the obvious pick, especially solving their goaltending issues by adding Lehner but Edmonton is right behind the Golden Knights in the standings (EDM has a game in hand). Edmonton is also only in the past week starting to get it's injured players back with one massive key piece in Oscar Klefbom, the Oilers best defenseman set to return as early as Thursday.
Regardless both the Knights and Oil are the two top dogs in the division and a playoff series between these two teams would be something else.
Michael Stuart The Vegas Golden Knights are the best team in the Pacific. Everything they do at five-on-five screams elite. To that point, Natural Stat Trick ranks them second in the NHL in terms of shot attempt share and first overall in expected goal share. Teams like the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers simply don't compare, even if the star power of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Elias Pettersson, and Quinn Hughes might hide some of the warts.
The one potential major weakness I saw for the Golden Knights heading into the postseason was between the pipes. They addressed that by acquiring Robin Lehner at the trade deadline. He won his first game with Vegas and posted a .941 save percentage in the process.
This team will be a force down the stretch.
Numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com Recent posts