September is here, and that means there will be NHL hockey played this month.

We are so close to putting a bow on the offseason and heading into a 2026-27 season that should be one of the more fascinating seasons that we’ve seen in recent memory.

The Eastern Conference is filled with teams looking to bounce back from poor seasons, like the Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Washington Capitals and New Jersey Devils. They also have the defending Cup Champions in the Carolina Hurricanes and the team that won in the offseason in the Capitals.

The Western Conference has young teams like the San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks looking to prove that they belong in the playoff conversation, and a bunch of other teams, like the Edmonton Oilers, Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild, are all pretty much in ‘Cup or Bust’ mode.

To get even more specific, the Pacific Division feels rather unpredictable.

Can the Ducks prove last year wasn’t a fluke? Can the Kings survive without Anze Kopitar? How will the Babcock experiment go? Can Vegas win their fourth regular season division title in five years? Are the Sharks ready to become a playoff team?

Will the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames continue to suck?

The answer to that final question is obviously yes, but the other ones are really tough.

To get into the spirit of hockey season and to try and make sense of a division that feels like it could go a multitude of ways, here are my three boldest predictions for the Pacific Division in 2026-27.

The Anaheim Ducks miss the playoffs

The Ducks two biggest offseason adds being AJ Greer and Nick Jensen is the first sign that their fanbase should be a little bit concerned.

Their path to being better than last season is basically counting on their young players, specifically on the blueline, to take some steps forward and I’m not sold that will happen. Also, players like Alex Killorn and Chris Kreider are another year older and could take a step back, which could hurt considering they combined for 37 goals last season.

Now, their fancy numbers last season were generally pretty solid and suggest that at five-on-five the Ducks may have........

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