I still don't see San Jose coming out of the West. Detroit, Chicago, and perhaps Vancouver will be better teams. The Sharks are still too loose defensively and have never had a stud playoff goalie. Thornton and Marleau did show me some spunk this past year, but I don't like this team come May/June.
Detroit is always there, but it seems eventually age will end up being as big as a question mark as their goaltending. I don't expect another return to the finals from the Nucks. They are way too small and soft on the wing. Throw in the hangover from the mid June run this year and it is going to setup as a much more difficult season for Vancouver. The Hawks are the team to watch. IMO on paper they have a better roster than the Sharks and the long rest this spring and summer will do wonders for their team. Like most teams in the West, they have goaltending questions.
Would you rather have:
Thornton
Marleau
Havlat
Couture
Pavelski
Clowe
Boyle
Burns
Niemi
or
Toews
Kane
Sharp
Hossa
Bolland
Brunette
Keith
Seabrook
Crawford
as your top 9 players?
I'll take the boys from the Windy city. That doesn't include the intangibles like team defense, special teams, and coaching. The only advantage for the Sharks is the fact that they should win their division and secure at least a #2 seed. Either Chicago or Detroit will be the 4th seed.
There are two teams in the West that could surprise if most of their questions are answered in the positive. They are Los Angeles and St. Louis. The Kings have two excellent, balanced lines with a nice mix of speed and size. Will they all mesh? Does Johnson mature to give the Kings another stud d-man to go with Doughty? Is Quick a legit goalie or just a dude that can take a big workload without being able to steal a series in the spring?
The Blues could have three good, but not great scoring lines. If Berglund continues his ascent and Stewart stays healthy, their goal production will soar. Throw in a committed Oshie to go with the excellent two way play of Backes and you can see a scenario where this team has success. McDonald is still fleet of foot and produces decent numbers. Langenbrunner and Arnott gives this team the veteran depth forward leadership it has lacked. The biggest if is David Perron. If for some reason he comes back at complete health before the spring, he can transform this team into a contender. The problem they have is on the blue line. They really need to add a veteran dman that can play in all situations. They have plenty of prospects to dangle at the trade deadline if need be. Halak has to prove he is a true #1 goalie that can play 65+ games and carry his team for stretch when the rest of the team is in a funk. I believe the long summers rest will do him wonders. Last year he came off a short summer, switched teams (and conferences) and didn't play up to snuff. No excuses this year for him.
Nashville is Nashville. Gritty and overachieving to go with perhaps the best goalie in the West and two stud dmen, but ultimately not nearly enough forwards to be a threat to win the conference.
Anaheim is intriguing, but is another team that must change its style to do well in the postseason. Team defense must come first. They give up way too many good scoring chances and play too much in their own zone to be have chance to go deep in the playoffs.
I'll take Chicago out of the West.
Don't have time to go into detail of the East teams, but I will say that the 3 longer shot teams I would look at are Montreal, New Jersey, and Buffalo. I still like the two PA teams over the Caps even though I like the grit the Caps added up front. Vokoun is the savior huh? 35 years old and has a total of 3 playoff wins!! The man has only played in 11 playoff games. Has he played on some shitty teams? Yes, but let's not forget he was the goalie on the one Nashville team (2007) that was loaded, and he fell flat against the Sharks that year. Another unproven playoff player for the Caps roster.