As the first puck drop of the season is upon us, and the 2019 Stanley Cup Champion St Louis Blues have hoisted their banner before they face off with the 2018 Champion Washington Capitals. Let's take a quick look into how the 2019-2020 Western Conference contenders will faring this season.
A major trade this offseason was the San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski leaving for the Dallas Stars. The Dallas team did very well last postseason and beat expectations, pushing the eventual Stanley Cup Champion St Louis Blues out to a game seven double overtime in round two. The Stars goalie Ben Bishop gave his all, saving 52 shots in his final performance of the season. With a new leader in the building, Pavelski has a lot to contribute to an already solid team. If Pavelski is able to elevate the Stars’ offensive game, they will be a force to be reckoned with in the West.
Losing Pavelski was a tough blow for the San Jose Sharks, who were also posed to lose longtime Shark Joe Thornton and Erik Karlsson who appeared to be leaving after his contract was up. Luckily for the Sharks, they were able to retain both players, Joe Thornton eventually signing a 1-year contract and Karlsson for a $92 million 8-year contract. There was a lot of buzz when Karlsson first signed with the Sharks, yet an injury riddled season, and postseason left him mostly benched. Along with fellow defenseman Brent Burns, the Sharks have a strong lineup of defensemen who can make plays and score. New Captain, Logan Couture, had a strong 70 point season last year along with Tomas Hertl at 74. The Sharks biggest risk is their goaltender Martin Jones, who played some strong games but was incredibly inconsistent for the team.
The San Jose Sharks recent rival Vegas Golden Knights are one of the biggest threats this season in the Western Conference. In the controversial round one game seven, where the Sharks came back, scoring 4 goals during a 5 minute major against the Knights. The Knights have one of the best goaltenders in the league, Marc-André Fleury. Mark Stone was a key factor who was signed for an 8-year contact late in the season. Despite not playing a full season, his skills showed in the playoffs, with 6 goals and 12 points in the 7 game series. At the top of the pack is Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson. With a strong offense in front of an excellent goalie makes Vegas a strong Stanley Cup contender.
The St Louis Blues won the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history. With the firing of their head coach and the introduction of rookie goalie, Jordan Bennington, being the turning point of last season, the Blues look to continue their historic run. Ryan O’Reilly and Vladamir Tarasanko, the leading point scorers of the team are strong offensive players who can elevate and motivate the team to continued greatness. Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo is good with the puck and is a leading point scorer as well. Matching their last season’s performance will be a tough task for the team but after achieving the seemingly impossible, the Blues will certainly be a Stanley Cup contender this season.
The Nashville Predators fans have a lot to look forward to this season as they acquired Matt Duchene in the offseason. The two time All Star center may have slowed down since his earlier years but performed well with the Blue Jackets last postseason, getting 5 goals and 5 assists in 10 games. Viktor Arvidsson led the teams in goals last season, setting a franchise record despite an injury that limited the number of games he played. It is safe to say that if he stays healthy that Arvidsson will continue to elevate his game and have another record season. Ryan Johansen led the team with points, having one of his best seasons of his career. Several strong players on the Predators should be able to secure the team a playoff spot and put them on good footing on a run for the Cup.
The Colorado Avalanche are one of the strongest point scoring teams in the Western Conference. Nathan MacKinnon was the 7th highest point scorer in the league last season with 99 points, just below Sidney Crosby. Just below is his teammate Mikko Rantanen with 87 points and Gabriel Landeskog with 75. The Avalanche faced a goaltender crisis midway through last season, eventually favoring current starting goalie Phillip Grubauer. The Avalanche also have new players looking to make a big difference this season, Cale Makar joined the team mid-playoffs and proved he could handle himself against fierce competition, scoring his first NHL goal and totalling 6 points in his 10 playoff games. The Avalanche have the makings of a top notch team this season with their superstar power. If they are able to create a reliable team with secondary scoring power, they just may be all the way to the finals this season.
The Flames gave a strong performance in the regular season last year with their best season in decades, finishing with 50 wins and 107 points. Johnny Gaudreau led the team in points with 99, followed closely by 4 other players, all over 70 points for the season. With that strong talent on top, the team is able to win games. Their issue is finding a reliable goalie. They split last season with both of their goalies in the net before settling on Mike Smith, who despite their round one loss, held up well in goal. Losing Smith in the offseason and acquiring Cam Talbot to be the backup after last season’s David Rittich appears setup to take the starting spot. The Flames issue in the playoffs came down to offense despite their leading points scorers. Will the Flames be able to continue their strong regular season offense into this upcoming postseason.
My prediction of the Western Conference playoff teams looks very similar to last season with the top pack of Knights, Avalanche, Predators, Flames, Sharks, Blues, and Stars. The Jets may be the one change this season and leave a spot for an up and coming team who fights hard from the bottom.
In the Central, I predict a fierce battle between the Avalanche and the Predators for the top spot, ultimately going to the Avalanche. In the Pacific, the Golden Knights will be the dominating team who will be on top by quite a comfortable lead compared to the other teams in the division.
While it’s still very early to know how the 2019 Playoffs will definitely shape up, but it is fun to take a look at the teams players and speculate. I will be closely follow these teams and players as they give their everything in the quest for the Cup this season. If this season resembles anything like the recent past, we are in for surprises, upsets and a lot of hard fought games.
