Pacific Division (NHL)
division of the National Hockey League
The National Hockey League's Pacific Division was formed in 1993 as part of the Western Conference in a league realignment. It is also one of the two successors of the Smythe Division (the other one was the Northwest Division), though of the current teams, only the Anaheim Ducks, Seattle Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights did not play in the Smythe Division. Due to subsequent realignments, three of the Pacific Division's original teams (the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, and Vancouver Canucks) left the division in 1998 but returned in 2013. The division is the only one in the NHL without any Original Six teams. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting closure of the Canada–United States border, all eight teams were transferred into two different divisions for the 2020–21 NHL season. The American-based teams were moved to the West Division, while the Canadian-based teams were placed into the North Division.
With the addition of the expansion Seattle Kraken to the division in the 2021–22 NHL season and the NHL becoming a 32 team league, the Coyotes were moved to the Central Division to balance out the divisional alignment of eight teams per division.
Division lineups
1993–1995
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
Los Angeles Kings
San Jose Sharks
Vancouver Canucks
Changes from the 1992–93 season
The Pacific Division is formed as a result of NHL realignment
The Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, and Vancouver Canucks come from the Smythe Division
The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim are added as an expansion team
1995–1998
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Calgary Flames
Colorado Avalanche
Edmonton Oilers
Los Angeles Kings
San Jose Sharks
Vancouver Canucks
Changes from the 1994–95 season
The Quebec Nordiques relocate to Denver, Colorado, and become the Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche come from the Northeast Division
1998–2006
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Dallas Stars
Los Angeles Kings
Phoenix Coyotes
San Jose Sharks
Changes from the 1997–98 season
The Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers, and Vancouver Canucks move to the Northwest Division
The Dallas Stars and Phoenix Coyotes come from the Central Division
2006–2013
Anaheim Ducks
Dallas Stars
Los Angeles Kings
Phoenix Coyotes
San Jose Sharks
Changes from the 2005–06 season
The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim changed their name to the Anaheim Ducks
2013–2014
Anaheim Ducks
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
Los Angeles Kings
Phoenix Coyotes
San Jose Sharks
Vancouver Canucks
Changes from the 2012–13 season
The Northwest Division is dissolved due to NHL realignment
The Dallas Stars move to the Central Division
The Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, and Vancouver Canucks come from the Northwest Division
2014–2017
Anaheim Ducks
Arizona Coyotes
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
Los Angeles Kings
San Jose Sharks
Vancouver Canucks
Changes from the 2013–14 season
The Phoenix Coyotes changed their name to the Arizona Coyotes
2017–2020
Anaheim Ducks
Arizona Coyotes
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
Los Angeles Kings
San Jose Sharks
Vancouver Canucks
Vegas Golden Knights
Changes from the 2016–17 season
The Vegas Golden Knights are added as an expansion team
2020–2021
Division not used for the 2020–21 NHL season
Changes from the 2019–20 season
Due to COVID-19 restrictions the NHL realigned into four divisions with no conferences for the 2020–21 season
The Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights move to the West Division
The Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks move to the North Division
2021–present
Anaheim Ducks
Calgary Flames
Edmonton Oilers
Los Angeles Kings
San Jose Sharks
Seattle Kraken
Vancouver Canucks
Vegas Golden Knights
Changes from the 2020–21 season
The league returned to using a four division and two conference alignment
The Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights come from the West Division
The Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks come from the North Division
The Seattle Kraken are added as an expansion team
Season results
Notes
a The 1994–95 NHL season was shortened to 48 games due to the lockout.
b The 2012–13 NHL season was shortened to 48 games due to the lockout.
c The 2019–20 NHL season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The public source identifies “Pacific Division (NHL)” as division of the National Hockey League. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Pacific, Division and division.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q834546. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1993, 1998, 2013 and 2020.
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This entry incorporates text from “Pacific Division (NHL)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.