Most likely to least likely team to reach the finals in the Western Conference? Rank them

[Regal]

I think it's pretty funny how last year people commonly ranked Vegas around 4-6 while I felt that was their year. While this year I feel like they're going to bomb and there's a lot of people that have them top 3. Not to say I think I'm right (and some genius) and they're wrong necessarily. Just amusing to see the shift.

Vegas hasn’t seemed like themselves most of the year, so I think there’s a definite chance they flame out, but I think their potential makes them one of the best bets simply because if they turn it on, they can go far.

Canucks played 0 games against the Oilers that featured a remotely healthy McDavid and still probably only deserved to win 1 of them. Not to say that Demko still couldn't end up stealing a series anyways.

Obviously things might have been different with healthy McDavid, but to be this delusional is f***ing hilarious

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Vegas
Dallas
Colorado
Edmonton
Vancouver
Winnipeg
Nashville
LA

 

[Regal]

I'll just go in order of 5v5 xGF% since the TDL:

Nashville (2nd)
Dallas (3rd)
Edmonton (5th)
LA (6th)
Vegas (7th)
Colorado (8th)
Vancouver (9th)
Winnipeg (12th)

Personal bias as far as raw talent evaluation and playoff experience is that Colorado and Vegas should be higher up the list, Edmonton and Nashville should be lower.

Too lazy to look but is that among all teams or just the west? Kinda crazy the west would have 7 of the top 9

 

[syz]

Obviously things might have been different with healthy McDavid, but to be this delusional is f***ing hilarious

Expected goals in the season series were 16-12 for Edmonton. With McDavid and Ekholm on one leg for 3 of them and McDavid absent for another. The 8-1 game to start the season was the only one the Canucks actually had the advantage there.

But hey Skinner has proven that he's good at letting in more goals than expected, especially come playoff time, so maybe the Canucks would continue to PDO their way through.

 

[Three On Zero]

Would be nice to play Edmonton at sometime during the playoffs, may be the easiest series the Canucks could get. Just need to co time the 4 game dominance from the regular season.

Neither team is likely making it out of the West though

 

[Regal]

Expected goals in the season series were 16-12 for Edmonton. With McDavid and Ekholm on one leg for 3 of them and McDavid absent for another. The 8-1 game to start the season was the only one the Canucks actually had the advantage there.

But hey Skinner has proven that he's good at letting in more goals than expected, especially come playoff time, so maybe the Canucks would continue to PDO their way through.

Expected goals were out of whack from score effects in the first and they’re not great measurements over small samples anyway. The idea that the 8-1 game was close based on expected goals isn’t routed in reality. It was very clear who deserved the 1st and 3rd games. The 2nd and 4th were close.

Not that any of those games ultimately matter, but the Canucks don’t need to rely on Demko to beat the Oilers. They’re one of the better matchups for them because the team doesn’t have trouble creating against their defense like they do with LA and Vegas. Not that the Oilers are a worse team than them, but a better matchup for sure

 

[MVP of West Hollywd]

1. Colorado
2. Dallas
3. Edmonton
4. Vegas
5. Nashville
6. Vancouver
7. Winnipeg
8. LA

 

[Bunch of Jurcos]

I think if Colorado had even mediocre goaltending, the 2nd round vs Dallas would be the de facto WCF.

Instead Vegas will embrace the heel turn by using Bloodline rules, Stone will do a run in, and hit Dallas with the Cup, while the ref isn’t looking to pick up the 1,2,3. Book Vegas for another trip to the main event of NHL Wrestlemania.

Time for Carolina to finish the story.

 

[syz]

Expected goals were out of whack from score effects lol. It was very clear who deserved those games

Again, untrue beyond the 1st game of the season, and it's weird how often I've seen Canucks fans bring it up this year.

2nd game was tied pretty much all night and the Oilers had a 75% HDCF% and the expected goals were 5-2, but the Canucks get a fluke goal from a bad angle in the 3rd despite only managing 1 high danger chance the entire period to win.

3rd game the Canucks leave the 1st period with a 3-1 lead despite only a 36% HDCF and 37% xGF% and then the Oilers kinda just went away the rest of the night. Expected goals here ended up even.

4th game pretty much the same thing; Oilers dominated the 1st period but still managed to trail 1-0 after a late goal against. Rest of the game was basically even in every stat.

 

[Mad Dog Tannen]

I dunno, I'm not the one calling him elite offensively and defensively

You’re the one calling into question he isn’t. You started the call out. He seems pretty elite to me unless you have something that proves otherwise. It’s not up to others to disprove your wild claims. Provide your own proof.

 

[Johnny Tomala]

1. Dallas
2. Colorado
3. Vegas
4. Edmonton
5. Vancouver
6. Winnipeg
7. Los Angeles
8. Nashville

 

[Mr Positive]

1. Edmonton (this is our year, and not saddled with last year's D system)
2. Vegas (Adding Hertl and Hanfin in particular is no joke)
3. Dallas (Amazing team. I especially love the D and goaltending)
4. Colorado (they are not in their cup winning form)
5. Winnipeg (so hard to gauge this team. Too hot and cold)
6. Vancouver (seem like a regular season team to me, but they have a good path)
7. Nashville (the recent slump is concerning, but they got great elements)
8. Los Angeles (they downgraded from last year)

 

[Ratbath]

1. Dallas - depth, consistency
2. Oil - pageantry
3. Winnipeg - clicking at the right time
4. Vancouver - good enough to beat anybody
5. Vegas - I don't have much faith that this team is actually healthy enough or has enough chemistry to get out of the first round but if they do then they probably become my top choice to take it all.
6. Avs - goalie/defense issues make me think they're not going to see round two. but they're also obviously dangerous if they can get some momentum going.
7. Nash - not buying it
8. kings

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

1. Dallas
2. Edmonton
3. Winnipeg
4. Vegas
5. Vancouver
6. Colorado
7. Nashville
8. Los Angeles

 

[BurnabyJoe7]

Dallas
Vegas
Jets

Van, Avs, Oilers

Nashville
LA

Goaltending is what always proves to be most important unless you're a juggernaut like the 2022 avs. And I don't think a team is so above and beyond the competition like that this year.

Avs are lower because of their questionable goaltending while I would have the Canucks higher if they had more recent playoff experience. Most teams don't win more than a round or two without conquering some demons and struggling for a few years in a row.

Jets and Dallas have been playoff bound for a while now and have some experienced vets along with great goaltending.

LA and and Nashville are no slouches either and could be dark horses.

Will be a fun few rounds out West this year.

 

[BoJet]

I aggregated all the responses so far. Here are the results (0-7 points each):

Dallas 210
Vegas 148
Edmonton 142
Winnipeg 125
Colorado 122
Vancouver 80
Nashville 44
Los Angeles 25

 

[Bronson]

Dallas for me. Insane depth and loads of experience.

 

[The Tourist]

Dallas
Vegas
Vancouver
Colorado
Winnipeg
Edmonton
Nashville
LA

 

[Trash Panda]

I aggregated all the responses so far. Here are the results (0-7 points each):

Dallas 210
Vegas 148
Edmonton 142
Winnipeg 125
Colorado 122
Vancouver 80
Nashville 44
Los Angeles 25

Tbh, HF has been too Kind to the Kings.

They should have 0.

-Lifelong Kings fan.

 

[Praetorian Caps]

I think this could be the year that Edmonton makes it to the cup final IF Dallas is out in the first round by Vegas.

There's only two teams in the west that I see can shut down McDavid and Draisaitl (at least the best they can), that's Dallas and Vegas. They have the tools up front and on the backend to get the job done.

McDavid and Draisaitl can and has overcome Vegas and Dallas defenses before. And if they meet either of them I would feel they could shred them as easily as The Knights or Stars could stop them; leaving the series at 50/50.

Vancouver, on the other hand, has been the Edmonton's kryptonite all season. In their final season clash they employ a well structured team game that forced plays to the perimeter and always covered the high-danger scoring areas. They allow point shots, but those were low percentage. The Oilers scored on one of them and it was just two small fried shrimps out of a big platter of crap The Oil had to eat. They generated a good number of attempts, but they weren't a threat to score. And this was with Demko, one of the best goalies in the game, out. Any decent goalie would have won the Vancouver that game, looking like a Venzina Trophy winner; Demko playing against then will make it even harder for McDavid and company to mount their usual offense.

The Canucks are a bad match-up for The Oilers and it be would vacillating for them playing them in the playoffs. They aren't as talented as the Edmonton, but they are crafty and more disciplined. And I'm a Connor McDavid fan who wants to see his team do well in the postseason, but I'm keeping it real.

 

[jeffff]

Dallas
Edmomton

Colorado
Winnipeg

Vegas
Vancouver

Nashville
LA

I actually believe if there is one team that could get swept or lose in 5....its Vancouver. Over the years there have been many top regular season teams that do nothing in the playoffs, I can see it happening to them. 3 of their 4 best players are too soft. Playoffs are a different animal with regards to physicality.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Vegas
Dallas
Winnipeg
Edmonton
Nashville
Colorado
Vancouver
LA


LA is the only team that I think has basically no shot.

 

[WestCoast CyberG]

Again, untrue beyond the 1st game of the season, and it's weird how often I've seen Canucks fans bring it up this year.

2nd game was tied pretty much all night and the Oilers had a 75% HDCF% and the expected goals were 5-2, but the Canucks get a fluke goal from a bad angle in the 3rd despite only managing 1 high danger chance the entire period to win.

3rd game the Canucks leave the 1st period with a 3-1 lead despite only a 36% HDCF and 37% xGF% and then the Oilers kinda just went away the rest of the night. Expected goals here ended up even.

4th game pretty much the same thing; Oilers dominated the 1st period but still managed to trail 1-0 after a late goal against. Rest of the game was basically even in every stat.

Put away your stats and excuses, Vancouver owned Edmonton in all 4 games….they couldn’t beat our backup goalie! Twice!

“…but…but…McDavid and the xGF%……”

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Dallas
Vegas

Colorado
Vancouver
Winnipeg
Edmonton
Nashville
LA

 

[ayoshi]

Again, untrue beyond the 1st game of the season, and it's weird how often I've seen Canucks fans bring it up this year.

2nd game was tied pretty much all night and the Oilers had a 75% HDCF% and the expected goals were 5-2, but the Canucks get a fluke goal from a bad angle in the 3rd despite only managing 1 high danger chance the entire period to win.

3rd game the Canucks leave the 1st period with a 3-1 lead despite only a 36% HDCF and 37% xGF% and then the Oilers kinda just went away the rest of the night. Expected goals here ended up even.

4th game pretty much the same thing; Oilers dominated the 1st period but still managed to trail 1-0 after a late goal against. Rest of the game was basically even in every stat.

Okay so Edmonton wins the xGF% season series 3-1.

Vancouver wins the win/loss season series 4-0.

Fair enough, but ultimately only one of these matter.