This is part 3 of 4 of the Division Previews, having already done the Metropolitan and Atlantic Divisions. In the weak West, this division is where we will see the most success of the two divisions.
Starting with who will miss:
8. Arizona Coyotes
The worst team in hockey. Not much needs to be explained. Bad contracts and future draft picks are the ask for castaway island.
Clayton Keller—Nick Schmaltz—Travis Boyd Lawson Crouse—Barrett Hayton—Christian Fischer Nathan Smith—Nick Bjugstad—Jack McBain Andrew Ladd—Nick Ritchie—Zach Kassian
Jacob Chychrun—Troy Stecher Shayne Gostisbehere—Dysin Mayo Patrick Nemeth—Josh Brown
Karel Vejmelka Ivan Prosvetov
PTO — Grigori Dronov Injured — Connor Timmins, Bryan Little
7. Chicago Blackhawks
The 2nd worst team in hockey. Replacing their best players with players seeking more opportunity is great, but getting rid of them for nothing in return is a horrible look. They could’ve got something back for Strome, Borgstrom, and Connolly, and even more for DeBricant and Dach.
Andreas Athansiou—Jonathan Toews—Patrick Kane Tyler Johnson—Max Domi—Colin Blackwell Boris Katchouk—Lukas Reichel—Taylor Raddysh Phillip Kurashev—Sam Lafferty—Mackenzie Entwistle
Jake McCabe—Seth Jones Jack Johnson—Connor Murphy Caleb Jones—Riley Stillman
Petr Mrazek Alex Stalock
Injured — Jujhar Kharia
6. Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets have so much dysfunction internally, but are such a strong on ice product this was the hardest team to place in the Central Division. Not changing much will be the downfall of this team. Connor Helllybuck will need to be identical to Igor Shesterkin for the Jets to remotely make a playoff spot, let alone advance in the West.
Kyle Connor—Mark Scheifele—Blake Wheeler Nikolaj Ehlers—Pierre-Luc Dubois—Cole Perfetti Jansen Harkins—Adam Lowry—Mason Appleton Morgan Barron—Dominic Toninato—Sam Gagner
Josh Morrissey—Nate Schmidt Brendan Dillon—Neal Pionk Logan Stanley—Dylan DeMelo
Connor Helllybuck David Rittich And who will make the playoffs:
5. St. Louis Blues
The Blues are a structured team from management down. With offensive weapons and one of the strongest top 4 defensive units, the only question is performance of Jordan Binnington. With all the weapons, this is the second wild card team of the Western Conference.
Pavel Buchnevich—Ryan O’Reilly—Vladimir Tarasenko Ivan Barbashev—Robert Thomas—Jordan Kyrou Brandon Saad—Brayden Schenn—Martin Frk Logan Brown—Noel Acciari—Klim Kostin
Torey Krug—Justin Faulk Nick Leddy—Colton Parayko Marco Scandella—Robert Bortuzzo
Jordan Binnington Thomas Greiss
4. Dallas Stars
The most veteran savvy team, the Dallas Stars are beginning to quickly run out of time in their transition to the young guns. They have the pieces to win now, but will their veterans step up and deliver their first cup to the city since 1999?
Mason Marchement—Roope Hintz—Jason Robertson Jamie Benn—Tyler Seguin—Joe Pavelski Denis Gurainov—Radek Faksa—Joel Kiviranta Marian Studenic—Jacob Patterson—Luke Glendenning
Miro Heskianen—Ryan Suter Esa Lindell—Colin MIller Will Butcher—Jani Hakanpaa
Jake Otteinger Scott Wedgewood
3. Nashville Predators
David Poile has taken advantage of other teams’ money problems, and could make them a contender in the Western Conference. Adding a two time cup winner in Ryan McDonagh to push the Predators’ offensive back into top of the league conversation, plus Nino Niederreiter for the offense, this team will be tops. The only move I question is Luke Kunin, as that is a true goal scorer.
Filip Forsberg—Ryan Johansen—Eeli Tolvanen Matt Duchene—Mikael Granlund—Nino Niederreiter Tanner Jeannot—Colton Sissons—Yakov Trenin Zach Sanford—Cody Glass—Phil Tomasino
Roman Josi—Dante Fabbro Ryan McDonagh—Mattias Ekholm Jeremy Lauzon—Alexandre Carrier
Jusse Saros Kevin Lankianen
2. Minnesota Wild
The Grim Mistakes of Chuck Fletcher are beginning to hurt the Minnesota Wild, but the youth and knowledge of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ system has helped them before and will help push into contention.
Kirill Kaprizov—Ryan Hartman—Mats Zuccarello Matthew Boldy—Marco Rossi—Tyson Jost Marcus Foligno—Joel Eriksson Ek—Jordan Greenway Connor DeWar—Sam Steel—Frederik Gaudreau
Jonas Brodin—Jared Spurgeon Alex Gologski—Matt Dumba Jacob Middleton—Jon Merilll
Marc-Andre Fleury Filip Gustavsson
1. Colorado Avalanche
The easiest pick. They’ll be in the cup finals again. Nobody is on their level.
Gabriel Landeskog—Nathan MacKinnon—Mikko Rantanen Artturi Lehkonnen—Alex Newhook—Valeri Nichuskin Andrew Cogalino—JT Compher—Logan O’Connor Darren Helm—Shane Bowers—Jayson Megna
Devon Toews—Cale Makar Sam Girard—Josh Manson Bowen Byram—Erik Johnson
Pavel Francouz Alex Georgiev
In short, we see five teams make the playoffs, one middle team, and the two worst teams in the league:
1. Colorado Avalanche (Z) 2. Minnesota Wild 3. Nashville Predators 4. Dallas Stars (WC1) 5. St. Louis Blues (WC2) 6. Winnipeg Jets 7. Chicago Blackhawks 8. Arizona Coyotes