Wild, Wild West: Top teams in deep conference look even better after deadline

BUFFALO — Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

The Vegas Golden Knights used cap space gained by placing players on long-term injured reserve to load up at the trade deadline, emerging as the runaway winner by acquiring three big names for their playoff run.

The NHL’s arms race shifted West this March, typically led by the defending Stanley Cup champions, who added defenceman Noah Hanifin, winger Anthony Mantha and long-time San Jose centre Tomas Hertl — who, ironically, is on LTIR as we speak.

Everybody else simply tried to keep up with Vegas.

“The West is loaded,” observed Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland, who added four players but could not match his colleague Kelly McCrimmon’s work with the Golden Knights. “The team that comes out of the West is going to have to play at a high level for a long time, and have good depth. It's great for the fans, and it's going to be an exciting race in the West.”

It’s crazy how many already good teams got better this week in the wild, wild West, setting up a scenario, where six genuine Stanley Cup contenders — three in each of the Central and Pacific Divisions — could be pared down to three or four teams at the end of Round 1 of the playoffs.

“The first round in the West is going to be really hard for some teams — there are some loaded rosters, for sure,” said Edmonton defenceman Mattias Ekholm, one of the top pick-ups at the 2023 deadline when Edmonton nabbed him from Nashville. “But it is a pretty open year, right? I feel like there's no clear-cut favorite this year … and you may only run into one or two of those teams -- (Even though) there are six really good ones right now.

“Teams are confident that they can get it done. And so are we.”

Having recently moved into second place in the Pacific behind Vancouver, the Oilers' deadline work included the addition of flexible middle-six forward Adam Henrique, fourth-line centre Sam Carrick, depth defenceman Troy Stecher — and if you go back just over a month, serial winner and playoff disturber Corey Perry.

Vancouver, which added Elias Lindholm on Jan. 31, stood pat during deadline week, as did the moribund Los Angeles Kings, whose GM Rob Blake got nothing done this week. A rumoured deal that would have sent Pierre-Luc Dubois to Boston for goalie Linus Ullmark never panned out, leaving the Kings vulnerable in goal as they try to avoid a third consecutive opening-round exit.

In the Central, Winnipeg added second-line centre Sean Monahan back on Feb. 2, then buttressed that by picking up right winger Tyler Toffoli and D-man Colin Miller from the New Jersey Devils on deadline day. The Jets are much better today than they were in January, while Colorado kept pace by bringing in defencemen Sean Walker, left wingers Brandon Duhaime and Yakov Trenin, plus former Buffalo centre Casey Mittelstadt.

Not to be outdone, Dallas bucked up by acquiring Chris Tanev on Feb. 28, but Stars GM Jim Nill was unable — or unwilling – to make any more additions between then and the deadline.

So, how is this all going to shake down?

Well, first place in a division is a good place to be, and with an 11-point bulge on second place Edmonton, Vancouver is almost assured of facing a wildcard team as their Round 1 opponent. If the playoffs started today, however, that opponent would be Vegas.

The Oilers will get one of Los Angeles, who they’ve vanquished in consecutive playoff meetings, or Vegas. In a six-game, Round 2 series in which Edmonton held a lead in every game last spring, Vegas extinguished the Oilers en route to its first Stanley Cup.

As for the Central, we believe it’s an even tougher division to emerge from.

Winnipeg has as good a goalie as there is in the NHL in Connor Hellebuyck, with a veteran, well-constructed lineup in front of him. Dallas has the stellar Jake Oettinger, and one of the best Top 4’s among NHL defence corps.

Colorado is one year removed from capturing the Cup, and has one of the most dynamic teams in the NHL. And, the Avalanche have Nathan MacKinnon, a top-three player in the entire league.

It is the Oilers, however, who have the best points percentage in the NHL since Nov. 7 (.730). That’s four months in a roughly six-month season, not a small sample size.

“I think we've done pretty good; we've played at a high level, and we’ve added some pieces,” said Holland. “Look, I don't have a crystal ball. All these questions are going to be answered over the next three months.

“Do I think we're better than we were 72 hours ago? Yes. I think we're deeper.

“Do I think that other teams in the West are getting better? Yeah, I do.”

Added Ekholm: “We’ve got a good conference. We’ve got a good team.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, and after this deadline, certainly, it ain't any easier.”