The NHL’s Western Conference wild-card battle is heating up after the trade deadline.
One club fell from a divisional spot into the wild-card race, while another team that once looked destined for a playoff miss has made a comeback.
After previously examining the Eastern Conference, here’s a look at which teams could be in the race in the West until the end.
Minnesota Wild
The Wild have gone 5-7-0 in their past dozen games, allowing the white-hot Colorado Avalanche to overtake them for third spot in the Central Division. As a result, the Wild are in the first wild-card position and now are looking at a first-round showdown against the Vegas Golden Knights or Edmonton Oilers. That will be a big challenge for Minnesota to overcome.
As per tankathon.com, the Wild have the 11th-hardest remaining schedule based on the average points percentage of the teams they’ll face. In their 18 games left, Minnesota has only two soft-touch opponents in the Buffalo Sabres and San Jose Sharks. Otherwise, the Wild will be facing tough teams – and that’s why we see them in one of the two wild-card berths by the end of the regular season instead of third place in the Central.
Minnesota is also dealing with injuries to top player Kirill Kaprizov, center Joel Eriksson Ek and defenseman Jonas Brodin. Those are big absences while the team tries to stay in a good position.
The Wild haven’t made it past the first round of the playoffs since 2014-15, and that isn’t likely to change this season.
Which NHL Teams Will Remain In The East’s Wild-Card Battle? Now that the NHL’s trade deadline has passed, the race for playoff spots heats up.
Calgary Flames
Calgary has been one of the more compelling stories of the 2024-25 season, but the Flames aren’t assured of a post-season berth. They’re likely to be in a dogfight with their Pacific Division rivals, the Vancouver Canucks, right through the end of the regular season, as the Canucks have just one fewer point than them.
Calgary’s big in-season trade that saw them acquire center Morgan Frost and left winger Joel Farabee from Philadelphia. Farabee has three points in 13 games, while Frost has five, so seeing more offense from them should give the Flames the firepower to stay in the playoff hunt.
The Flames will need star rookie goalie Dustin Wolf to continue to give them a chance of succeeding, but it’s now on Calgary’s veterans – center Nazem Kadri, left winger Jonathan Huberdeau, and blueliners MacKenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson – to do the heavy lifting and outlast the Flames’ competition.
It certainly feels like either Calgary or Vancouver will be on the outside of the playoff picture by season’s end, and Flames fans will be hugely disappointed if Calgary can’t lock up a wild-card spot.
Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks have been a Jekyll-and-Hyde team of late, going 9-7-1 since Jan. 23. They fell out of the wild-card spots, and it will now take a sustained run of above-average hockey for them to leapfrog over the Flames.
Vancouver not trading star right winger Brock Boeser will help them in the short term, but even then, they will need all hands on deck in their remaining 19 games. Much of the pressure will be on goaltender Kevin Lankinen, but he’s posted an .884 save percentage in four appearances in March. So if they can get back injured star netminder Thatcher Demko sooner than later, they’ve got a shot at beating out Calgary for a playoff spot.
In any case, there’s no room for error anymore in Vancouver, and the Canucks need to be at their best if they’re to avoid missing the post-season.
Opinion: Vancouver Canucks Lose Leverage To Brock Boeser After Uneventful Trade Deadline The Vancouver Canucks had the opportunity last week to either re-sign Brock Boeser or trade him.
St. Louis Blues
After a four-game losing skid at the end of January, the Blues’ shot at a playoff spot looked bleak. But since then, St. Louis has gone 8-2-3 and crept back to within one point of Calgary for the final wild-card berth, though the Flames have two games in hand. St. Louis also has the easiest remaining schedule of any team in the league in their final 17 games, according to tankathon.com.
The Blues also stood pat at the trade deadline – a vote of confidence from St. Louis GM Doug Armstrong – so their playoff push must come from the players who’ve been there all season.
If the Blues finish fifth or sixth in the Central and miss the playoffs for the third-straight season, there should be a cold, hard look at their roster this summer. If they can’t capitalize on a favorable schedule, there’s a good argument that this roster needs a renovation to do some damage in the future.
Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.
Read the full article here