Honda NHL West Division
The Avalanche have spent the past few years ascending from worst team to top Cup contender. After suffering Game 7 losses in the second round in back-to-back years, is it Nathan MacKinnon and Co.’s time? ... After reaching the final four but coming up empty in two of their first three seasons, the Golden Knights took another big swing by signing St. Louis star defenseman Alex Pietrangelo to a monster deal in free agency. ... The stumbled through play in the bubble but prior to the shutdown had the secondmost points in the NHL, though
Pietrangelo is gone and winger Vladimir Tarasenko is expected to miss the start of the season .... What kind of team do the Wild want to be? They fired Bruce Boudreau last season, a move that seemingly signaled the start of a rebuild – except they had a strong showing under interim (and now permanent) coach Dean Evason before the pandemic shutdown but really don’t have a path to achieve the necessary salary cap flexibility to tear it all down. ... The made the conference finals two seasons ago, but the depth of that team has diminished (Joe Thornton is gone), the core continues to get
older and there doesn’t seem to be an answer in goal. ... A team stuck in transition, the Ducks have aging talent matched with young, largely unproven prospects, though the team could potentially find itself in contention if goalie John Gibson has a bounce-back season ... The Coyotes have been a franchise in turmoil off the ice lately, which doesn’t seem to bode well for a team that’s hardly inspired much reason for excitement on it. ... It’s going to be a rough season for the Kings, but with one of the best prospect pools, better days seem not too far away.
– Jace Evans, USA TODAY Sports