The 2024-25 The season is upon us and brings with it a host of new storylines for us to follow. The Western Conference has many of these, including Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers They're on a revenge spree after narrowly missing out on the Stanley Cup last season.
The Oilers enter the season as a class in the Western Conference, but have a tough road to the championship ahead of them. Reigning Hart Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon has his eyes on his second trophy, and that Dallas Stars will be looking to avenge its loss in the Western Conference Finals a year ago.
Elsewhere in the conference, the… Nashville Predators You spent a lot of money in the off-season and now you need to get some return on those investments. The Utah Hockey Club is also looking to relocate to its new location Vancouver Canucks must prove that last year's increase was no coincidence.
Here's a preview of what's coming up in the Western Conference this season.
Central Department
Nathan MacKinnon is looking for an encore
At the start of last season, all MacKinnon's trophy case was missing was a Hart Trophy. That's no longer the case after a 140-point season in which he set career highs in both goals (51) and assists (89).
In addition to these gaudy, raw numbers, a look under the hood makes MacKinnon's season even more impressive. With him on the ice in five-on-five games Colorado avalanche had a goal difference of plus 35 and an expected goal share of 56.5%, via Natural Stat Trick. When MacKinnon sat on the bench and took a sip of water, those numbers dropped to a goal difference of minus-6 and an expected goal share of 48.6%.
This year, MacKinnon may have to repeat those efforts. The Avalanche have some depth issues, so they will rely heavily on their stars again. Good thing MacKinnon is one of the top two players in the league and is capable of helping the Avs win a Stanley Cup.
The Stars have to overcome the hurdle in the conference finals
The Dallas Stars have been one of the best teams in the NHL for several years, but they keep running into the same stumbling block in the postseason. The Stars were eliminated in the Western Conference finals each of the last two seasons, and this squad is good enough to return there in 2025.
Stars general manager Jim Nill has managed to put together one of the best rosters in the league, with the perfect balance of smart veterans, current guys and up-and-coming young stars. Perhaps the deepest forward group in the NHL has gotten deeper thanks to the emergence of rookies Logan Stankoven And Mavrik Bourque. In defense, Thomas Harley showed potential to be a legitimate top defenseman, which is a luxury considering Dallas already has it Miro Heiskanen.
With so much talent returning to Dallas, will the third time finally be the charm? Top to bottom, the Stars are the best team in the Central Division, and a rematch in the Western Conference Finals against the Edmonton Oilers could be on the horizon. This time they just need to get two more wins.
Will Nashville's spending spree translate into wins?
On July 1, Nashville Predators general manager Barry Despite spent money as if he were using someone else's credit card. To be fair to him, he was. Despite spending more than $100 million to completely revamp the roster, and while that money didn't come from his paycheck, his tenure will now be judged by how those moves turn out.
The two biggest successes that Despite achieved in free agency were the signings of Steven Stamkos And Jonathan Marchessault. These two alone bring three Stanley Cup rings, a Conn Smythe Trophy and two Rocket Richard Trophies to Nashville. Stamkos and Marchessault have scored and won a lot, but are at 34 and 33, respectively. The biggest addition on defense was Brady Sjkei, a prototypical two-way defender who posted solid five-on-five results in Carolina. Age is also an issue for the 30-year-old Skjei, although to a lesser extent than for the strikers.
On paper, the Predators look like a veteran-laden contender, and there is more excitement around the team than there has been in years. Now we have to see how well everything fits together on the ice and how much juice these grizzled veterans still have in the tank.
Buzzing in the hive state
There's a lot of buzz in Salt Lake City this preseason, and not just because there's a new major sports franchise in town. Sure, the Utah Hockey Club's debut is reason enough to be excited, but it's also simply one of the most intriguing young rosters in the NHL.
The 2023-24 Arizona coyotes were much livelier than they should have been given the circumstances. The novelty of playing in a college arena wore off and the cloud of moving loomed over them, but they remained relentlessly entertaining. After all the drama, Utah can now showcase both its young stars and its bright offseason additions. Mikhail Sergachevacquired from Tampa, gives the team a No. 1 defenseman. Clayton Keller has become a star and will lead a youth forward movement that includes players with excellent pedigree Logan Cooley And Dylan Gunther.
Utah isn't necessarily playoff qualified, especially in a relatively deep Central Division, but a postseason berth is certainly within the realm of possibility for this group. If the prospects take a step forward, Salt Lake City will have a close look at the Stanley Cup playoffs next spring.
Pacific Division
The Oilers reload after the Stanley Cup Final
After falling one win shy of the Stanley Cup last season, the Oilers weren't content to repeat with the same roster. Edmonton has upgraded at forward and is poised for its elusive 16th playoff win of the 2024-25 season.
The Oilers have typically gone as far as Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl can take it, and that's pretty far as we saw last season. They are among the top five players in the NHL, but even they need help to win the Stanley Cup. The Oilers scored goals elsewhere in the 2023-24 season (e.g Zach Hymans 54 goals), but they could have used a little more support. This is what they have now after acquiring wingers Jeff Skinner And Viktor Arvidsson. Neither player had a standout season last year, but they combined for 61 goals and 141 points in the 2022-23 season.
Arvidsson and Skinner reach an already impressive top six, making the whole thing even more intimidating. If you thought last season that the Oilers could burn out the pixels on the scoreboard, they're going to do even more damage this year.
Was it just lightning in the van?
The Vancouver Canucks were the most pleasant surprise of the 2023-24 NHL season. They've gone from a preseason playoff bubble team to a Western Conference juggernaut in the blink of an eye. Was this a flash in the pan or was it a sign of things to come for the Canucks?
For much of the first half last season, the Canucks posted some discouraging numbers at five-on-five. As the season progressed, those numbers steadily improved as Vancouver proved it was worthy of competing in the Western Conference. Despite these improvements, there are still some signs that a negative regression is imminent. The team's shooting percentage of 10.6% at five-on-five was first in the NHL by a wide margin, and no team had a PDO of 1.028. via Natural Stat Trick.
These numbers suggest that there will be some leveling off between 2024 and 2025, but how much remains a question. The Canucks won 50 games last year and collected 109 points. Even if they lose a few more games, they are still a solid playoff team. They simply cannot fall back to Earth completely.
Can anyone challenge the top three?
For now, let's assume that the top three teams in the Pacific Division are the Oilers, Canucks and Vegas Golden Knights. I know what they say about assumptions, but these seem like relatively safe playoff bets. So can anyone else step up and secure one of the division's guaranteed postseason spots?
The Los Angeles Kingslast season's third-place finisher seems the most likely candidate. At least they did until the star defender Drew Doughty suffered a broken ankle. Los Angeles already appeared to be a step below the Pacific's elite, and this injury only widened the gap. Beyond the Kings, the clearest candidate would be the Seattle Kraken. They made some fairly expensive additions in the summer, but to make the jump they need a bounce-back season from a few different players.
The rest of the division could enter the draft lottery next year. So barring a shocking surge, the Pacific Division playoff race could falter a bit in 2024-25.
California hurts
California's big hockey fans could be in for a long 2024-25 season. The San Jose Sharks And Anaheim Ducks will once again be two of the worst teams the NHL has to offer, and now the Kings could be taking a step backwards.
The Sharks are coming off a season where they were dead last in the NHL, and they won't be far away from that mark in 2024-25. At least they have a franchise foundation now Macklin Celebrini and former number 4 in the overall ranking Will Smith could also get his first full-time NHL assignment. The Ducks were better than the Sharks last season, but not by much. Their young core has yet to take the next step, and this is a prove-it season of sorts for them. Until proven otherwise, Anaheim will continue to be a young but frustrating bunch.
Finally, the Kings seem to be moving further and further away from the top of the division. I touched on the Doughty injury above, but they also didn't do much to improve the roster the Oilers fielded in the first round of the playoffs last year. I don't think exchanging a bad contract (Pierre Luc Dubois) for another (Darcy Kuemper) was also the solution. The hockey atmosphere in California isn't great these days.
