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Offseason Power Rankings: Western Conference Shaping Up

By Skylar Peters |
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Brace yourselves, hockey fans.

Almost a month removed from the Chicago Blackhawks claiming the Stanley Cup, the ‘dog days’ of the NHL’s offseason are officially here. With more than seven weeks to go until training camps open, and the NHL draft, the opening of free agency, and even the majority of the trade market already behind us, we are in for a long, long summer.

With today being the one day of the year where no MLB, NHL, NBA, or NFL games will be played, it gives fans time to look, in either direction. Being the free-thinking writers that we are, we have decided to look forward. Today, we analyze what each of the 14 Western Conference teams have done to bolster their roster since the offseason began, and where that leaves them moving forward. Behold, our mid-July Western Conference Power Rankings:

No. 14: Arizona Coyotes

Who’s In: Antoine Vermette, Dylan Strome

Who’s Out: Mark Arcobello

It’s going to be a long winter in the desert.

Fresh off picking third overall in the draft this June, the Coyotes look like they’re aiming to outdo themselves next year. Auston Matthews, anyone?

The Coyotes will continue to lean on their aging core, and even re-added Antoine Vermette to the fold, signing the free agent after trading him to Chicago at last season’s trade deadline. The likes of Vermette, Shane Doan, and Mike Smith will play the role of ‘mentor’ this season, as the Coyotes have failed to take a step in the right direction competitively. They have yet to find a complement to Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and failing to qualify advanced-stats-crushing Arcobello just shows you which direction management will be heading this season.

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    • No. 13: San Jose Sharks

    Who’s In: Joel Ward, Martin Jones, Peter DeBoer

    Who’s Out: Antti Niemi

    The Sharks made the right move by letting go of Niemi, after being among the league leaders in minutes played for the past several seasons. However, they may not have gotten the best replacement available, in Jones. Jones himself is confident in his ability to be a starter, but will he be able to carry the load himself in the Bay this season, or will we see 50-50 duty with Alex Stalock? With the exception of goaltender, the Sharks are only getting older. Peter DeBoer will have to run a tight ship if the Sharks want to fight back into the playoffs, especially with a limited roster at hand.

    No. 12: Vancouver Canucks

    Who’s In: Brandon Prust, Matt Bartkowski

    Who’s Out: Kevin Bieksa, Eddie Lack, Zack Kassian

    Though the Canucks fought back into the post-season in 2014-15, their first-round exit may be a sign of a trend for the team moving forward. In the past two years, the Canucks have gone from Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider in goal, to Ryan Miller and… Thatcher Demko?

    Though the likes of Bo Horvat and Linden Vey provide the ‘Nucks with some upside, it certainly doesn’t look like enough to counter the sharp decline Vancouver has had defensively. If the Canucks want to return to the playoffs next year, Miller will have to have a Carey Price-like season, and/or the Canucks will have to pick up a first-pairing defenseman. Your move, Jim Benning.

    No. 11: Edmonton Oilers

    Who’s In: Connor McDavid, Andrej Sekera, Cam Talbot

    Who’s Out: Who cares? McDavid is in!

    The Oilers struck gold.

    Black gold, that is.

    Landing McDavid with the first overall pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft would be enough to make any team’s offseason. However, this is the Edmonton Oilers, and they haven’t been in the playoffs since Twitter was invented.

    Craig MacTavish didn’t rest on his laurels, and made several solid additions, including the likes of Sekera and Talbot, who give Oilers fans something to look forward to on the back-end, as well.

    The Oilers have had one of the best offseasons in the whole conference. However, we’ve been here before. Time will tell if our prediction is just about right, or if Edmonton can make a serious charge up the standings.

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    No. 10: Dallas Stars

    Who’s In: Antti Niemi, Patrick Sharp, Johnny Oduya, Stephen Johns

    Who’s Out: Ales Hemsky, Jhonas Enroth, Trevor Daley

    The Stars have been in one playoff series in the past six years. In that time, the Chicago Blackhawks have won 16 playoff series. Naturally, the Blackhawks seem like the team to do business with, and Jim Nill did just that.

    The Stars picked up Sharp, and although they didn’t have to give up much in return, he won’t come easy on the wallet, at $5.9 million. However, Sharp has far more upside than Shawn Horcoff and Hemsky, two forwards he is tasked with replacing. Though he was far from the main focus of the trade, Johns could make a statement with the Stars after patiently waiting for his time to make the NHL jump in the Blackhawks’ system.

    And Nill was not done in when it came to recruiting former Blackhawks. Oduya, who ruled out a return to the Blackhawks just yesterday, signed a two-year deal with Dallas today and will do more than replace Daley, who was sent to the Windy City on Friday night.

    The Stars have questions in the crease, with big money allotted to both Niemi and Kari Lehtonen. However, if the Stars can ice a formidable roster with some cap room to spare, this team could be in the hunt come trade deadline time.

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    • No. 9: Colorado Avalanche

    Who’s In: Francois Beauchemin, Mikhail Grigorenko, Carl Soderberg

    Who’s Out: Ryan O’Reilly

    The Avalanche looked to be on the right track after dumping O’Reilly’s big contract to the Eastern Conference and netting a decent return of Buffalo Sabres as well.

    However, they went right back to overspending, dropping over $4 million per year into a bottom-six center, Soderberg.

    So far, this offseason has all the makings of two years’ prior, if not better: With Beauchemin, Zach Redmond and Nikita Zadorov all in on defense, the Avalanche did what they could to beef up a ho-hum blue-line. However, this team could be in trouble if it wants to become a buyer at the deadline this year, and it will make for some crafty management.

    No. 8: Winnipeg Jets

    Who’s In: Alex Burmistrov

    Who’s Out: Michael Frolik

    With Frolik gone, the Jets certainly had money to spend, and they did so by signing Drew Stafford to a two-year deal. However, the big news out of the ‘Peg this summer is that Burmistrov will be back in the NHL, after defecting to his homeland after the Jets’ inaugural season.

    Unlike some of their Central Division rivals, the Jets still have money to spend, and so far, this team is looking very similar to the one that brought Stanley Cup playoff hockey back to Manitoba for the first time in 19 years, though it was only for two games.

    Providing Michael Hutchinson doesn’t experience a sophomore slump, the Jets will certainly be the darkhorse in the Central Division this season, with the ability to bolster their roster at any given time.

    No. 7: Nashville Predators

    Who’s In: Cody Hodgson, Barret Jackman

    Who’s Out: Matt Cullen

    The Preds have kept the risk low so far this summer, making a defensive depth addition in Jackman, and taking on a young forward in Hodgson who will have a chip on his shoulder after being bought out by the league’s worst team.

    Mike Ribeiro was apparently good enough to earn a contract extension, and Preds’ management did so without drastically overpaying, something their Central Division counterparts cannot say when it comes to depth centermen.

    David Poile is hedging his bets that next year’s Preds team can do the same thing that last season’s did: make it to the Stanley Cup playoffs. It seems reasonable, and with a full season of Pekka Rinne, the stars could be shining in Music City this winter.

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    No. 6: Minnesota Wild

    Who’s In: Mike Reilly

    Who’s Out: Sean Bergenheim, Matt Cooke

    The Wild look to be staying the course, and for good reason. Last season, it was good enough to not only get them in the playoffs, but to knock off the Central Division champions in the first round. With another season of playoff experience under their belt, the Wild’s goal should be simple in 2015-16: get back there.

    If Devan Dubnyk lives up to the high standard he set for himself last season, it’s almost a given, and the Wild could very easily be searching for a divisional playoff seed this time around, after falling just short of the last Central Division spot in the final week of the 2014-15 regular season.

    Between a free-agent signing in Reilly and re-upping Jonas Brodin, the Wild are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel defensively. However, it will be up to the aging veterans to carry the load, paving the way for the likes of Mikael Granlund in the years beyond.

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    • No. 5: Calgary Flames

    Who’s In: Michael Frolik, Dougie Hamilton

    Who’s Out: N/A

    The Flames are out to prove that last season’s march to the playoffs, and their second round, was far from a fluke. So far this summer, they have made all the right moves. The Flames picked up a top-six forward and potent penalty-killer in Frolik, while re-signing Mikael Backlund to a well-earned extension.

    However, Brad Treliving pulled off the wildest trade of the summer at the NHL draft, picking up soon-to-be-RFA Hamilton from the Boston Bruins for nothing but draft picks, voiding the offer sheet bound to be sent his way just a few days after, from the Flames’ rivals from northern Alberta.

    The Flames are officially a bottle rocket, and could do untold things in the Pacific Division next season. It may not have been as easy as getting your name pulled first in the draft lottery, but nonetheless, the Flames have had the biggest and best offseason of any Western Conference team.

    No. 4: Los Angeles Kings

    Who’s In: Milan Lucic, Jhonas Enroth

    Who’s Out: Andrej Sekera, Justin Williams, Mike Richards

    If you didn’t like the L.A. Kings before, you really won’t now.

    The addition of Lucic was an unexpected move, but one that makes perfect sense, in hindsight. Though a few short weeks ago it would not have been possible, GM Dean Lombardi is now free to move about the free-agent and trade markets, with his hands financially untied.

    The Kings were marred by problems no other team had to face in the past year, with multiple players landing in hot water with the law. Not only that, but the Kings saved Richards’ contract from a near-certain buyout, and instead nullified the near-$30 million remaining on his contract due to a “breach of term”

    Though that investigation is still ongoing, the Kings look like a team ready to rebound on the ice, after failing to make the playoffs and defend their 2014 Stanley Cup title. With added grit, they will certainly keep up in a tougher Pacific Division, and experience is no problem for this team. They won’t be the best in California next year, but they’ll certainly get some of their swagger back.

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    No. 3: Chicago Blackhawks

    Who’s In: Marko Dano, Trevor Daley, Artem Anisimov

    Who’s Out: Brandon Saad, Patrick Sharp, Johnny Oduya

    After the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2013, they iced a near-identical roster the next season, and almost defended their title.

    That won’t be the case this year, as the defending Stanley Cup Champions have taken a course very similar to the one they took in the summer of 2010, after winning their first of three championships in six years.

    The Blackhawks were and still are cap-strapped, and the trade of Sharp should have no one surprised. That of Saad, thought to be the face of the Blackhawks’ youth movement, was something that certainly had Blackhawks fans up in arms. However, with money already tight, and monster offer sheets looming on the pending RFA, Stan Bowman got a substantial return, instead of watching Saad walk out for nothing in just a matter of days.

    It remains to be seen whether the Blackhawks will put up a decent fight at defending their title next season, but at the end of the day, they still have a two-time Norris Trophy winner, the NHL’s best captain, an explosive American and, now, several Russians to fill the void. They should be okay.

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    • No. 2: St. Louis Blues

    Who’s In: Troy Brouwer

    Who’s Out: T.J. Oshie, Barret Jackman

    After the Blues failed yet again in the postseason, GM Doug Armstrong warned of big changes ahead. He wasn’t lying.

    The Blues bid goodbye to playoff underperformer Oshie, and netted the exact opposite in Brouwer: a proven contributor.

    The biggest news of the off-season in St. Louis, however, was the $60 million thrown at Vladimir Tarasenko, a Russian rocket with untapped potential. It will take just the right amount of influence from Ken Hitchcock, who is on a tight leash this season, but with just enough poking and prodding, the Blues could finally turn into the Stanley Cup contender we all thought they could have been for the past three years.

    No. 1: Anaheim Ducks

    Who’s In: Carl Hagelin, Kevin Bieksa

    Who’s Out: Matt Beleskey, Francois Beauchemin

    For the past two seasons, the Ducks have been the best team in the Western Conference once playoff time rolls around. If the first 15 days of July is any indication, that isn’t going to change, any time soon.

    Bob Murray has worked absolute magic in the Ducks’ front office thus far, making all the right moves, and doing so on the cheap.

    In fact, at one point, the Ducks had 20 roster players signed, and were just $200,000 over the cap floor. That’s not a typo.

    Now the Ducks have addressed their biggest need with the addition of Bieksa, and the combination of Hagelin and Andrew Cogliano will certainly make for the speediest 1-2 punch in the league.

    With the Kings still rebounding and the Blackhawks refreshing their roster, the path is clear for the 2015-16 edition of the Anaheim Ducks. They’ve gotten closer and closer to returning to the Stanley Cup Finals over the past several seasons. This year might just be the year they do so.

    Thanks for reading! For more Blackhawks conversation, follow us on Twitter: @Blackhawk_Up.

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