Canucks: Luckily, the Pacific Division is still wide open

The Vancouver Canucks have been slumping for over a month, but they’re fortunate to be playing in a wide open Pacific Division.

Following an impressive 8-3-1 showing in the month of October, the Vancouver Canucks have struggled to find any form of consistency — with just seven wins dating back to the start of November.

And even when the Canucks are winning, they’re certainly providing more scares than necessary. Jacob Markstrom had to stand on his head just to help Vancouver pull away with a 5-4 overtime victory against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.

Even though Vancouver picked up two valuable points, they allowed a Pacific Division foe gain one point by overcoming a two-goal deficit. And that 1-0 overtime win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Dec. 12? Boy, did Markstrom ever steal that game for a team that was thoroughly dominated for 60 minutes.

Oh, and there was the thrilling 6-5 overtime win against the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 7. The Canucks blew a pair of two-goal leads in that contest before J.T. Miller put it away, however. Even when they’re winning, Vancouver is finding ways to make it harder on themselves.

It’s easy to understand why Canucks fans are panicking — and why they’re starting to grow worried about 2020 marking another non-playoff year. But the team is fortunate enough to be playing in the Pacific — by far the weakest division in the NHL right now.

Vegas is tied with the Arizona Coyotes for tops in the division with 44 points — though the Desert Dogs hold the tiebreaker due to less games played. We know the Golden Knights are a powerhouse, but can the Coyotes really sustain their long-term success?

Goalie Darcy Kuemper is now week-to-week, having suffered an injury on Thursday against the Minnesota Wild. Kuemper has masked a flawed Arizona team whose top scorer is Nick Schmaltz (just 27 points in 37 games). And the advanced stats suggest that the Coyotes are due for regression in short time.

The Edmonton Oilers were never going to sustain their hot start with Connor McDavid, James Neal and Leon Draisiaitl doing all the work. Sure enough, they’ve dropped seven of their past 10 games. And though the Calgary Flames are starting to figure things out after a slow start, their goaltending situation is still a major cause for concern.

Meanwhile, the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings are in the early stages of rebuilding, and neither will be seriously contending for a while. The Canucks don’t have to worry about those two clubs for a while.

The ageing San Jose Sharks were due for regression after losing Joe Pavelski and other key players in free agency. So far, they haven’t shown many signs of life under interim head coach Bob Boughner. Perhaps the roster just isn’t good enough anymore.

Add everything up, and you can see that the Pacific Division remains wide open — and the Canucks can still make a run at the ground. After Vegas, I’d argue that Vancouver is the most complete team in the division.

As long as the Canucks can avoid any more long-term slumps, and especially if Bo Horvat can figure it out offensively, they’ll be right in the running for the playoffs — and hopefully the Pacific Division.