Rex’s Preseason Projections 2017-2018 – Coyotes, Canucks and Golden Knights

Previously I had covered my projections for the Pacific Division by examining the Ducks, Oilers, Flames, Sharks and Kings. Today I wrap up the series by taking a quick tour of the remaining Pacific Division teams and estimating where they end up. I won’t delve as deeply into the rosters of each here because in most cases these are teams in a state of flux and I expect that there will be changes as the season rolls along.

However, I did want to try and take a look at which of these three is arguably in the worst state as the season begins, and then project their coming season from that point on.

As a quick refresher, I’ve got the Pacific Division running from top to bottom as the Ducks, Oilers, Flames, Sharks and Kings.

Now we look at the last three teams in the division.

Here’s how they stack up.

Coyotes – projection: goals for – 177, goals against – 205

I used to think the Coyotes were actually building something, even if it was moving in glacial terms (meaning both incredibly slowly but also taking one step back for every two steps forward).

I no longer give them the benefit of the doubt.

This team is a mess and while I welcomed GM Chayka’s appointment because he was likely to bring in a new way of doing things, this team needs to show some sign of turning the corner this season or it will be another front-office firing, re-tooling of the roster, and another cycle of prospects will be flushed.

That said, they made some moves that I believe will help them, provided some other things go their way and ownership has some rational understanding of the state of this franchise. Ekman-Larsson, Goligoski, Hjalmarsson and Chychrun is a fair defense group. Raanta and Domingue are far from the worst bets to have in net and one of those two may yet prove to be a bona fide NHL starting goaltender. It is the forward corps that concerns me as there are a few talents here and there but little of significant substance around which to build.

I have the Coyotes finishing 12^th in the Western Conference and 6^th in the Pacific Division.

Canucks – projection: goals for – 196, goals against – 247

The Canucks are at a crossroads. The Sedins are UFAs this July and this represents the last chance for the franchise to recoup at least something of value for them at the deadline. It seems unlikely they would want to leave Vancouver and I’d not be the least bit surprised if they re-signed there this coming summer. But they certainly would want to be traded together (and their No Movement Clauses give them the authority to do so) and even pro-rated, a combined $14 million dollar cap hit would be no small amount for any team to swallow.

All that aside, the Canucks are currently, and for the immediate future, built so that the Sedins are necessarily the principle offensive threat with Bo Horvat as their eventual successor. The problem with that is that whereas there are two Sedins, there is only one Horvat. Add in that while Horvat looks like a fine young player, he’d be in tough to have a similar career to either of the Sedin brothers and there does not appear to be any chance of finding a linemate as effective or better within the current crop of Canucks’ forwards.

What Ales Hemsky was to a generation of Oilers fans, Horvat may yet be to a generation of Canucks’ fans – the only reason to watch the game.

Vegas – projection: goals for – 175, goals against – 235

I don’t know if George McPhee misread the market leading up to the expansion draft or if he just really, really screwed up because he’s not a very good GM for this sort of thing.

In either case, the Golden Knights’ roster is a dog’s breakfast and unlikely to get any better anytime soon. Working in their favour this season is that the Pacific division is becoming one of stark contrasts between the Canucks and Coyotes at one end and, well, almost every other team at the other. The Knights are in the Canucks’ league when it comes to goaltending and the Coyotes’ when it comes to offense. Those aren’t very strong attributes.

My projection is that the Golden Knights finish 14^th in the Western Conference and last in the Pacific Division. The only team likely to be worse than them in the conference, and perhaps in the league, is the Avalanche – that team may set a new benchmark for utter incompetence.

Here are my final division projections.

Thanks for reading.