A new hockey season is on the horizon, and the possibilities are endless.
Of course, there are the betting favourites and the perennial contenders — on paper, though, all teams are behind the starting line, each chomping at the bit for the chance to etch their names onto the Stanley Cup.
But there is always a group of players who come into the year with an extra jump in their step, a chip on their shoulder and something to prove. No truer is that than in the Pacific Division — historically, the weakest among the four NHL sects — where teams and players alike are itching to break out, snap a slump or demonstrate their worth.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at one player from each Pacific Division team who has extra motivation to deliver this season.
For a very publicized, very brief moment this off-season, 21-year-old Leo Carlsson was the highest-paid player in the NHL.
Although he no longer carries that mantle, the five-year, $92-million pact with the Ducks still comes with a healthy side of raised expectations.
Since he was selected second overall at the 2023 Draft, Carlsson has been at the centre of what has been a successful rebuild for the Ducks. Three years into his career, he’s managed to elevate his game each season and finished the 2025-26 campaign with 29 goals and 38 assists in 70 games, adding 11 points in 12 playoff games. There is no question Carlsson will be a huge factor as the Ducks’ contention window opens.
He also accounts for 17.31 per cent of Anaheim’s salary cap this season, and his whopping $18-million cap hit significantly hinders Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek’s ability to lock down RFA Cutter Gauthier and 2027 RFA Beckett Sennecke.
Given the circumstances in which Anaheim now finds itself, Carlsson has to show he can be that guy — or the Ducks could be in big trouble.
The 2022 second-overall pick, Simon Nemec never quite lived up to his draft pedigree with the New Jersey Devils.
The 22-year-old defenceman bounced between the NHL and AHL for his first two seasons, before earning a regular slot in the lineup last season. He was confined to the third pairing, though, and his numbers reflected that — 11 goals, 15 assists in 68 games. Nemec struggled to carve a place for himself on the Devils, sliding in behind the likes of Luke Hughes and Dougie Hamilton on the depth chart.
Enter the Flames, who acquired Nemec with the hopes the puck-moving blue-liner can complement their young and budding D-corps. The Flames are in the early stages of their rebuild, so the door is wide open for Nemec to establish himself as a top-four defenceman, and with the ink dry on a brand-new five-year contract, he’s got the time to do so.
The Flames bet on Nemec — now it’s up to him to prove it was a good one.
The Tristan Jarry experiment didn’t get off to the best start last season.
The Oilers acquired the goaltender from the Penguins in on Dec. 12 in the hopes that he would provide an upgrade on Stuart Skinner, who they sent the other way to Pittsburgh. Instead, Jarry lost his starter’s job by March and finished the regular season with an .858 save percentage in 19 games — dismal, even after accounting for the league-wide dip in save percentage.
But it’s a new season, and the 31-year-old has a clean slate with a chance to change hearts and minds. He’ll be aided by the Oilers’ three-goalie rotation, where Jarry will split starts with newly acquired Frederik Andersen (once healthy) and Devon Levi to help mitigate the workload.
Jarry has two years remaining on his contract with a cap hit of $5.375 million — by far the most expensive of the Oilers’ ‘tendies. He doesn’t have to be Connor Hellebuyck 2.0 — nor is anyone expecting him to be — but Jarry should be looking to demonstrate he can at least be a reliable choice in the blue paint.
Alex Turcotte is proof that development looks different for every player.
It was two years into his professional career before he scored his first NHL goal, and three years before he got any consistent playing time. He appeared to be on the brink of figuring it out in 2024-25, but has yet to truly take that next step. There’s certainly potential still to be tapped, but the runway for him to reach his best hockey isn’t never-ending, and he could be running low on chances — that alone should be motivate him to find a new level to his game.
It’s also a contract year for Turcotte, which packs on the pressure for the 2019 fifth-overall pick. In addition to fighting for a lineup spot, the season now becomes one long tryout, after which GM Ken Holland will determine whether Turcotte is part of the future of the Kings.
At just 25 years old, Turcotte likely has more to give at the NHL level, and he’s got the 2026-27 season to show that.
After years of slumming it in the NHL’s basement, the Sharks finally look like they’re ready to contend. The pieces are there and a path to the Stanley Cup Playoffs exists in a comparatively weak Pacific Division, and while the Sharks are taken care of up front thanks to Macklin Celebrini, it’s the man between the pipes who can make or break their success this season.
The Sharks traded for Yaroslav Askarov back in 2024 with the hopes that he would be the No. 1 netminder they needed to complete the rebuild. Although he saw a starter’s workload last season, he finished the year with a less-than-ideal .884 save percentage and 21-20 record.
It’s entirely possible that Askarov was just experiencing growing pains and Year 2 as the No. 1 will produce better results, but the time is now for the Russian to step up, especially if the Sharks hope to level up this year.
Even more reason to elevate his game: It’s also a contract year for Askarov.
The mushy middle is arguably the worst place to be in the NHL, and with the exception of one year, that’s where the Kraken have resided for most of their existence.
One of the few bright spots has been the emergence Jared McCann, who exploded for career highs of 40 goals and 70 points in 79 games in 2022-23. Since then, though, his production has tapered and he finished with 20 goals and 20 assists in an injury-shortened 2025-26.
The Kraken need their offensive cornerstones to produce at an elite level if they want to claw their way to relevance. McCann has proven that he has the tools in his toolbox and coming into training camp fully healthy, the 30-year-old should, at the very least, be aiming for that 30-goal plateau again.
Sure, there is an obvious answer here, but suggesting that Elias Pettersson needs to deliver for his team is not new nor is it groundbreaking analysis. So to avoid the low-hanging fruit, let’s turn our focus to a different Swede who is still looking to make his mark on the team.
Jonathan Lekkerimaki was the first Round 1 pick by then-Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin and there was real hype around the 15th-overall selection. He has a lethal shot and a goal-scoring prowess the Canucks, who finished 30th in goals last season, are in desperate need of.
The 22-year-old has yet to play a full season, however, or score more than three goals in a campaign, so there are still question marks as to how his game will translate to the NHL level in the long term.
Development isn’t linear and Lekkerimaki is still young, but with where the Canucks are in their tear-down project (which is to say, very early), getting the reps in and capitalizing on the opportunity a rebuild presents will be crucial in cementing his place in Vancouver’s future plans.
There was a time during the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs that Brett Howden was a Conn Smythe frontrunner. The 28-year-old led the post-season goals tally with 14 in 22 games — comfortably ahead of teammate Mitch Marner, who had 10.
This offensive outburst came as a shock to most as Howden has scored more than 10 goals only twice in his career, in either the regular season or the playoffs. He scored 12 goals, two fewer than his playoff total, in 58 regular-season games last year.
For better or worse, Howden has raised the expectations, and the pressure is on to carry some of that momentum into this season.
Is it likely that he’s going to be shooting 34.1 per cent in the regular season? No. But if nothing else, Howden will be eager to prove his ability to score wasn’t a total fluke.
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