NHL Predictions: Forecasting the Western Conference Standings for 2012

It is hard to predict the outcome of the 2012 Western Conference on Day 6 of NHL free agency, but we can get a decent idea of how these teams will stack up against each other at the end of next season given the moves of the last week.

In 2010-11, the Vancouver Canucks won the Western Conference, both in the regular season and in the playoffs, only to be upset by the defensive-minded Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup finals.

In the offseason, Vancouver needed to focus solely on their free agents, consisting of defensemen Kevin Bieksa, Christian Ehrhoff and Sami Salo.

They re-signed the veteran Salo, lost Ehrhoff in a monster deal with Buffalo and salvaged Bieksa.

It is for that reason that the Canucks will be back and ready to contend in 2011-12.

The San Jose Sharks have also done some housekeeping of their own in the Western Conference.

Back-to-back Western Conference final defeats were not enough for GM Doug Wilson, so he re-tooled.  In two separate deals with the Minnesota Wild, the Sharks traded Devin Setoguchi and Dany Heatley for Brent Burns and Martin Havlat.

The Sharks acquired stability on the defense, as well as a speedy winger for a cheap price.

The Wild got exactly what they wanted out of the deal by acquiring two offensively-gifted players who can be a part of their team for a long time.

There were plenty of shake-ups in the Western Conference during free agency and, although it is not over yet, we have a pretty good idea as to who will contend and who will not in 2011-12.

15. Edmonton Oilers

Aside from the fact that the Edmonton drafted Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, the Oilers have had a pretty active first week of free agency.

On July 1, they signed Ben Eager, Andy Sutton, Eric Belanger, Cam Barker, Darcy Hordichuk and Corey Potter, as well as acquiring Ryan Smyth from the Los Angeles Kings.

Although these are excellent moves to revamp a roster that just could not cut it last season, it will take more than that to escape last place in the Western Conference next season.

14. Colorado Avalanche

In 2011, the world saw what Matt Duchene could do on the ice, leading the Avalanche in both goals and assists.

However, it was the goalie situation that needed the most improvement in the offseason.

After a 2011 in which Peter Budaj allowed 3.20 goals per game, it was time to move on.

Colorado did just that by signing goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere. 

Later that day, they traded with the Capitals for Semyon Varlamov.

Overkill?

Now the debate in Colorado is about who will start in net.

Maybe a good problem to have, but after a year in which the leading goal scorer tallied 27 goals, offensive production should be a focus.

13. Colombus Blue Jackets

Day 1 of NHL free agency brought a little uncertainty to Colombus.  They signed the risky James Wisniewski and bought out the contract of Mike Commodore.

The deal with Wisniewski was for six years and $33 million, including a $5.5 million annual cap hit.

A definite hit-or-miss move for GM Scott Howson, and one that will either set the team back a few years or nudge them forward next season.

However, not much help was given to forward Rick Nash, who led the team in both goals and assists last season, so expect much of the same in 2011-12.

12. St. Louis Blues

It has been a rather disappointing free agency period for the Blues, who were strapped with cash heading into July 1 with the hopes of possibly landing a wealthy name.

However, the best they could do was fill the needs they had by signing T.J. Oshie, Jamie Langenbrunner, pesky Scott Nichol and Jason Arnott, to name a few.

However, a middle of the pack team remained at the middle of the pack with the few significant deal that they pursued so far in free agency.

11. Dallas Stars

The Stars knew what was coming and were rather prepared to handle the first day of free agency.

Brad Richards was gong to sign elsewhere and the feeling in Dallas was that they need to be active.  They accomplished that by signing six free agents on Day 1, including Michael Ryder, Vernon Fiddler, Jake Dowell, Radek Dvorak, Sheldon Souray and Adam Pardy.

Even though the Stars still have players like Brenden Morrow and Jamie Benn to go with Mike Ribiero, it is going to be hard replacing center Brad Richards.

10. Phoenix Coyotes

The one stable asset the Coyotes had last season is headed to Philadelphia without much of a retort, which is a cause for concern in Phoenix.

The Coyotes suffered the loss of goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov to the Flyers and replaced him with free agent Mike Smith. 

Although Smith will keep this team above float, for the most part, there is no replacing Bryzgalov.

Phoenix did land former Canuck Raffi Torres, but little else was done to ease the pain of this free agency.

9. Calgary Flames

After spending all that energy to attempt to acquire center Brad Richards, it seems that the Flames are out of gas in Free Agency 2011.

Calgary has made two moves this offseason—they re-signed both Chris Butler and Anton Babchuk.

With not much activity from them after July 1, expect much of the same from the Flames next season.

8. Minnesota Wild

The newly-found partnership with the San Jose Sharks has given the Wild much excitement for next season.

One of the busiest teams this offseason, Minnesota has acquired their new go-to scorer Dany Heatley and young talent Devin Setoguchi from San Jose.

Although they did have to give up Brent Burns and Martin Havlat to acquire the former San Jose scorers, the Wild have significantly improved their chances to make the playoffs next season.

7. Chicago Blackhawks

After a Stanley Cup victory in 2010, last season's eighth-seed was hardly what Chicago had hoped for, especially since they were matched against the top-seeded Vancouver Canucks in the first round.

For Chicago's free agency, they picked up Andrew Brunette from Minnesota, but had to part ways with Troy Brouwer on draft day.

More or less, we should see the same Blackhawks team out on the ice in 2011-12.

6. Anaheim Ducks

Not much has changed this offseason for the Anaheim Ducks, other than the fact that Corey Perry won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's MVP.

Anaheim acquired winger Jean-Francois Jacques, while parting ways with defenseman Andreas Lilja.

The word is that goalie Hiller is doing well and, despite the good run by back-up Ray Emery, Hiller will be starting in 2011-12.

5. Nashville Predators

Last year's regular season and run through the playoffs proved to the hockey world that Nashville has a terrific defense and a deserving goalie.

The Predators finished third in goals-against last season, which carried them past the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of last year's playoffs.

During free agency this offseason, the Predators picked up winger Niclas Bergfors and defenseman Kyle Wilson, but had to part ways with fan-favorite Steve Sullivan, Marcel Goc and Joel Ward, leaving a few holes on the secondary lines.

For now, Nashville is focused on re-signing Shea Weber to a long-term contract, and expect the team to be back and ready to compete in 2011-12.

4. Los Angeles Kings

A good 2010-11 season by the young Kings team was ultimately spoiled by a late-season plunge in morale.  This was especially true after star Anze Kopitar went down to injury and was unable to play in the first round of the playoffs against the San Jose Sharks.

However, getting Kopitar healthy and back in action for 2011-12, as well as yet another season for goalie Jonathan Quick, should prove to make this team a legitimate contender in the Western Conference.

Adding Mike Richards from Philadelphia and Simon Gagne from Tampa Bay should also give this team some veteran leadership to fit nicely with young talent.

The Kings can easily finish anywhere from fourth to second in the standings next season, as long as they figure out that Drew Doughty situation.

3. Detroit Red Wings

At the end of last season, the story in Detroit was about how the Red Wings could possibly lose Game 7 in San Jose, as well as how in the world the team was going to contend next season with only four defensemen signed.

Never doubt Hockeytown, though.

The Wings signed defensemen Ian White and Mike Commodore in free agency, as well as re-signing Jonathan Ericsson.

Also, they managed to re-sign wingers Patrick Eaves and Drew Miller.

Expect Detroit to maintain the same competitiveness it usually does in the Western Conference next season.

2. San Jose Sharks

What happened to "if it ain't broke, don't fix it?"

Tell that to Sharks GM Doug Wilson, who was not happy with back-to-back Western Conference finals losses.

He did not blow the team up, by any means.  He re-tooled.

The sudden partnership with the Minnesota Wild had the Sharks sending Devin Setoguchi and Dany Heatley to the Wild in exchange for Brent Burns and Martin Havlat in two separate deals.

In doing so, Wilson set his team up for not only dominance in the West next season, but continued excellence for years to come, as the Havlat deal pawned off Heatley's contract on the Wild.

Expect San Jose to be in the hunt yet again for a trip to the Stanley Cup finals.

1. Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks' collapse at the hands of the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup finals will sting for quite awhile in Canada, but they had more problems entering free agency.

Three of their top defensemen were free agents, which included Sami Salo, Christian Ehrhoff and Kevin Bieksa.  Although they managed to salvage Salo and Bieksa, Ehrhoff signed a long-term deal with Buffalo.

Despite a similar, but not the same, defense, the Canucks still have the Sedin twins, Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows on the offensive side.

Pair those players with a world-class goalie like Roberto Luongo and expect much of the same from the Canucks next season.