Preview: With West loaded at top, can Sharks sneak in to top-four spot?
The forecast for the NHL’s realigned West Division doesn’t appear to be too complicated.
Three teams at the top fighting for first place, followed by five teams battling for the fourth and final playoff spot.
With the northern border closed to non-essential travel, the NHL created four new divisions— one with all seven Canadian teams, and three others with eight American teams each. So instead of being in the same division as Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, the Sharks now have Colorado, Minnesota and St. Louis to contend with, along with usual rivals Anaheim, Arizona, Los Angeles and Vegas.
Teams will play each other eight times for a 56-game season that started Wednesday and ends May 8.
The top four teams in each division make the playoffs. In the first round, the first-place finisher will play the fourth-place team, and No. 2 will face No. 3. The winner of those two series will play each other for the right to advance to the semifinals.
Here’s a look at the West Division, in predicted order of finish.
1. Colorado Avalanche 2019-2020 record:
42-20-10, second in Central Division
Coach: Jared Bednar, fifth season
Leaders: F Nathan MacKinnon, F Andre Burakovsky, D Cale Makar
Top newcomers: F Brandon Saad, D Devon Toews
Key departures: F Matt Nieto, F Colin Wilson, D Nikita Zadorov
Analysis: The Avalanche’s Stanley Cup window is wide open right now. General manager Joe Sakic was aggressive in the offseason, dealing for a top four defenseman in Toews and a scoring winger in Saad, adding to a core that includes a Hart Trophy candidate in MacKinnon and a likely future Norris Trophy winner in Makar. Goaltending might be the biggest question mark, but if Philipp Grubauer stays healthy, don’t be surprised to see the Avalanche win the division.
2. Vegas Golden Knights 2019-2020 record:
39-24-8, first in Pacific Division
Coach: Pete DeBoer, second season
Leaders: F Mark Stone, F Max Pacioretty, D Shea Theodore, G Robin Lehner
Top newcomer: D Alex Pietrangelo
Key departures: D Nate Schmidt, F Paul Stastny, F Cody Eakin
Analysis: It’s Stanley Cup or bust for the Golden Knights. They landed the offseason’s biggest free agent in Pietrangelo and kept playoff starter Lehner around on a long-term deal. Schmidt and Stastny had to be traded for salary cap reasons, but that was the price Vegas was willing to pay to try to get over the hump. The Golden Knights are deep and well coached, and appear to be a lock for the playoffs. But the only thing this team will be satisfied with will be a Stanley Cup.
3. St. Louis Blues 2019-2020 record:
42-19-10, first in Central Division
Coach: Craig Berube, third season
Leaders: F Ryan O’Reilly, F David Perron, F Brayden Schenn, F Jaden Schwartz
Top newcomers: D Torey Krug, F Mike Hoffman, F Kyle Clifford, G Ville Husso
Key departures: D Alex Pietrangelo, F Alex Steen, D Jay Bouwmeester,
Analysis: The Blues are still feeling the sting of their firstround playoff exit and are trying to use that as motivation for this season. As Pietrangelo was making his decision about where he wanted to play long term, St. Louis went out and signed Krug, arguably the second-best UFA defenseman on the market. Still, a couple question marks remain about the Blues — whether they can get the dangerous Vladimir Tarasenko back healthy and how their goaltending will perform. They should still comfortably make the playoffs.
4. Minnesota Wild 2019-2020 record:
35-27-7, sixth in Central Division
Coach: Dean Evason, second season
Leaders: F Kevin Fiala, D Ryan Suter, F Zach Parise, F Mats Zuccarello
Top newcomers: F Marcus Johannson, F Nick Bonino, F Kirill
Kaprizov, G Cam Talbot
Key departures: F Luke Kunin, F Eric Staal, G Devan Dubnyk, F Ryan Donato
Analysis: Wild GM Bill Guerin shook things up after his team lost in the play-in round last summer. While some veterans like Johannson and Bonino were brought in to provide depth and leadership, the most tantalizing addition is former KHL star Kaprizov, who figures to give Minnesota some much-needed pizzazz on offense. The Wild does have question marks about its center depth, but should be in the mix for a playoff spot.
5. Arizona Coyotes 2019-2020 record:
33-29-8, fifth in Pacific Division
Coach: Rich Tocchet, fourth season
Leaders: F Nick Schmaltz, F Clayton Keller, F Phil Kessel, D Oliver Ekman-Larsson, G Darcy Kuemper
Top newcomers: F Tyler Pitlick, F Johan Larsson, F Derick Brassard, F Drake Caggiula
Key departures: F Taylor Hall, F Derek Stepan, F Carl Soderberg
Analysis: The Coyotes have formed a certain identity under Tocchet and have made gradual improvements over the last three years. Two players from their top six forward group are gone in Hall and Stepan, but a solid core remains. Although the Coyotes might struggle to score goals at times, they have a goalie in Kuemper who has also proven he can be elite when he’s healthy. The Coyotes aren’t world-beaters by any stretch, but they might have enough to finish in the top four.
6. San Jose Sharks 2019-2020 record:
29-36-5, eighth in Pacific Division
Coach: Bob Boughner, second season
Leaders: F Logan Couture, F Tomas Hertl, D Erik Karlsson, D Brent Burns
Top newcomers: G Devan Dubnyk, F Ryan Donato, F John Leonard
Key departures: F Joe Thornton, F Melker Karlsson, G Aaron Dell
Analysis: The Sharks will be in the mix for a playoff spot this season if they stay healthy, if their best players can once again be elite, if they commit to defending well as a team, if they get better goaltending and if they can survive a road-heavy start. That’s a lot of ifs, but the Sharks feel as through they’ve taken steps to correct what happened last season. Some young faces will have to be relied on as well to contribute, but a playoff spot isn’t out of the question.
7. Anaheim Ducks 2019-2020 record:
29-33-9, sixth in Pacific Division
Coach: Dallas Eakins, second season
Leaders: F Ryan Getzlaf, F Adam Henrique, D Cam Fowler, G John Gibson
Top newcomers: D Kevin Shattenkirk, D Kodie Curran
Key departures: F Ondrej Kase, D Erik Gudbranson
Analysis: The Ducks expect to take a step forward this season and be in the mix for a playoff spot after they missed in 2019 and 2020. That might be wishful thinking on their part, at least for this season, but there should some excitement for the future. Forward Trevor Zegras and defenseman Jamie Drysdale have the potential to be stars in the NHL for a long time, and are just two of Anaheim’s promising prospects. Anaheim figures to be better overall, but appears to be a year or two away from contender status.
8. Los Angeles Kings 2019-2020 record:
29-35-6, seventh in Pacific Division
Coach: Todd McLellan, second season
Leaders: F Anze Kopitar, F Alex Iafallo, D Drew Doughty, G Jonathan Quick
Top newcomers: F Andreas Athanasiou, D Olli Maatta
Key departures: F Tyler Toffoli, F Kyle Clifford
Analysis: Like the Ducks, the Kings feel they’re ready to take a step forward after they missed the playoffs the last two seasons. They’ve injected younger players with more skill and speed into their lineup to go with some stalwarts who were around during their Cup runs. It’s fair to say L.A. will be better this year, but likely not good enough to be a serious playoff contender, although with a stockpile of young talent, that may not be the case much longer.