Offseason Progress Report: Pacific Division

Most of the best free agents are already picked over and while there is still a few months before the start of the season, NHL rosters are starting to take shape. We're going to take a quick division-by-division look to see each team's progress so far during the offseason.

By Adam Gretz

Jul 11, 2012 at 8:59 am ET • 3 min read

1. Los Angeles Kings
Key Additions: None
Key Losses: None

It's been a relatively quiet offseason for the Stanley Cup Champs to this point, though they seem to be one of the many teams (as of Wednesday) with an interest in adding Shane Doan. Then again, just about every team in the NHL seems to be connected to him in some way.

Their biggest move of the summer so far has been the re-signing of Dustin Penner.

The Kings Are… The same team they were at the end of the postseason, and that is one of the best teams in the NHL. Even with no other major moves they will still be a force during the 2012-13 season. They won't be as dominant as they were during their 20-game playoff run, but we should expect them to be closer to the team they were over the final four months of the season than the team they were over the first two months of the season.

2. San Jose Sharks

Key Additions: Adam Burish
Key Losses: None

Like the Kings it's been a pretty quiet offseason for the Sharks, and the only real additions were a surprising four-year contract for Adam Burish and the hiring of Larry Robinson as an assistant. The Sharks are coming off their worst regular season performance (points wise) since 2002-03, but there were some signs last season that they might have been a bit better than their seventh place finish in the Western Conference (like their strong possession numbers).

The Sharks Are... The same, but even without any improvements to this point I still think they're the second best team in the division and are due for a bounceback season in 2012.

3. Dallas Stars
Key Additions: Jaromir Jagr, Ray Whitney, Derek Roy, Cody Eakin
Key Losses: Steve Ott, Mike Ribeiro, Adam Pardy, Sheldon Souray

The Stars have certainly been busy this summer and have probably made more "splash" moves than any other team in the league outside of the Minnesota Wild.

Jaromir Jagr and Ray Whitney aren't exactly young pups anymore, but they showed last season they can still produce and should be able to add some offense.

The Stars Are... Better. I don't know how much of an upgrade they're going to get going from Mike Ribeiro (traded to Washington at the draft) to Derek Roy, but adding Roy, Jagr and Whitney to a top-six that already includes Jamie Benn and Loui Eriksson should give them two pretty potent scoring lines up front. It should also help (especially the addition of Whitney) to improve what was a league-worst power play last season.

4. Anaheim Ducks

Key Additions: Bryan Allen, Sheldon Souray
Key Losses: None

There is still a chance they could lose Bobby Ryan via trade, and depending on the return that will hurt. But the additions of Allen and Souray should help to solidify what was a middle of the pack defense last season.

The Ducks Are... Better. At least until/if they trade Ryan. Last year's roster showed considerable improvement after replacing Randy Carlyle with Bruce Boudreau behind the bench. They needed to address their defense and were able to do that by adding Allen and Souray in free agency with pretty decent contracts (at least compared to what free agent defensemen were getting on the open market).

5. Phoenix Coyotes
Key Additions: Steve Sullivan, David Moss, Zbynek Michalek
Key Losses: Ray Whitney, Adrian Aucoin.

Going from Ray Whitney to Steve Sullivan is a pretty big drop in production, and there remains a chance they could lose their captain -- and still one of their best players -- Shane Doan. I like the chance they took on David Moss as he's a guy that's always had strong underlying numbers, but he's always been bothered by injuries. It's a solid low risk move. They brought back Zbynek Michalek without having to give up anything off the NHL roster and he'll be coming back to the city -- and team -- where he played his best hockey.

The Coyotes Are… Worse, especially if Shane Doan ends up leaving as a free agent. At this point it seems like their success will ride on Mike Smith's ability to repeat what he did this past season.