The dust has settled in the West, for now. The matchups in the Western Conference for the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs are locked in and two months of chaos, heartbreak, and legend will commence. The Vegas Golden Knights have a chance to defend their championship. Dallas is the top seed in the conference for the first time since 2016. A trilogy will be completed. Read up on the Eastern Conference here, but before that, it’s time to head out West. Stats used are per MoneyPuck and ESPN.
(C1) Dallas Stars vs. (WC2) Vegas Golden Knights
Things got dicey for the Knights at times, but the defending champions are defending still. The Knights might be the most stacked wild card team in a long time. This team still has a lot of top-level players and brought in even more talent at the trade deadline: Tomas Hertl, Noah Hanifin, and Anthony Mantha. In addition, Mark Stone looks to return from a spleen injury.
Jonathan Marchessault followed up his Conn Smythe-winning postseason with a 42-goal campaign, good for 11th in the league (tied with Sidney Crosby and Mikko Rantanen). Jack Eichel (31-37-68) still played at a point-per-game rate in an abbreviated season. The question lies in goaltending. Can Adin Hill, who has stopped -0.7 goals above expected (GSAx) at five-on-five (5v5), step up like he did last year?
This Knights team will need to play near-perfect against what may be the best Dallas Stars team ever. This Stars team has had several revelations. Wyatt Johnston posted a 30+-goal season in just his second year of pro hockey. Tyler Seguin posted his best season points-wise since the pandemic. Thomas Harley shattered his offensive records in his first full season.
Jake Oettinger of Dallas has had a subpar season, posting a GSAx of -5.5 at 5v5. He has been an X-factor in recent postseasons, can he do it again?
This might be the closest thing to a Stanley Cup Final-worthy first-round matchup. The 2024 Western Conference has eight really good teams and these two teams may be the two best in the West.
- 2023: Vegas 4-2 Dallas (Conference Final)
- 2020: Vegas 1-4 Dallas (Conference Final)
(C2) Winnipeg Jets vs. (C3) Colorado Avalanche
These two teams meet in the playoffs for the first time ever and there is a lot of intrigue on both ends. Connor Hellebuyck is the main reason this Jets team is as good as it is. He leads the NHL in GSAx at 5v5 with 28.2. The next closest goaltender is Anthony Stolarz with 18.9.
Winnipeg also boasts a well-rounded forward core. Mark Scheifele (25-47-72) paced the Jets in points again, Kyle Connor (34-27-61) and trade deadline pickup Tyler Toffoli (33-22-55 with Jets and New Jersey) both found the back of the net more than 30 times. They’ve contributed to the highest-scoring Winnipeg Jets team since the 2018-19 season.
Colorado is still strong, but has several question marks. Jonathan Drouin was ruled out of the first round. Alexandar Georgiev’s -0.9 GSAx at 5v5 is not an encouraging sign for the future in net for Colorado. They need him to step up, but he is not the only one the Avalanche will be counting on.
Nathan MacKinnon was close to winning the Art Ross race, finishing the season at a 51-89-140 line in 82 games. He has 100 points in 77 playoff games. Colorado will need him to shine, especially if Gabriel Landeskog does not return as he is rumored to.
(P1) Vancouver Canucks vs. (WC1) Nashville Predators
This may be the lowest-scoring series of the playoffs. Each game will come down to which elite goaltender blinks first: Nashville’s Juuse Saros or Vancouver’s Thatcher Demko. Saros is having a down year by his standards but is still highly capable of locking down any team. Demko is on the up and up this year with 9.7 GSAx at 5v5.
Both teams have an elite left-shot offensive defenseman. For Vancouver, Quinn Hughes (17-75-92) set career highs in goals, assists, and points. He may be taking home the Norris trophy in a couple of months. On Nashville’s side, Roman Josi (23-62-85) posted the second-best season points-wise in his career. He also matched his career-high in goals. If one of these teams is to break through, it’s likely off a pass from one of these guys.
What Vancouver has that Nashville has less of, though, is scoring depth. As a team, the Canucks are ninth in the league in goals and have five forwards with 20 goals compared to the Predators’ three. While Vancouver’s goalscoring is more spread out, Nashville has relied on Filip Forsberg (48-46-94) in that department. If the depth does not come through for the Predators, this may be a quick series.
- 2011: Canucks 4-2 Predators (Second Round)
(P2) Edmonton Oilers vs. (P3) Los Angeles Kings
Episode three of the Oilers-Kings Western Conference First Round trilogy is upon the hockey world in 2024. In the first series, Los Angeles squandered a 3-2 series lead. In the second series, the Kings surrendered a 2-1 series lead and a 3-0 lead in Game 4 en route to Edmonton winning three straight.
Connor McDavid reached 100 assists on the season in a slightly abbreviated schedule. In other words, it was just another day at the office. Zach Hyman shattered his career high in goals with 54, pacing the Oilers. Evan Bouchard (18-64-82) also broke his personal best in points with ease. This Oilers team can score at will, nothing else is new.
As for Los Angeles, this year has seen the emergence of several forwards Adrian Kempe (28-47-75), Quinton Byfield (20-35-55), and Trevor Moore (31-26-57) all hit career benchmarks in scoring. They’ve steadied out since firing Todd McLellan and bringing in Jim Hiller, allowing the third-fewest goals in the league.
This matchup may also come down to goaltending. Can Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner (1.8 GSAx at 5v5) pull together a string of good games? Will Cam Talbot (1.9 GSAx at 5v5) stay steady or fall apart? This series will likely be a high-scoring affair, so buckle up. Eight teams remain in the Western Conference, only one will compete for the 2024 Stanley Cup.
- 2023: Oilers 4-2 Kings (First Round)
- 2022: Oilers 4-3 Kings (First Round)
- 1992: Kings 2-4 Oilers (First Round)
- 1991: Kings 2-4 Oilers (Second Round)
- 1990: Oilers 4-0 Kings (Second Round)
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