Vancouver Canucks: Struggling teams in Pacific Division leave hope

Many are expecting the Vancouver Canucks to unravel and fall out of the playoff race at any point. But the Pacific Division is looks incredibly weak so far, and it gives the Canucks some hope of making the playoffs.

The Vancouver Canucks enter Friday with the top spot in the Pacific Division, though it should be noted that the San Jose Sharks are only a point behind with two games in hand.

Vancouver dropped a 4-1 road contest to the Arizona Coyotes, moving to 6-5-0 on the season. They have to be happy with that, considering Elias Pettersson has only played in five games as he continues to deal with a head injury.

Brock Boeser, Chris Tanev, Alexander Edler and Sven Baertschi have also suffered recent injuries, and it’s unknown how much longer the Canucks will be without their top players for. But even if the Canucks begin to struggle a bit down the stretch, fans can’t start throwing in the towel on a potential playoff berth.

That’s because for the first time since realignment for the 2013-14 season, the Pacific Division looks as mediocre (or worse) as ever before. Sure, we’re not even a month into 2018-19, but there is good reason to believe that the division won’t get much better as the season progresses.

California teams are declining fast

For one, the Los Angeles Kings (finally) look like they’re done as an annual playoff contender. They sit at 2-7-1 entering the weekend — last overall in the Western Conference. Ilya Kovalchuk and Anze Kopitar have five and three points, respectively.

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The Kings are doing what the 2013-14 Canucks did: Relying too much on fading, past-their-prime veterans to carry the load. Age and a lack of speed has caught up to Los Angeles.

They don’t have any Grade-A prospects coming up to save the day. Expect them to remain near the bottom of the standings, much like how the 2013-14 Canucks did. The Kings just aren’t built to win in today’s NHL.

The Anaheim Ducks jumped out to an impressive 5-1-1 start, but they have since lost four games in a row. Corey Perry‘s absence is hurting this Anaheim team, one that is also relying on fading All-Stars to carry the load.

As for the Sharks, they’re barely above .500 right now. Prized offseason acquisition Erik Karlsson has just five assists in nine games. Certainly, the Sharks were hoping to be right up there with the Western Conference elite. It’s also worrisome that goalie Martin Jones sports a mere 2.60 goals against average and .899 save percentage.

The Ducks, Kings and Sharks beat up on the Canucks for many years. But this Vancouver team is faster, younger and more skilled than at least the Kings at this point. Maybe it’s time for the Canucks to bully the three bullies. If those three teams continue to struggle down the stretch, this will leave Vancouver in a prime spot to make a surprise run.

The rest

The Arizona Coyotes site at a mere 4-5-0 on the season. A half-decade of rebuilding and loading up on high draft picks hasn’t brought results. It’s hard to see this team making much noise in 2018-19, as the young players continue to develop and try to find their respective games at the NHL level.

As expected, the Vegas Golden Knights have regressed a considerable amount. William Karlsson has just two goals through nine games, after scoring 43 last season. Newcomer Max Pacioretty has two goals, even though he’s a consistent 30-goal guy. Erik Haula scored 29 goals and 55 points last year. He has two points in nine games.

We’ll see if the defending Western Conference champions can pick it up, but it’s no surprise to see most of their top players struggling — considering how a large portion of them just happened to have career years in 2017-18.

The Calgary Flames won’t be going anywhere until the goaltending situation is resolved. Mike Smith allowed six goals vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night, moving his GAA to 4.10 and save percentage to .866. Calgary missed the playoffs last season because they didn’t have good goaltending. Once again, they’re hovering around the .500 mark.

As usual, it’s Connor McDavid doing most of the work for the Edmonton Oilers. He has 14 points in eight games, but with the exceptions of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl, the rest of the Oilers simply aren’t scoring. If that doesn’t change, another MVP-like year from McDavid will be wasted.

So far, the Pacific Division is struggling big-time, and it’s boding nicely for the Canucks. Like the rest of their foes, Vancouver doesn’t come without flaws. But if Pettersson and Boeser stay healthy, score in bunches and help Vancouver squeeze out some close wins, perhaps the Pacific Division will be there for them in 2018-19.

We’ve seen crazier things, so don’t rule the Canucks out of being a playoff contender, especially if their rivals continue to struggle this much.