<p>Where is every NHL franchise in its current championship contention timeline? Welcome back to Stanley Cup Windows, an annual series in which I plot each team’s progress. Who’s trending up, who’s trending down, and who’s holding on tight hoping for one last Stanley Cup push?</p>



<p>We’ve broken down the <a href="https://publish.dailyfaceoff.com/stanley-cup-window-2026-predictions-contenders-atlantic-division-leafs-canadiens-senators/">Atlantic Division,</a> <a href="https://publish.dailyfaceoff.com/stanley-cup-window-2026-predictions-contenders-central-division-jets-stars-blackhawks-avalanche/">Central Division</a> and <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/stanley-cup-window-2026-predictions-contenders-metropolitan-division-rangers-hurricanes-flyers-penguins">Metropolitan Division</a> teams. We conclude the four-part series with the Pacific Division teams.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">WIN-NOW WINDOW</h2>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://oilersnation.com/">Edmonton Oilers</a></h3>



<p>Stakes don’t get any higher than, “We’ve lost in the Stanley Cup Final two consecutive seasons and this generation’s greatest player is in the final year of his contract.” The Oilers are about as all-in as a team can be. Part of the life cycle of a successful NHL franchise is reaching a phase at which its elite stars get rewarded with their set-for-life contracts and the roster structure becomes more top heavy, forcing the GM to churn out affordable depth lower in the lineup. Except usually, when that happens, the team has already won the Stanley Cup: the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins of the 2010s and the current Colorado Avalanche come to mind. The Oil have $37 million tied up in Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard for this season, a number that will climb once McDavid re-signs (sorry to burst the bubble of 31 fan bases, but I still expect him to). They had to say goodbye a number of support pieces from the team that made the 2024-25 Final: Viktor Arvidsson, Evander Kane, Corey Perry, Connor Brown, John Klingberg, Jeff Skinner. It becomes harder to compete each year when a few players (justifiably) consume so much of your cap space. That’s why it stings that Edmonton couldn’t finish the job the past two Finals. Next summer, we could see $16 million or more of McDavid’s next deal added to the books, while defensemen Mattias Ekholm, Jake Walman and Brett Kulak and goaltenders Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard are set to become UFAs, so the team could look very different. It’s safe to say 2026-27 carries an air of urgency. &nbsp;</p><div class="injected-ad injected-video" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="0" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="343"></div>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/los-angeles-kings/line-combinations">Los Angeles Kings</a></h3>



<p>If there’s any doubt that the Kings view themselves as a win-now operation, just peruse the sloppy list of moves GM Ken Holland made July 1. In adding veterans such as Perry, Cody Ceci, Brian Dumoulin and Joel Armia, Holland turned the Kings into<a href="https://www.eliteprospects.com/league/nhl/teams-physical-stats/2025-2026"> the NHL’s fifth-oldest team</a>, one that could take a step back once Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty’s careers wrap up. The 2024-25 Kings were an elite defensive team that couldn’t find the finish to get past the Oilers. This year’s version? It lost its best defensive defenseman, Vladislav Gavrikov, in free agency and added some inferior options. It didn’t address its scoring woes. These Kings don’t look any better than last year’s, possibly a little worse, and face the prospect of losing top winger Adrian Kempe as a UFA next summer. The urgency is high here, too. The top rung of the Pacific has some of the biggest stakes in the league.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="1" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="156"></div>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/vegas-golden-knights/line-combinations">Vegas Golden Knights</a></h3>



<p>One could argue the Golden Knights have stretched their window open by acquiring superstar right winger Mitch Marner, who is 28 and will keep the team competitive for years to come with his all-around impact. But even with Marner in tow, the Golden Knights are the NHL’s fourth-oldest team by average age. Pavel Dorofeyev is their only reliable forward contributor who is even younger than 27. Captain Mark Stone is 33, two-way pivot William Karlsson is 32, and top center Jack Eichel is a pending UFA for 2026. Blueliner Alex Pietrangelo isn’t expected to play this season and probably never will again. We also know the Golden Knights aren’t expecting too much help from within given they trade away almost all their first-round picks and prospects and don’t have a top-end youngster expected to break through to the NHL this season. So they’re positioned to go for broke as they always do.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="2" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="152"></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">WINDOW OPENING</h2>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/anaheim-ducks/line-combinations">Anaheim Ducks</a></h3>



<p>The top Pacific teams have reason to hurry and bag some Cups, as the Ducks are slowly maturing into an operation that could get good very soon and stay good for a very long time. They have the existing foundation of promising young NHLers, led by forwards Leo Carlson, Cutter Gauthier and Mason McTavish and defensemen Jackson LaCombe, Pavel Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger. They have a lot of high-end prospects still to come: Beckett Sennecke, Roger McQueen, Stian Solberg and so on. They’ve added veterans to help level up in the present: Mikael Granlund, Chris Kreider. And they have a new coach whose specializes in taking a team laden with potential and ushering it into an era of competitiveness: Joel Quenneville. It feels like the Ducks could break through as a playoff team as early as this season, particularly if Carlsson continues the blistering pace he set in the second half last year, and once Anaheim gets in, it may not relinquish that spot for many years.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="3" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="168"></div>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://flamesnation.ca/">Calgary Flames</a></h3>



<p>I <em>almost </em>placed the Flames in the Foggy Window category, as I do think Dustin Wolf’s incredible play lifted Calgary higher in the standings than it deserved to be this past season, and I wonder if that sets unrealistic expectations for 2026-27. I’m not totally sure this is a playoff team even though it just tied for the final Wildcard berth. That said, Wolf is a rising star. The Flames saw a major step forward from right winer Matt Coronato last season. We’ll see sublimely gifted defenseman Zayne Parekh get his big shot to be an NHL regular and challenge for the Calder Trophy. What makes Calgary’s identity still a bit confusing is the presence of veteran holdovers such as pending 2026 UFA Rasmus Andersson and even center Nazem Kadri. General manager Craig Conroy has spent the past couple years gutting the core with trade after trade, launching a new era for the franchise. So do you finish the job and deal a few more veterans, or do you hold them, knowing they’re still good enough to help you compete in the present and maybe snatch that playoff spot? The Flames are trending in the right direction, but I’m not seeing a defined upward trajectory quite yet like I do with Anaheim.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="4" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="212"></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">WINDOW UNDER CONSTRUCTION</h2>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/san-jose-sharks/line-combinations">San Jose Sharks</a></h3>



<p>The Sharks’ time is coming. Macklin Celebrini is a sensational all-around player. Will Smith really started to find it later in his rookie season, too. Michael Misa joins the fray as an even higher-ceiling offensive prospect, while William Eklund is an established top-six forward now. We can get excited about goaltender Yaroslav Askarov’s full-time arrival in the NHL and look forward to Sam Dickinson potentially becoming a No. 1 defenseman someday. The pieces are all there. But the Sharks are still fresh off finishing last overall. They’re in a learning phase, their roster dotted with placeholder veterans who can mentor the kids and serve as trade bait for GM Mike Grier. The likes of Dmitry Orlov and Nick Leddy and Jeff Skinner and Tyler Toffoli won’t be hoisting the Cup with prime-year Celebrini and Misa half a decade from now. In other words: this team is still very much in rebuild mode and not yet maturing into the version of itself that will compete in the long term. That’s totally OK.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="5" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="172"></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">WINDOW SMASHED</h2>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/seattle-kraken/line-combinations">Seattle Kraken</a></h3>



<p>I’ll continue telling anyone who will listen: making the playoffs in Year 2 of their existence, coming within a victory of a Western Conference Final berth, was the worst thing for the Kraken. It artificially inflated expectations and then, when an overachieving team’s luck regressed 2023-24, it got coach Dave Hakstol fired. It spurred then-GM Ron Francis to spend big on second-tier UFAs Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour last summer. And the veteran-laden roster keeps Seattle in hockey purgatory, not good enough to make the playoffs, never quite bad enough to bottom out and get the top NHL Draft Lottery odds, to the point this team still doesn’t have a true superstar prospect. Shane Wright continues to improve, and the likes of Berkly Catton and Jake O’Brien have major upside, sure, but there’s no Connor Bedard or Celebrini or Matthew Schaefer on this team. With Jason Botterill replacing Francis as GM, the hope was that we’d see a philosophical shift in thinking, but the Kraken have instead doubled and tripled down on being Mid. They’ve added 30-year-old Mason Marchment and 32-year-old Frederick Gaudreau up front. They handed a four-year deal to declining asset Ryan Lindgren. Somehow, the NHL’s newest franchise is the 11<sup>th</sup>-oldest team in the league, with an average age of 29, despite making the playoffs once in its existence. Can anyone explain what the plan is here?</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="6" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="230"></div>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="https://canucksarmy.com/">Vancouver Canucks</a></h3>



<p>No team’s identity is harder to pin down than Vancouver’s. This team went from first in its division to out of the playoffs; it traded its reigning top scorer, J.T. Miller, during the season in hopes of balancing out the dressing room; it hasn’t made the playoffs in consecutive seasons in 12 years; yet it also still kinda, sorta wants to be a contender in the present and prove to superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes that there’s still, um, a plan going forward. I suppose it was a win to retain sniper Brock Boeser and goaltender Thatcher Demko in free agency, but all the Canucks did there was keep components of an operation that wasn’t good enough. If GM Patrik Allvin and president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford are rolling out mostly the same group that finished out last season, that means the plan is to…hope Elias Pettersson recaptures his star form? And that Demko’s unusual knee muscle problem doesn’t cap his ceiling for the rest of his career? And that…adding <em>Evander Kane </em>to the league’s most mercurial dressing room helps? The Canucks have too much money and term tied up in veterans to be particularly bad, but it’s difficult to see how they’re going to get better, unless we witness a big Jonathan Lekkerimaki breakout.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="7" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="215"></div>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Recently by Matt Larkin</h2>



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