Chef Boi RD wrote: ↑Fri Oct 24, 2025 7:10 am
Utah has arrived
The future of the western conference
Utah
Anaheim
Chicago
San Jose
St. Louis
Seattle
While Vancouver stays strong in the mushy middle thanks to the Aqualini Philosophy and Vision.
Hopefully the far future.
SJ has only won one game so far this season, STL has the same record as the Canucks, with worse GF/GA.
Utah looks really good so far this season, ANA is exactly where I thought they'd be, they have some great young players - and this leads to them beating bad teams, or teams playing badly, with large scores (7-6OT SJ/7-5 BOS). But they lose big to the teams that are in the upper tier, CAR, LAK etc.
Won’t happen over night for San Jose but when you have Celebrini, Smith, Misa, Dickinson, Eklund, Musty to build upon that’s pretty promising. They are top 10 lottery pickers in 2026 for sure.
Utah and Anaheim are ahead of the pack. Chicago has definitely improved, as well as Seattle. Minny also has a very good young team too with loads of solid prospects.
donlever wrote: ↑Sat Nov 08, 2025 9:57 pm
....or a heads up for us for tomorrow.
Nah.
The we shouldn't need a heads up on this.....the way our season has been going everyone should be well aware that one of the better teams in the league (certainly one of the best attacks) is coming to town.
If we needed a heads up on this then we deserve the same fate as Edmonton.
Somewhere in NW BC trying (yet again) to trade a(nother) Swede…..
The western conference is very interesting this season. We are in the throes of a transitional period as some of the perennial Have Nots have turned themselves into Haves arriving much faster than expected. Anaheim and Utah ain’t going away, they are here to stay but Seattle, Chicago and San Jose? All three seem to have taken big strides this season. All the while the big mystery of the Oilers.
Chef Boi RD wrote: ↑Sun Nov 09, 2025 7:36 am
The western conference is very interesting this season.
Yeah we sort.of.expected Utah and Anaheim to continue their growth.
The other 3 I agree.
San Jose is the most surprising to me.
Thought it would be another year.
Perhaps this could serve to get some of the people whose opinions on the subject matter to get excited about just how fast a well-planned, well-executed re-build can be.
Cousin Strawberry wrote: ↑Sun Nov 09, 2025 8:04 am
Lots of early season legs on these teams. Shit has a way of settling down as a long hard season carries into the dreary days of winter.
Sure, of course, no one, at least not me, is talking about Stanley Cups here.
We are talking about good young groups with some great players and bright futures.
Leo Carlsson might turn into Mats Sundin.
The league is in a great place.
And yeah, Demidov and Hutson together for a decade plus.
