There was always going to be a surprisingly competitive team in the Pacific Division, simply because there had to be.

Everyone was writing "Vegas" at the top of the division in ink, and "Edmonton" in fairly thick-gauge pencil, but there was still one guaranteed spot in the Pacific that would make some club a playoff team, by default if nothing else. So far, though, Vegas has struggled under the weight of several significant, potentially long-term injuries, which only held the door open for someone else to step through and make a serious play for a non-Edmonton spot.

And if things were being viewed objectively under the Oilers-then-it's-wide-open circumstances, it would have been easy to say, "Well, surely Vancouver will get in there." Lots of top-end talent — even if the two best players on