Pacific Power Rankings, Week 25: Canucks clinch, McDavid within reach of the scoring lead

Welcome back to another edition of the Pacific Power Rankings! Every week of the regular season, we’ll take you through how one of the most competitive divisions in the NHL is stacking up.

If you want to take a deeper dive into what else is going on in the Pacific Division, be sure to read Brennan Delaney’s weekly Pacific Division Notebook.

Let’s get into this week’s rankings:

Last week: 1 (-)

Record this week: 1-1-0

It’s official, the Vancouver Canucks are heading back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2020 and will get to play in front of the Rogers Arena faithful in a playoff game for the first time since 2015. It wasn’t pretty this week, but it worked in the short two game slate the Canucks had in Week 25. The club opened up the week against the Central leading Dallas Stars and lost a tight 3-1 contest. Sunday’s 3-2 win over the Ducks wasn’t the most dominant performance we have seen this year from the Canucks but a pair of Dakota Joshua goals propelled his team to the victory. Joshua might just be the spark the Canucks needed to get amped up for the playoffs as he has provided the physicality and scoring touch he has brought all season since returning from injury two games ago.

Last week: 2 (-)

Record this week: 3-0-1

After a tough weekend in Ontario in Week 24, the Edmonton Oilers showed up this week and rattled off a 3-0-1 record. The Oilers have been keeping pace with the Canucks and then some for the race for the Pacific Division title, now only five points back of the Division leaders with a game in hand. Even with the injuries and the slow start, McDavid is tracking down top spot in the NHL scoring race now sitting only one point back of Kucherov and MacKinnon for top spot. You have to imagine if he got a healthier and stronger start, he’d be threatening his 153 points from a season ago.

Last week: 4 (+1)

Record this week: 2-0-1

The Vegas Golden Knights have been rolling the past couple of weeks to try and solidify their spot in the dance. This week, they jumped the Kings to take over sole possession of the third spot in the Pacific, setting up what could be a rematch of last years second round against the Oilers. What a fun first round series that would be. The Knights have now rattled off points in six straight games, including one of the more unorthodox overtime winners against Minnesota. Adin Hill is still out with an undisclosed injury which could raise some concern, but with all the injuries the Knights have been battling this season, this is just another page in the book.

Last week: 3 (-1)

Record this week: 0-3-0

After a four game winning streak was snapped by the Oilers on Thursday night, the Los Angeles Kings are now stumbling a little. A weak showing against the Flames followed by a tough loss to the slumping Jets brings their losing streak to three. While the club currently sits three points up on the Blues for the final Wild Card spot, there’s too many games left on the schedule to get comfortable yet. If they want to hold their spot, they have to take advantage of the weak schedule ahead to secure their ticket to the playoffs. Who knows, a wild card spot could be for the best for the Kings as they would avoid a third straight match-up with the Oilers in the first round.

Last week: 5 (-)

Record this week: 1-2-0

An impressive 4-2 victory over the Kings snapped the Calgary Flames 5 game losing streak this week, but it was too little to late as their losses to the Blackhawks and Blues earlier in the week pretty much pushed them to mathematical elimination from the playoffs. The Flames do have some lighter opponents on the schedule as they have the Ducks twice and the Sharks once over the next two weeks. You have to wonder if they will use those games a chance to get some of the younger players some action with the big club.

Last week: 6 (-)

Record this week: 3-1-0

A disappointing season for the Seattle Kraken has really sat in now that their playoff chances have been diminished and they’ll have a shot at drafting some top talent at the draft this year. While it is tough to go from winning a round in the playoffs to not sniffing them the next year, this is really more what you should expect from an expansion team in their third season of work. Fans in Seattle are still in the honeymoon stage so they can afford a couple more losing seasons before they get competitive again.

Last week: 7 (-)

Record this week: 0-4-0

At times, it feels like the Anaheim Ducks atrocious season has been buried a bit just because the San Jose Sharks occupy the same division as them. The club lost all four of their games in Week 25 and 13 of 16 in the month of March. With the Blackhawks finding a little bit of a groove since Connor Bedard has returned to the lineup, it’s not crazy to think that the Pacific Division could end up with the two worst teams in the league come the finish of the regular season.

Last week: 8 (-)

Record this week: 1-3-0

Now sitting seven points clear at the bottom of the standings, the San Jose Sharks look like they will have the best shot at landing Macklin Celebrini this summer. They still can play spoiler a little as we saw on Saturday when they beat the St. Louis Blues to put a real damper on their playoff chances. Boston College making the NCAA Frozen Four might hurt Sharks fans chances of seeing Will Smith in a teal jersey this year, but injecting two young stars into the lineup next year could be a morale big boost.