We must wait one more day for the Oilers to step out onto the ice again so until then here are eight thoughts from the eight teams in the Pacific Division. I'm going to try to do one of these every month as a recap. I've ordered them in rankings from highest to lowest in the division.
1) Edmonton Oilers - 9-1-0 - 18 points We all knew this team was going to score a bunch of goals and they have certainly checked those boxes. The Oilers have scored the second most goals in the NHL with 44 and are exactly 50% on the powerplay. The Oilers have scored the most PP goals in the NHL with 15 despite only receiving the 23rd most chances at 5 on 4. What has been most surprising for the Oilers has been their goaltending. Mike Smith started strong for the Oilers when the season started but went down fast with an injury. Mikko Koskinen had to step up and though there have been some hiccups, he has posted a 0.920SV%. Edmonton remains the team to beat in this division.
2) Calgary Flames - 7-1-3 - 17 points I am not yet ready to say I was wrong about the Flames going into this season... but I am very close to being ready to say it. Another month like this will probably do it. Calgary has only lost one game in regulation which includes a rough 5 game road trip in October. I don't know what's more surprising, that this lineup has scored the 4th most goals in the NHL or allowed the second fewest goals against. Markstrom has been astounding to start the season and is giving the performances Calgary fans expected last season. I want to see what happens when Markstrom isn't posting a shutout every second game and what this team looks like then. I've mocked Sutter hockey plenty but right now it's doing the job.
3) Anaheim Ducks - 6-4-3 - 15 points I expected a rebuilding team in the Pacific was going to surprise people with it's mix of veterans and young rookies injected into the system and finish top 3 in the Division... I just thought it was going to be LA, not Anaheim. Troy Terry is finally having his breakout season with 8 goals and 14 points in 12 games while vets like Henrique and Getzlaf seem to have a new lease on life. People are also finally giving Gibson respect again now that his surrounding cast isn't a hot mess. Things could change quickly a month from now but with four straight wins the Ducks are looking good.
4) San Jose Sharks - 6-4-1 - 13 points Another team doing better than expected that unfortunately has hit a bit of a speed bump due to key players like Couture and Meier out in COVID protocols. The splitting of net duties between Reimer and Hill has not worked as hoped. Both goals have 3 wins in 6 games this season but Reimer has done it with a 0.946SV% while Adin Hill has done it with a 0.886SV%. It's clear which of these netminders is giving the team the best chance to win right now. The youth injection in San Jose may not be as notable as the likes of the Ducks but guys like Balcers and Dahlen are putting their own stamp on this team.
5) Vegas Golden Knights - 6-6-0 - 12 points Injuries have been the ugly story for the Golden Knights through the first month of the season and it's going to be some time before the likes of Stone or Karlsson are ready to return. Acquiring Jack Eichel without losing any key pieces of this team was a huge win for the franchise as a whole but he won't be stepping onto the ice until likely February at the earliest. The biggest question facing Vegas is whether or not they can tread water and be "good enough" to make a big push down the home stretch.
6) LA Kings - 5-5-1 - 11 points The Kings are another team that have gotten off to a rougher start due to a flurry of injuries. Byfield injuring his leg in the pre-season was a frustrating blow for a franchise that was ready to see him start to take center stage and Doughty has missed a couple weeks now which is a huge blow to that blue line. With all that said, the Kings are playing .500 hockey and if they can start getting some of these injured players back soon they still have plenty of time to push for the third or fourth spot in this division.
7) Vancouver Canucks - 5-6-1 - 11 points Like the Kings, the Canucks have 11 points but have played one more game than LA. After abysmal luck last season with injuries and COVID issues this season was supposed to be a better representation of what the 'Nucks are... and that is apparently a bottom of the division team. The Canucks are fine in terms of goals against and goals for (15th in both regards) and their powerplay is unspectacular but not horrendous (20th at 18.37%) but a 32nd ranked penalty kill which has allowed 13 goals on only 36 attempts has been a dagger to the back. Pettersson is looking good but people are slowly starting to back off their expectations of him as an elite centre in this league.
8) Seattle Kraken - 4-7-1 - 9 points This team lost to the Arizona Coyotes so I don't know what else I can really say about them. Seattle has an interesting mix of players that will string together a few shifts that make them look like a real threat before suddenly allowing three or four unanswered goals. Right now it's looking more and more like the Kraken will be trying to unload players at the deadline than trying to make a push in the standings.