NHL Western Conference round one preview

NHL Western Conference round one preview

Who will advance to the second round?

By Ryan Mosher

VEGAS (April 16, 2024) —The NHL playoffs will start on Saturday April 20 and while all eight Western Conference spots have been filled, only one matchup has been determined thus far. The confirmed matchup is between the Winnipeg Jets and the Colorado Avalanche.

The Jets lead the Avalanche for second place in the Central Division by one point with Winnipeg having two games remaining and the Avs with one.

The Jets will most likely claim home-ice advantage as they play the Vancouver Canucks, who are one point away from clinching the Pacific Division and the Seattle Kraken, who have already been eliminated from playoff contention.

This series will be a battle of the No.1 ranked offense against the No.1 ranked defense. Nathan MacKinnon, Miko Rantanen and Cale Makar power Colorado’s offense that averages 3.67 goals per game. Connor Hellebuyck is the favorite to win the Veniza Trophy, the NHL’s best goalie, as he anchors the Jets defense that only allows 2.41 goals per game.

Ultimately, home-ice advantage, Hellebuyck and timely scoring from Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor will help the Jets win the series in seven games.

The Dallas Stars have clinched the No.1 seed in the Western Conference. They will play either the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights or the stingy Los Angeles Kings.

Dallas will have a tough matchup regardless of which team they play, but I believe they will win either series. The Stars have the best four-line forward lineup in the NHL. If the Stars play the Golden Knights and Mark Stone is healthy, then the series could go seven games. If not, Dallas beats Vegas or L.A. in five or six games.

The Vancouver Canucks need one point against the Calgary Flames or the Jets to claim the Pacific Division crown. If they do so, they will most likely play the Nashville Predators, but there is an outside chance they play the Golden Knights.

This will be the first time the Canucks see playoff action since the 2020 NHL postseason. Vancouver has made great progress with at least 107 points this season, a 24-point increase from last season. However, I believe the Canucks will be upset in the first round regardless of who they play, because of their lack of playoff inexperience.

The last series in the Western Conference features the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers had a slow start to the season, so they fired their Head Coach, Jay Woodcroft. Kris Knoblauch took over for Woodcroft and the Oilers have collected 46 wins and only 21 losses to finish the season.

The Oilers will play the Kings or Golden Knights in the first round. With Connor McDavid earning the first 100 assist season since Wanye Gretzky had 122 assists with the Kings in the 1990-91 season, and Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers have too much firepower on offense to lose in the first round.