The Canucks won a thrilling first-round series over the Dallas Stars—a series that went the full seven games and featured a quadruple-overtime game in the first game of the series (Henrik Sedin had the game-winning goal) along with two other overtime games. Vancouver lost in the second round of the playoffs to the eventual champion Anaheim Ducks in a contest that featured three more overtime games. The Wild were the Ducks’ first round opponent and suffered a quick exit, losing in five games. The Flames gave the Detroit Red Wings a bit of a scare, evening their first-round series at 2-2 before bowing out in six games. 

The off-season was exciting for Northwest Division teams, with the Edmonton Oilers signing Dustin Penner and Sheldon Souray and the Colorado Avalanche signing Ryan Smyth. The Flames and Canucks focused more on re-signing their existing players and keeping the core of their playoff teams together. The Wild traded goaltender Manny Fernandez to the Bruins to clear a path for Niklas Backstrom to be their full-time starter, and the Avalanche admitted what was pretty obvious at the end of the season: Peter Budaj will be their starting netminder.

The Avalanche finished the season on a 15-2-2 run and missed the playoffs by a single point last season. They have a strong chance of winning the division this year based on their off-season signings and continued development of their talented core of young players. The Canucks should be able to ride Roberto Luongo to another playoff appearance despite their middling offense. The Flames have a talented team and an outstanding goalie that should allow them to make the playoffs as well, and possibly to improve on last season’s No. 8 seed. The Wild are likely to wind up on the outside looking in, and the Oilers will be fighting to finish among the top 12 teams in the conference. The Northwest Division features arguably two of the three best goalies in the NHL (Luongo and Kiprusoff), one of its most exciting defencemen (Dion Phaneuf), an electrifying set of twins (the Sedins) and another dynasty in the making in Colorado. Stay tuned for another exciting year in the Northwest division!

Predicted order of finish:

Calgary Flames

Colorado Avalanche

Vancouver Canucks

Minnesota Wild

Edmonton Oilers