Author: Sam Gemini
The Western Conference isn't as strong as the East, but there are certainly some solid contenders from each division. Let's take a look at how it is shaping up.
Central Division
Colorado Avalanche
In runaway first place, the Colorado Avalanche have possibly the best roster I've ever seen. Let's start with the best line in hockey: this miracle of the sport features Mikko Rantanen on the left wing, captain-of-the-all-star-team Nathan MacKinnon on the right wing, and team captain Gabriel Landeskog at center; Finland, Canada, and Sweden, respectively. Landeskog has the second-highest point total of the three with 45 points, Rantanen is the purest scorer with 24 goals (tied for 8th) and 54 points (tied for 6th), and MacKinnon is the heart and soul of the team with 9 goals and 34 assists in just 31 games played. And we haven't even discussed the two best players on the team!
Nazem Kadri is finally staying healthy and avoiding suspension and is having a career year with 60 points, good for a share of 3rd in the NHL, and Cale Makar is scoring goals (18) at a pace that hasn't been seen from defensemen in the salary-cap era. With this ridiculous dynamic goal-scoring, Makar has gained a fairly significant lead in the odds for the Norris Trophy given to the best defenseman in the NHL.
The Avalanche are 15-0-2 in their last 17 games and were on an 18-game home winning streak that came to an end two nights ago. Clearly, the road to the Stanley Cup Final will go through the mile-high city in the Western Conference. Yet, there are other candidates from the Central Division worth giving attention to.
Minnesota Wild
The Minnesota Wild have the second-best record in the West, and they are a somewhat unusual team. This state-of-hockey squad has zero major super-star names outside of Kirill Kaprizov, last year's Calder Trophy winner as rookie of the year and top-ten point-scorer this season (53).
After Kirill the Thrill, the Wild are filled from top to bottom with very-good-but-not-great players, and it has worked quite well the last two seasons. The top line – consisting of Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello, and Ryan Hartman – is firing on all cylinders; assistant captain Marcus Foligno is having a career year with 17 goals and key pieces such as D-man Jared Spurgeon and winger Joel Eriksson Ek have returned from injury.
The question mark for Minnesota is whether they have enough artillery to hang with teams like Colorado. I'm going to say no, but to be fair, there are worse problems to have than too much balance in the lineup.
Pacific Division
Out of the Eastern Conference teams that currently hold a playoff spot, the Washington Capitals currently have the worst record at 25-13-9. This record is better than that of each team in the Pacific Division. We have now reached the worst division in the NHL.
Come spring, this division will produce one true Stanley Cup contender in the Las Vegas Golden Knights and two teams fraught with weaknesses. Make no mistake, the Knights are a legitimate championship-caliber team, and that was before the acquisition of American superstar forward Jack Eichel from the Buffalo Sabres earlier this season. Eichel has been out this entire season with a neck injury that required artificial disk-replacement surgery but has 355 points over 375 games played in his career. He is just the sort of play maker and goal-scorer that could put Vegas over the hump and give them their first Stanley Cup.
The remainder of the Pacific is underwhelming, with the Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, and Edmonton Oilers all clustered around the three seed with marginally above-.500 records.
Edmonton Oilers
However, the Oilers may be poised for a hot streak. Edmonton possesses the last two MVP winners in Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, and the latter is the favorite to win it again. These two have been the most impressive duo in hockey for the past three seasons: Draisaitl sits second in points with 63 and tied for first in goals with 31, and McDavid is tied for third in points with 60. After an outstanding start to the season, the Oilers went into freefall and fell out of a playoff spot. Desperately needing production from someone other than Connor or Leon, the Oilers controversially signed Evander Kane.
Previously a San Jose Shark, Kane was placed on waivers for using a fake COVID-19 vaccination card to circumvent pandemic restrictions and travel across the Canadian border. While his character may be on thin ice in the eye of public opinion, his hockey talent certainly is not. The Vancouver native has 507 points in 770 games played in his career and scored two goals in his first three games with the Oilers. Edmonton slid precariously past the Anaheim Ducks into the final playoff spot in the West. It will be interesting to see how the acquisition of Kane changes the trajectory of Edmonton's season.
Calgary Flames
The current two seed in the west will be highly entertaining come spring, even if it isn't an elite powerhouse: The Calgary Flames are a pleasant surprise, having not made the playoffs since 2019. The Flames possess one of the most skilled Americans in the world in Johnny Gaudreau, or “Johnny Hockey”, as they call him. With 18 goals and 36 assists, he is turning in another phenomenal year. His offensive prowess is complemented by savvy forwards such as Matthew Tkachuk (20 goals, 25 assists) and Andrew Mangiapane (20 goals, 7 assists).
This Calgary team is different from recent years in that it has the lowest goals-against-per-game average in the Western Conference at 2.48, largely due to the stellar play of goaltender Jacob Markstrom; Markstrom's .923 save percentage is sixth in the league among goalies with at least 25 games played. It is always fun to see Canadian teams in the postseason with their raucous, passionate fans.
The Flames likely have too many weaknesses to reach the biggest stage – lack of talented defensemen and depth at the forefront – but I will be pulling for them to make a deep run.
