I ranked the Western teams in two Wild West articles back in late August of 2022 a few months before the start of this season. We are going to look at the teams at the mid-season point and re-rank them and see where we went right and where we went wrong.

The Lottery Teams

#16 – Chicago Blackhawks (Pre-season #15)

The season is going exactly as expected as Chicago had just 11 wins in their first 41 games. This team is not done dismantling it's roster as Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Max Domi and Andreas Athanasiou are all to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the season, so might be traded before or at the deadline (if Kane or Toews waives their NMCs).

The only light this season has been seeing Lukas Reichel get promoted to the NHL recently and put up three points in his first four games.

#15 – Anaheim Ducks (#12)

The Ducks have only won 12 of their first 43 games and have had disappointing seasons from John Klingberg, Ryan Strome, Max Comtois and Frank Vatrano. In goal, John Gibson has struggled for the fourth season in a row and has only seven wins in 29 games with a 4.14 GAA, 89.4 save percentage and a negative 11.58 GSAA.

Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras have had moments but haven't made a step this year over last, while Jamie Drysdale was lost for most of the year when he was injured in the eighth game of the year.

A highlight for the Ducks has been the play of rookie Mason McTavish who could get to 20 goals and 50 points this year.

#14 – Arizona Coyotes (#16)

Before they went on a nine game losing streak, their record was 13-16-5 and they were surprising a few teams. Reality kicked in and they are now 13-25-5.

Some highlights are the continued production of Clayton Keller who has 38 points after 43 games and the play of Shayne Gostisbehere with 28 points in 43 games. Karel Vejmelka has been decent as well with 11 wins in 32 games, a 90.2 save percentage and a negative 2.74 GSAA.

The team has seen progression from Lawson Crouse, J.J. Moser, Matias Maccelli, Dylan Guenther and Juuso Valimaki.

Unrestricted free agents who should get a decent return for the Coyotes are Gostisbehere, Nick Ritchie and Nick Bjugstad.

Jakob Chychrun has been very good since returning to the lineup and has 22 points in 27 games. He's still heavily rumoured to be traded before or at the deadline.

The team looks to be on the right path.

#13 – San Jose Sharks (#14)

Notwithstanding the incredible season that Erik Karlsson is having with 56 points after 44 games, the team is struggling at 13-23-8.

Outside of Karlsson, Timo Meier, Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture, there isn't much contribution from the rest of the lineup for production.

Matt Benning has been better than I expected as an off-season addition and Kevin Labanc has managed 25 points in 43 games after only six points in 21 games last year.

The team has stayed patient with Thomas Bordeleau and William Eklund and let them develop in the AHL so far. Bordeleau has 17 goals and 10 assists in 39 games, while Eklund has 11 goals and 16 assists in 39 games.

In Limbo

#12 – Vancouver Canucks (#10)

I thought the Canucks were only slightly improved over last season and did nothing to address their below average defence. As soon as Thatcher Demko had some struggles early in the year it was pretty evident that this team was in trouble. After 43 games their record is 18-22-3 and they are on the outside looking in.

The question in Vancouver is whether they will be able to re-sign Bo Horvat or be forced to trade him. Their other free agent sells could be Luke Schenn and Andrei Kuzmenko.

The team has wasted excellent campaigns from Elias Pettersson, Bo Horvat and Quinn Hughes.

On the Bubble

#11 – St. Louis Blues (#6)

The Blues have fallen and are only 21-20-3 after 44 games this year. Last season they won 49 games.

It starts in goal with Jordan Binnington who has an ok record of 16-14-3 in 33 games, but has a save percentage of 89.1 and a GSAA of negative 13.23. For the Blues to duplicate the 49 wins from last year, they needed his game to bounce back and it hasn't.

In addition, the team has had lacklustre seasons from Ryan O'Reilly, Vladimir Tarasenko, Ivan Barbashev, Torrey Krug and Colton Parayko.

Unrestricted free agents are O'Reilly, Tarasenko and Barbashev, so things could be interesting if the Blues fall even further.

#10 – Nashville Predators (#4)

The Predators needed Juuse Saros to be very good again this season if they had any chance to match their 45 wins from last year. Saros has not disappointed with a record of 15-12-5, a save percentage of 91.9 and a GSAA of 15.18.

Their record of 19-17-6 has them on the outside currently and they will need to really have an excellent second half of the season if they have any hopes for the playoffs.

They've had trouble scoring this season and we can look at Matt Duchene who had 43 goals last year in 78 games but only 11 in 41 games so far this year. Ryan Johansen has gone from 0.80 pts/game to 0.52 this year.

Tanner Jeannot had 24 goals last season and has three in 42 games this year while Cody Glass, Dante Fabbro and Eeli Tolvanen haven't progressed this season to where the team would like them to be. Tolvanen was put on waivers and claimed by Seattle.

#9 – Colorado Avalanche (#1)

Colorado had 56 wins last year and won the Stanley Cup. During the off-season they had some pretty large holes to fill from losing Darcy Kuemper and Nazem Kadri to free agency.

They have been hit with key injuries to Gabriel Landeskog (yet to play), Valeri Nichushkin (missed 26 games and counting), Nathan MacKinnon (missed 11), Bowen Byram (missed 31 and counting) and Josh Manson (missed 20 and counting).

They have received very good goaltending from Alexandar Georgiev who has a record of 16-11-3, a save percentage of 91.5 and a GSAA of 9.44.

It has become pretty clear that the Avalanche lack depth in the bottom of their lineup and when players like J.T. Compher and Evan Rodrigues are averaging 20 minutes per game, it can't be ideal for your team.

I have very little doubt that Colorado will bounce back and have a very good second half.

#8 – Edmonton Oilers (#2)

Edmonton had 49 wins last year and I thought they would duplicate that no problem this season but they are 24-18-3 after 45 games. I still believe that they will be a better team in the second half.

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have been their usual outstanding selves with McDavid putting up 37 goals and 83 points in 45 games while Draisaitl had 26 goals and 68 points in 43.

Jack Campbell has struggled in Edmonton with a record of 12-8-1, a save percentage of 88.3 and a negative GSAA of 13.05. Stuart Skinner has been the much better goalie of the two with a record of 12-10-2, a save percentage of 91.4 and a GSAA of 7.85.

The team has missed Evander Kane who only played 14 games before being injured and missing 31 games so far.

#7 – Calgary Flames (#3)

The Flames had 50 wins last season and I had them pegged to get 45 this season. Their record is 21-14-9 after 44 games.

Jonathan Huberdeau and Mackenzie Weegar have been a little disappointing since coming to Calgary. Huberdeau has only 31 points in 41 games while Weegar has 12 in 43. Nazem Kadri has been pretty good with 17 goals and 18 assists in 43 games.

Jacob Markstrom has struggled this season with a record of 13-10-5, a save percentage of 89.3 and a negative GSAA of 9.23. He will need to be better in the second half if the Flames hope to move up the standings.

#6 – Minnesota Wild (#8)

Minnesota had 53 wins last season and 116 points. They traded Kevin Fiala and Cam Talbot, which were two big pieces removed from their lineup. This season they are 24-14-4 and could see between 45 and 50 wins.

Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello have led this team this season in terms of production with Kaprizov having 52 points in 42 games and Zuccarello having 44 points in 40 games.

Ryan Hartman missed 21 games because of injury and is back in the lineup now.

Marc-Andre Fleury who is 14-8-3, with a save percentage of 90.5 and a GSAA of negative 0.33 while Filip Gustavsson has started to play more with a record of 10-6-1, a save percentage of 92.5 and a GSAA of 9.51.

#5 – Seattle Kraken (#13)

I had said that the Kraken could be a .500 team this season if they had better defending and better goaltending. Right now they are 26-12-4 and are on an eight game win streak. Unbelievable.

Martin Jones is 21-5-3 with a save percentage of 89.5 and a GSAA of negative 7.66, while Philipp Grubauer is 4-7-1, with a save percentage of 88.5 and a GSAA of negative 7.28. So it can't be goaltending.

They are out scoring their issues right now as they are the highest scoring team in the Western Conference. They have 12 different players with 20 points or more.

I still think they will revert back to average at some point and struggle to get into the playoffs, but what a run they are on.

#4 – Los Angeles Kings (#7)

Last season the Kings won 44 games and made the playoffs and I hoped that they could improve on that. So far they are 25-15-6 and on pace to do just that.

Jonathan Quick has struggled with a record of 8-10-4, a save percentage of 88.3 and a GSAA of negative 14.97. Cal Petersen was put on waivers and sent to the AHL, so the unlikely success story is 30-year old journeyman Phoenix Copley who had played 31 NHL games over four seasons before this year. He has a record of 12-2-0 and a save percentage of 90.4 and a GSAA of negative 0.43. Goaltending is not winning games for the Kings this season.

Kevin Fiala leads the Kings in scoring with 47 points after 46 games and the Kings have seen some good progression from Gabriel Vilardi this year as he has 17 goals and 14 assists in 45 games.

#3 – Dallas Stars (#11)

After 44 games the Stars have a record of 25-12-7.

Jason Robertson has had an incredible season so far with 29 goals and 60 points after 44 games. Miro Heiskanen is having a breakout season with seven goals and 33 points after 41 games.

In goal, Jake Oettinger has been stellar with a record of 19-6-4, a save percentage of 92.4 and a GSAA of 17.12.

Roope Hintz, Joe Pavelski and Jamie Benn have had very good first halves while rookie Wyatt Johnston has provided a bit of depth.

Everything that the Stars needed to happen has happened so far this year.

#2 – Winnipeg Jets (#9)

I thought that the Jets could finish anywhere from 6th to 11th in the West with the roster they had at the start of the season. Right now they are 1st, with a record of 29-14-1.

The backbone of the team is in goal with Connor Hellebuyck who has a record of 22-10-1, a save percentage of 92.6 and a GSAA of 21.56.

Josh Morrissey has had a breakout season with eight goals and 40 assists in his first 44 games. He had a career-high of 37 points before.

Pierre-Luc Dubois has also had a breakout start to this year with 20 goals and 29 assists in his first 44 games.

Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele have had strong seasons so far while rookie Cole Perfetti has had a strong start with 26 points in his first 39 games.

After missing 36 games, Nikolaj Ehlers is back in the lineup and has 12 points in eight games.

#1 – Vegas Golden Knights (#5)

Vegas struggled with a lot of injuries to key players last season and they have been a little healthier this season so far but are now starting to get hit a little.

Right now their record is 28-14-2 and they sit second overall in the West. They come in at number one on my list as I feel that they have a little more depth on defense than Winnipeg.

Logan Thompson has been a very capable rookie replacement for Robin Lehner as he has a record of 18-11-1, a save percentage of 91.3 and a GSAA of 7.02. Adin Hill has been good as well with a record of 10-3-1, a save percentage of 90.9 and a GSAA of 2.43.

Jack Eichel (13 games missed), Jonathan Marchessault (six), Alex Pietrangelo (nine), Shea Theodore (15 and counting) are all pretty key players for Vegas and have missed significant time. Mark Stone (one game and counting) is now out week-to-week.

Some unsung heroes for this team are Chandler Stephenson, William Karlsson, Reilly Smith and Brayden McNabb.

Overall I think we will see Colorado and Edmonton push up the standings as the second half progresses and we should see Seattle start to falter. I think anyone in the top 11 can make the playoffs this season.

Thank you very much for reading and if you have any comments, please leave below or follow me on Twitter @gampbler15