It’s been a while since our last set of these. Things have happened, landscapes have changed, and coaches have been fired. With our next game 2 days (and half a world) away, it’s time to catch up on the happenings around the league. Today’s target: the Pacific Division, from top to bottom.
Vegas Golden Knights
Aren’t Cup hangovers supposed to be a thing? I guess hangovers are something you just get used to in Vegas… Since the season kicked off, the Golden Knights have gone an impressive 12-2-1 in 15 contests. Of course, they haven’t exactly played the toughest schedule – they’ve played San Jose twice (2-0-0) and Chicago twice (1-0-1), both of whom are going to be firmly in the lottery race for #1OA in the 2024 Draft.
But they also have big wins on their resume already. Early in the season they squeaked out a shootout win over Central-leading Stars, and on November 4th they shut out the Colorado Avalanche by a whopping 7-0. With almost all of last season’s Cup-winning roster returning, this team is right where it’s expected to be.
Vancouver Canucks
This one is a head-scratcher. After a middling 2022-2023 season and a weird mix of moves – Bo Horvat out, Filip Hronek in – the Canucks seem to be hitting their stride. Hronek and Hughes are off to a fantastic start paired together, Pettersson is showing his elite skill, and Demko is playing like a top-3 goalie by any traditional metric.
Is this who this team really is? Or is it just a hot start? The Canucks boast 3 of the top-5 players by points right now, but they’ve had the benefit of playing (and beating) the slumping Oilers 3 times as well as dropping a dime on this historically bad version of the Sharks. Their quality of competition so far has been pretty low, but they do have a shut-out of the Central-leading Stars to hang their hats on. This one will be fascinating to watch play out.
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