After wrapping up my Eastern Conference predictions, we head over to a heavily loaded Western Conference, with lots of uncertainty still in the air.
To kick things off, we’ll start off in Sin City to check in with the reigning Stanley Cup Champion, the Vegas Golden Knights, who will be facing off against the Dallas Stars. There are a lot of potential X factors in this series, many of which will play a vital role in the outcome of the series.
Starting off with Vegas, the rightful enemy of the league. They’ve been dominant ever since entering the league in the 2017-2018 season. Their fans are quite obnoxious, and they’ve found loophole after loophole to improve their team, ways in which many fans question.
Regardless, the Knights still have a solid squad. The top 6 forward group of Ivan Barbashev, Jack Eichel, Jonathan Marchessault, Tomas Hertl, Mark Stone and Chandler Stephenson will be the make-or-break for Vegas. If they can figure it out early in the series, it’ll give them the edge they need to move on to Round 2.
Goaltender Logan Thompson has had an alright year, boasting a 2.70 GAA and a .908 SV%. Not great, but good enough to hold up the back end in front of a very heavy Golden Knights squad.
As for the Stars, they are simply built to win. With guys like Joe Pavelski, Jamie Benn and Jason Robertson, they are just as good offensively as they are defensively.
Dallas went out and got veteran Matt Duchene on an absolute steal of a deal, a one-year contract for $3 million. This has worked out tremendously for the Stars, as he put up 25 goals and added 40 assists, through 80 GP.
The make or break in this series for me personally will be Jake Oettinger. In the 2021-22 playoffs, the Stars faced off against the Calgary Flames, and Oettinger stood on his head to say the least. He held a 1.82 GAA and .954 SV% and eventually lost in 7 games. If he can be lights out this series and get back to that form, Dallas can win some, but I think Vegas is the stronger overall team.
Official prediction: Vegas Golden Knights in 5 games
Photo by pinterest.com
Moving along to probably my favorite series of the entire playoffs, the Edmonton Oilers hosting the Los Angeles Kings.
Connor McDavid is the best player in the NHL hands down, and he’s put Edmonton on his back ever since coming into the league. Despite having goal-scoring struggles this season, he still managed to notch 132 points and tally 100 assists, becoming just the 5th player in NHL history to do so.
A common theme in these playoffs continues with the goaltending. Edmonton is historically known for not having the goaltending to make a run at the cup, specifically in the “McDavid era.” Stuart Skinner has been mediocre through his first 4 years in the league.
This year is no exception. Arguably the worst year of his career, Skinner has a 2.62 GAA and .905 SV%. This is easily the biggest question mark for the Oilers and makes me skeptical of their abilities once again.
In the City of Angels, the Kings’ last Cup win came a decade ago. Since then, they have made the playoffs four times, and been bounced every time. Twice by the Oilers.
The Kings finished just 5 points behind the Oilers, good for third in the Pacific Division. It could’ve been a better finish if their off-season acquisition worked out better than it did. Pierre Luc Dubois didn’t live up to the expectations the organization had for him. On the season, he only recorded 40 points and had a total of -9 on the season.
However, with a forward group of Adrian Kempe, Quinton Byfield, Kevin Fiala and Anze Kopitar, this series can be a long battle with an interesting end, and I think that the third time is the charm for the Kings.
Official prediction: Los Angeles Kings in 7 games
Photo by Baltimore Sun.
Heading north of the border, the next matchup is the Vancouver Canucks taking on the Nashville Predators. This series is probably one of the tightest in terms of overall head-to-head capabilities.
The Canucks front office has shown that they’re all in, willing to ship out Bo Horvat last season and bringing in Flames’ center Elias Lindholm to buff up the top 6 forward group. With Norris Trophy favorite Quinn Hughes on the back end along with a forward core consisting of JT Miller, Brock Boeser and Nils Hoglander, Vancouver is showing that they are poised to make a deep run in this year’s postseason.
Vancouver is tied for fifth in goals against per game, at 2.70 which is even with the Boston Bruins, an outstanding mark. The Canucks also rank sixth in goals for per game, at 3.40, further proof that this Canucks team is just as good offensively as they are defensively.
Going to the other side of the matchup, Music City, Nashville. The Predators have a very top-heavy group, with players such as Ryan O’Reilly, Roman Josi, Filip Forsberg and Gustav Nyquist. Each of these players recorded 65+ points in the regular season, however, the next-highest scorer on the team, Tomas Novak, only had 45 points.
The Preds have a solid blue line with Josi, Ryan McDonaugh, Tyson Barrie and Jeremy Louzon. They are backed in the paint by veteran netminder Juuse Saros, who had a less-than-stellar year. He notched a .906 SV% and a 2.86 GAA, which was right around the middle of the pack. This recent fall-off from Saros coupled with the Canucks high-powered offense leads me to believe that this series will be over sooner rather than later.
Official prediction: Vancouver Canucks in 5 games
Photo by Brendan Kergin.
The final matchup in the West keeps us in Canada where the Winnipeg Jets will host the Colorado Avalanche. In my opinion, this series will be quick, for one team. The Avalanche have one of the highest-powered offenses in the league with players such as Nathan Mackinnon (one of the most clutch playoff players ever), Val Nichushkin, Mikko Rantanen, JT Compher and even guys on the blue line like Devon Toews and Cale Makar.
Nathan Mackinnon had a ridiculous regular season, where he recorded a career-high 140 points. He’s one of the most fascinating players I’ve ever seen in my 10+ years watching the game. He’s a Hart Trophy finalist for this year and is the perfect role model of a true captain of a lethal Colorado squad.
Their Achilles heel, however, is their goaltending. Alexander Georgiev averaged a .897 SV% and a 3.02 GAA, which is pretty abysmal.
Despite this, the team in front of him is so deadly offensively that it doesn’t seem to matter how poor his stats are. Colorado has adopted the “win 7-6 instead of 2-1” mentality given the current structure of their team. Colorado leads the league in total goals scored, which is a clash of the titans given the reputation of their first-round opponent.
The Jets have statistically the best defense in the league, with the least number of goals allowed in the entire regular season. They also have a Vezina finalist between the pipes in Connor Hellebuyck. The Jets’ netminder has been an absolute wall in the crease, boasting a 2.39 GAA and a .921 SV%.
The team in front of him has changed a lot over recent years, but forwards Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Nikolaj Ehlers have been the cornerstones of this team. Although Winnipeg is outstanding defensively, they have no offense. In fact, not a single skater on the Jets recorded a point-per-game or better season.
The lack of offense provided by Winnipeg rivaled with the Avs’ ridiculously good offense is a matchup of polar opposites, which could make the series interesting.
Official prediction: Colorado Avalanche in 6 games
Photo by Bruce Bennett.