NHL preview - Pacific Division

Division overview

The Pacific Division has replaced the Northwest as the Western Conference’s toughest division. From top to bottom, these teams are loaded. Dallas was written off by most writers before last season, only to thank them by winning the division. San Jose is two seasons removed from a trip to the Western Final and Anaheim went last year. Phoenix has upgraded their corps and Los Angeles is loaded with young talent. This could be the most exciting division in the game for quite some time.

San Jose Sharks

The Sharks didn’t upgrade much in the off-season, and in fact, may have lost some talent they won’t replace. They are hoping forwards Mark Bell and Curtis Brown can replace the departed Nils Ekman and Alyn McCauley, while Mike Grier can add some of the toughness and penalty killing prowess of the departed Scott Thornton. Gone without a replacement are Tom Preissing’s 43 points from the blue line. Of less concern than the departed players are the returning players. Reigning league MVP Joe Thornton is back, along with his new sidekick Jonathan Cheechoo. Bell figures to take Ekman’s spot on that line while Patrick Marleau and Steve Bernier continue to punish opponents from the second line. The defense, led by Scott Hannan is steady as ever, though it remains to be seen how Matt Carle, Josh Georges and Doug Murray respond to the demands of a full season. One of goalies Evgeni Nabokov and Vesa Toskala will be traded before Christmas.

Fantasy Sleeper: Bernier had 27 point in 39 games last season and could be due for a breakout from the second line.

Rookie Watch: Carle is still Calder eligible, and the young blue liner looked solid in his 11 playoff appearances. The Sharks hope he can replace Preissing’s lost offense.

Dallas Stars

The Stars are once again a re-tooled team entering the 2006 season. They let Bill Guerin and Jason Arnott walk in the off-season but brought in some serious talent. Former Capitals captain Jeff Halpern figures to centre the Stars third line and should give an offensive boost as well as take on a serious penalty killing role. The Stars hope Halpern’s presence can bail Stu Barnes out a little. Darryl Sydor is back in the mix on defense, and newcomer Jaroslav Modry should get a bigger profile playing for a contender. Sergei Zubov is coming off one of the best seasons of his career, and Dallas should have no trouble defensively. In goal, Marty Turco is as good as they come from October to April. The Stars biggest off-season move was adding Eric Lindros to take pressure off the top line of Mike Modano, Brenden Morrow and Jere Lehtinen. Lindros had 22 points in 33 games with Toronto last season and showed no signs of trouble from concussions. Centre Mike Ribeiro arrives with the hope a fresh start can kick-start his career.

Fantasy Sleeper: Jussi Jokinen and Antti Miettinen had 55 and 31 points, respectively, as rookies last year and could see big gains this season.

Rookie Watch: Louis Eriksson is a talented left winger the Stars are hoping can produce the way Miettinen and Jokinen did last season.

Phoenix Coyotes

First things first, the Coyotes have to score some goals for any of this to matter. The key is that they’ve added the parts to help score some goals. A full season from Ladislav Nagy is worth 100 points for himself, and untold points for his linemates. The addition of Ed Jovanovski gives the Coyotes one of the league’s best defensive defenseman, and a true power play quarterback, which they never really had in Derek Morris. The under-rated Nick Boyton is also in the fold, which give Phoenix a very nice mix on defense, which brings us back to the first point: somebody has got to score some goals. Another career year from Shane Doan will help, but the desert dogs will give the opportunity to every willing player to help out offensively. In goal, the Coyotes expect more of what they saw last year from Curtis Joseph, who put together yet another fine season. He gives them a chance to win every night.

Fantasy Sleeper: he’s not really a sleeper, but Nagy’s low totals because of injury last year may hide him from other fantasy owners.

Rookie Watch: Wingers Bill Thomas and Blake Wheeler will be given every opportunity to make this club by showcasing their offense.

Anaheim Ducks

A mere four months removed from a berth in the Western Conference Final, and now they’re not even good enough to make the playoffs? No, says this corner. There is no question the Ducks landed a phenomenal defenseman in Chris Pronger during the summer. But, Pronger’s best years are about four years passed and it remains to be seen if he’ll ever truly round into Norris Trophy form again. Playing alongside Scott Neidermayer should hide any of the mental gaffs Pronger has made too familiar a sight in NHL rinks the last two seasons. The Ducks bring back a roster very close to the one that lost to Edmonton in the Western final, but with two glaring differences: Ruslan Salei and Vitaly Vishnevski are gone from the defense corps. One Pronger and a staple of minor-league stand-ins can’t replace those players. Up front, Teemu Selanne will be asked to repeat his best performance in years, while Andy McDonald will try to duplicate last season’s career highs. Without a trade for a defenseman, the Ducks will be lucky to stay afloat.

Fantasy Sleeper: Chris Kunitz had 41 points last year and flourished on a line with Selanne and McDonald.

Rookie Watch: The Ducks don’t figure to ice many rookies unless the defense falters.

Los Angeles Kings

The Kings enter the season as something of an enigma. They will compete in the West, there’s no question about that. Dan Cloutier is an upgrade in goal over the rotating rookies that guarded L.A. nets last year. Rob Blake fits nicely in with a good defensive group that includes workhorse Mattias Norstrom and the always excellent Lubomir Visnovsky. Losing Nathan Dempsy and Joe Corvo hurts, but the Kings feel their blue line is in good shape. Oleg Tverdovsky was acquired to help the power play which must improve if the Kings are going to make any progress. Pavol Demitra is also gone, his exit paving the way for rookies Patrick O’Sullivan and Anze Kopitar to make an impact right away. A pair of former Sharks, Alyn McCauley and Scott Thornton, are also on board and should help improve the league’s worst penalty killers from last season.

Fantasy Sleeper: It’s impossible not to pick up Sean Avery if PIM count in your pool. He led the league with 257 of them last season, and had 39 points.

Rookie Watch: Kopitar and O’Sullivan are spectacular talents the Kings are hoping can help to improve the NHL’s 17^th-ranked offense last year.