Connor McDavid said it: the NHL’s Pacific Division was a pillow fight last year.

This hasn’t been a collection of world-beaters in recent times. On paper, the Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights should battle it out for top spot, and both are potential Cup contenders. The San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks will likely battle for third place, and the rest will look ahead to the draft lottery.

Let’s take a look at the team identities of the eight teams in the division:

Oil Change. The Oilers have been a skilled, fast-skating team over the last few years. However, last year didn’t go well, and their poor team defence overshadowed their scoring prowess. Several changes have been made to create a more defensive team identity.

First, Jason Dickinson and Connor Murphy were brought in at the last trade deadline. Each player is a no-nonsense defensive specialist. Then Edmonton signed two new goalies in Frederik Andersen and Devon Levi. The team also moved out Darnell Nurse and brought in Ryan Shea and Shakir Mukhamadullin to change up the back end. In addition, they signed speedy winger Matthieu Joseph for forward depth. Likely the biggest change is bringing in Mike Babcock as head coach. He is an old-school coach who will demand players pay attention to defensive details.

The Wolf Pack. This version of the Calgary Flames is rebuilding around goaltender Dustin Wolf. However, their star player had a down year in 2025-26 (3.01 GAA and .899 save percentage in 57 games), and the team might have to be satisfied with another high draft pick. Two new defencemen will help; Simon Nemec will boost the offence, and Jacob Middleton should shore up the defence. The Flames will miss the two-way game of Blake Coleman.

One positive for Calgary could be their team identity. They’ve always had a team with a “truculent” attitude. These Flames aren’t a huge team, but they have........

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