Still the weakest division in the league.

weakest

Yeah that Atlantic with bottom feeders like DET, OTT, and MTL is so tough.

Pacific has Van, Ari and Edm.....

in all honesty though, id say both the Atlantic and Pacific divisions are top heavy in terms of competitiveness.

Pacific has Van, Ari and Edm.....

in all honesty though, id say both the Atlantic and Pacific divisions are top heavy in terms of competitiveness.

The top teams in the Atlantic are significantly better than the top teams in the Pacific.

Tampa is better than all the teams in the Pacific, I'd put TO and Boston ahead of them as well. Florida is better than most of them and then who cares about the rest.

Vegas and San Jose are pretty good teams, (I am not sure Vegas will be as good as last year but I don't think they'll fall off a cliff either, San Jose has a very good defence but their forward depth is shaky at best. Any injuries up front and they'll have trouble scoring.)

LA and Anahiem are old clubs trying to hold on to past glory and its catching up in a hurry. I see one of those teams taking 3rd in the division and I think both wildcard spots will go to Central teams.

Calgary, Edmonton, Arizona, Vancouver are all weak teams. Arizona could surprise but I doubt they are ready to make a big jump.

Not really. Vegas went to the SCF and TB didn’t. So no not “significantly better” than every pacific team.

The top teams in the Atlantic are significantly better than the top teams in the Pacific.

Tampa is better than all the teams in the Pacific, I'd put TO and Boston ahead of them as well. Florida is better than most of them and then who cares about the rest.

Vegas and San Jose are pretty good teams, (I am not sure Vegas will be as good as last year but I don't think they'll fall off a cliff either, San Jose has a very good defence but their forward depth is shaky at best. Any injuries up front and they'll have trouble scoring.)

LA and Anahiem are old clubs trying to hold on to past glory and its catching up in a hurry. I see one of those teams taking 3rd in the division and I think both wildcard spots will go to Central teams.

Calgary, Edmonton, Arizona, Vancouver are all weak teams. Arizona could surprise but I doubt they are ready to make a big jump.

AZ was the worst pacific team last year at 70 points. DET and OTT were in the 60s and they didn’t get Any better. You can make a case AZ did. But yes both are top heavy.

Not really. Vegas went to the SCF and TB didn’t. So no not “significantly better” than every pacific team.

Calgary and Arizona will both finish with more points than Detroit, Montreal and Ottawa.

Maybe, but here is my point, at best 5 teams from a division can make the playoffs and at worst 3 teams can make it.

I think only 3 teams will make the playoffs from the Pacific.

I think 4 teams will make the playoffs from the Atlantic and I'd wager all 4 of those teams will be better than the teams in the Pacific.

If we are rating the teams in those divisions this is what I see.

Tampa
Toronto
Boston
Vegas
San Jose
Florida


The rest

I think LA, Anahiem and Calgary will battle it out for 3rd in the Division only to get crushed in the 1st round by whoever finishes second in the Pacific.

In the Atlantic, I wouldn't be surprised to see Tampa, Toronto and Boston battle the entire year for both the presidents trophy and tops in the eastern conference (never count out pittsburgh though).

Florida will finish with the higher of the 2 wild card spots.

In the Pacific, I see almost all the teams in the Central (Minus Chicago) being better than the 3rd placed team in the Pacific.

I think you’re discounting SJ who’s the best team in the pacific. They were at the top of the league defensively and they get Thornton back plus add EK and have Kane all season. They’re closer to TB then your giving hem credit for.

In regard to the tougher division you can’t just ignore that 3 teams in the Atlantic are in the race for last where on paper there should only be one in the pacific. I guess you could say the top 3 in the Atlantic is better than the Pacific because you don’t know exactly who that 3rd team is but the next group is better in the pacific and deeper.

5 best teams: TB, SJ, BOS, VGK, TML
The next group tho: ANA, FL, LAK, CGY, BUF, EDM, AZ
Bottom feeders: VAN, MTL, DET, OTT

If you look at San Jose's forward core, including Thorton who isn't a top flight player anymore, they have 2 decent looking lines and then not much else. Burns and Karlsson are great defenceman but they won't have the best offensive options to pass to up front. I do think they will be the best team in the Pacific but I wouldn't put them on the same level as Nashville or the Jets in the west, I'd put them at about the same level as St Louis. Even Vegas I wouldn't discount, i doubt they'll have the same magic they had last year but they'll still be good. Its the rest of the division though that I see as quite weak. None of the remaining teams in the Pacific are at all scary. Anaheim may have one more year of being quite good but I don't think Getzlaf will be all world for much longer and Perry has fallen off a cliff. (Thats why giving big money to players leaving their prime is insanity, bridge deals suck)

LA is old and slow and they will continue to decline as their super high priced core deteriorates. Edmonton has McDavid, and an okay top 6 but nothing else. Calgary is the best at underperforming, Arizona could actually be a decent team, and Vancouver is going to be awful.

Its the weakest division in hockey.

I get it. You don’t watch the West.

If you look at San Jose's forward core, including Thorton who isn't a top flight player anymore, they have 2 decent looking lines and then not much else. Burns and Karlsson are great defenceman but they won't have the best offensive options to pass to up front. I do think they will be the best team in the Pacific but I wouldn't put them on the same level as Nashville or the Jets in the west, I'd put them at about the same level as St Louis. Even Vegas I wouldn't discount, i doubt they'll have the same magic they had last year but they'll still be good. Its the rest of the division though that I see as quite weak. None of the remaining teams in the Pacific are at all scary. Anaheim may have one more year of being quite good but I don't think Getzlaf will be all world for much longer and Perry has fallen off a cliff. (Thats why giving big money to players leaving their prime is insanity, bridge deals suck)

Do u even watch hockey bro

LA is old and slow and they will continue to decline as their super high priced core deteriorates. Edmonton has McDavid, and an okay top 6 but nothing else. Calgary is the best at underperforming, Arizona could actually be a decent team, and Vancouver is going to be awful.

Its the weakest division in hockey.