Pacific At A Glance
The Pacific Division had climbed to the top of the Western Conference. At the halfway mark, they had two teams in the wild card spots. Now, the Kings are the last remaining vestige of that short-lasting era.
Now, the Central has caught back up with the Pacific. Both divisions have a wild card. But even that is an improvement for the Pacific, which has failed to earn a wild card the last few years. Again, that’s important because wild cards show the strength of the division. And the Pacific is a lot stronger now.
San Jose Sharks
The Sharks are the lead in the Pacific, four points up on both the Oilers and the Ducks. Brent Burns leads all defensemen in goals. Joe Thornton is back to shooting, instead of simply assisting – he’s got 5 goals and 33 assists on the season.
They’re deep on both offense and defense, and they’re set with Martin Jones who led them to the Cup in net. It’s a stacked team. So what can they do at the deadline?
Sharks Give Up: Justin Braun, D, 1st Round Pick
Sharks Get: Mattias Ekholm, D
The Sharks upgrade at the defensive position and get three good defensemen to protect, upgrading from Paul Martin to Ekholm, who’s younger and on a longer contract. The Sharks improve their defensive depth and now have a true top 4 defensemen set up.
The Predators make their expansion draft protection much more simple and get a first round pick for Ekholm. They get to keep moving, getting a relatively good defenseman as well, which will enable them to continue their playoff push.