1. Vancouver Canucks
They’ll need to get over last years final failure
2. Calgary Flames
They’re still contenders, but the division is becoming more competitive
3. Minnesota Wild
An influx of offense should rejuvenate them
4. Colorado Avalanche
After going two steps backward last year they must leap forward
5. Edmonton Oilers
It will be another year before they will contend for the playoffs
Key Acquisitions
Canucks: F Marco Sturm
Flames: D Chris Butler
Wild: F Dany Heatley, F Devin Setoguchi
Avalanche: G Semyon Varlamov, G J.S. Giguere
Oilers: F Ryan Smyth, F Eric Belanger
Team Previews
Vancouver
There has been a lot of time for the Canucks to think about what happened in the last two games of the Stanley Cup Finals last year. It’s hard to say that Vancouver won’t make it back, but they have a lot of soul searching to do. First is with goaltender Roberto Luongo. More concerns are coming up that he can never win the Stanley Cup. That still remains to be seen because he can still get the job done by getting Vancouver back into the playoffs. They decided to stand pat with the roster that took them to the Stanley Cup Finals last year. Henrik and Daniel Sedin are still among the best players in the NHL. Their playoff performances though will damage their reputations going forward. Ryan Kesler would be on the top line of the other 29 teams in the league, but he fits in perfectly with the Canucks top two lines. Alex Burrows was a pest during the playoffs and will look to continue his upward trend. Whether Mason Raymond and Mikael Samuelsson can have better scoring seasons will be the key to their offense. Their depth on the blue-line is still staggering. Kevin Bieksa and Dan Hamhuis form a terrific duo and Alex Edler complements Vancouver’s power play with excellent precision.
Calgary
They had a rough going last year, but remained competitive even after firing GM Darryl Sutter halfway into the season. This year the roster looks the same, but are counting too much on aging veterans to make another run at the playoffs. Jarome Iginla is still a productive force for the Flames. Him and Alex Tanguay formed a good duo last year and the Flames re-signed Tanguay to keep that chemistry going. Whether they can ever get anything out of Olli Jokinen remains to be seen, but they expect more of the same from Rene Bourque and Curtis Glencross with their 20+ goal seasons. Calgary invested a lot in defenseman Jay Bouwmeester and they haven’t yet seen that investment come to fruition. Anton Babchuk and Mark Giordano had great seasons, but it will be overlooked if Bouwmeester has another down year after wanting out of Florida for so many years. Goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff is still playing in a lot of games at this stage in his career. The Flames will have to keep him fresh if they are to end their two year drought in the playoffs.
Minnesota
A big splash was made in two separate deals between Minnesota and San Jose this offseason. The Wild gave San Jose Brent Burns in exchange for Devin Setoguchi in a draft day deal. Then into the free agency period the Wild dealt Martin Havlat to San Jose for Dany Heatley. The deal that brought Setoguchi fulfilled needs for both teams, but the deal that brought Heatley was a surprise. For one no one thought that they would be able to deal Havlat and his contract. And two who thought they would be able to get one of the best scorers in the process? Heatley’s two years in San Jose weren’t spectacular by any stretch. They expected him to play big in the playoffs and he fell flat. With Heatley and Setoguchi playing on the top line with Mikko Koivu it will instantly bring life to Minnesota’s offense. Far less pressure playing in Minnesota than in San Jose. Nick Schultz is their top defenseman on the blue-line now that Burns is gone. Schultz isn’t an offensive force, but can manage the teams attack. Niklas Backstrom had a nice bounce back season in net for the Wild, but his record indicates that there was no support from the offense. That should change this year.
Colorado
The expectations were getting to this young team last year and it showed down the stretch. The peculiar deadline trade of Kevin Shattenkirk and Chris Stewart to St. Louis for Erik Johnson and Jay McClement brought more angst than relief. Going forward this year the Avalanche believe that they are poised to get back into contention with a fresh start. Young stars Matt Duchene and Ryan O’Reilly have to shake off their struggles from last year. Paul Stastny and David Jones should continue to provide support with Duchene and O’Reilly on the top two lines. With Erik Johnson now charged with leading the defense he must start living up to is billing as the number one overall pick in 2006. Another problem in the Rocky Mountains was their goaltending. They believe they’ve solved that problem with the additions of Semyon Varlamov and J.S. Giguere. Both have had trouble staying healthy for a full season. The Avs believe that with both of them sharing the load in net that they will stay healthy for what Colorado hopes is a playoff run.
Edmonton
The Oilers are going about their rebuilding project the right way. They have two stars in the making in Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who will eventually bring Edmonton back into the playoffs. They haven’t been to the playoffs since 2006, the year in which they lost in the Stanley Cup Finals. Looking at them now they have good pieces in place to remain competitive and stay out of the cellar in the Western Conference. Bringing back Ryan Smyth won’t make a big impact for the Oilers, but it will help in bringing along the young players. Eric Belanger is a great playmaker and will help win important faceoffs throughout the game. Taylor Hall led the team in goals scored last year and should approach the 30 goal plateau this year. If Shawn Horcoff and Ales Hemsky can remain healthy for more than 40 games it will put less pressure on Sam Gagner and Jordan Eberle to repeat their early success last year. Ryan Whitney is becoming a mainstay on the blue-line, but health has become a problem for him. Tom Gilbert is another big body who was a good producer on the point when Whitney was out. They’ll have to find a new goalie soon. Nikolai Khabibulin is nearing the end of his career. Waiting in the wings is the 6-6 Devan Dubnyk who put up good numbers in 35 games last year.
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