In this week’s The Wild West, we’ll look at the heroes and zeroes from each team in round one. Brennan Des had a look at the Eastern Conference last week so we're going to look at the West this week.

Enjoy the rest of the second round!

Colorado Avalanche

Hero: Mikko Rantanen

I'm not sure Rantanen could have done much more than his seven goals and three assists in seven games. He was a beast in the faceoff circle (65.2%) and drove play at even strength (IPP of 83.3%).

Zero: Valeri Nichushkin

The story of Nichushkin is not likely to go away, but it's sounding less and less like a situation where we need to show him compassion on any level. This might have implications on the seven years remaining on his $6.125 million AAV contract.

Dallas Stars

Hero: Roope Hintz

Hintz put the Stars on his back when Joe Pavelski got hurt in game one. He managed five goals and seven assists in six games, was very good in the faceoff circle (60.2%) and drove play at even strength (IPP of 85.7%). Usually, Jason Robertson is the key figure at ES but he was held to just one point in six games.

Jake Oettinger deserves mention here as well with four quality starts in six games. He bounced back from his one bad start in the Minnesota series and did the same after game one against Seattle in Round two.

Zero: Colin Miller

Miller was a regular playing 79 games with 21 points, a plus 23, 108 hits and 70 blocked shots while averaging 16:46 per game. The playoffs haven't been so kind as he sat in three of the six games against Minnesota and was minus-three in three games.

Edmonton Oilers

Hero: Leon Draisaitl

Phillip Danault did a fairly good job of shutting down Connor McDavid early in the series, but the Kings had no answer for Draisaitl. He ended up with seven goals and four assists in six games and showed again how important he is to this Oilers roster. It's a scary proposition for the rest of the NHL, that if you shut down one of McDavid or Draisaitl it isn't enough.

Zero: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

After putting up 104 points this year, Nugent-Hopkins struggled a little in round one, with just one assist at even strength and three assists on the power play in six games. He'll need to produce a little better outside of the power play if this team hopes to lift the cup.

Los Angeles Kings

Hero: Adrian Kempe

Kempe followed up his 41-goal regular season with five goals and three assists in six games. He led the Kings in shots on goal with 31 and contributed 21 hits and five blocks. The Oilers didn't have an answer for him.

Zero: Sean Durzi

Durzi has an offensive side to his game, which can help alleviate some of his defensive deficiencies. The problem is when he doesn't contribute to production. He had one goal, was minus four and had a Corsi percentage of 34.1 in six games where he averaged just 16 minutes per game. His role was relegated to the bottom pairing, after averaging just under 20 minutes per game in 72 games. His days in LA might be numbered.

Minnesota Wild

Hero: Ryan Hartman

Hartman had a frustrating regular season where he had some injuries and was inconsistent on his way to 15 goals and 22 assists in 59 games. This was after 34 goals and 31 assists the year before. He was the best Wild player in the playoffs with five points in five games with a plus-three. All of his points were at even strength.

Zero: Kirill Kaprizov

I'm pretty sure Kaprizov was not 100% during this series against Dallas as he was held to just one point, which was a power-play goal. He finished a minus-three and had just 17 shots on goal in six games which were well below the 3.9/game he averaged in 67 games. Whatever Dallas did, it worked.

Seattle Kraken

Hero: Phillip Grubauer

The Kraken offense was so spread out that not one player on the roster had more than two goals, while 15 players had at least one. I've been hard on him during his time in Seattle but credit has to go to Grubauer as he held a lethal Colorado offense in check. He had six quality starts in the seven games and his GSAA was a positive 5.18. This is from a goalie with a GSAA of negative 26.64 in 55 games during 2021-2022 and negative 8.72 in 39 games this year.

Zero: Matty Beniers

Having Beniers here speaks volumes to the depth of the Kraken forwards and why they shouldn't be counted out. Beniers had just one point in seven games and no doubt, he will need to chip in more if this team is to move past Dallas.

Although he was injured, Jared McCann was held to just one point as well in four games. It's unbelievable that this team was able to defeat the Avalanche with just one point each from both McCann and Beniers in that series.

Vegas Golden Knights

Hero: Chandler Stephenson

It was important for Vegas to have Mark Stone back and contribute eight points in five games, but Stephenson matched Stone's point total with four goals and four assists. Stephenson was 55.7% in the faceoff circle and killed penalties 42.6% of the time. His IPP was 80% as well, so he wasn't a passenger on his line.

Brett Howden had four points in five games while being a plus-eight. Not bad for a guy with six goals and seven assists in 54 games.

Laurent Brossoit was exactly what Vegas needed to get past Winnipeg. Steady.

Zero: Jack Eichel

It's difficult to pinpoint any players on the Golden Knights, but I know Eichel can be better and will need to be if Vegas has plans of getting to the Finals. He had five points in five games, but three of those were on the power play. He struggled in the faceoff circle (38.6%).

Nicolas Roy went without a point but had only 25% of his starts in the offensive zone.

Winnipeg Jets

Hero: Adam Lowry

Lowry led the Jets in goals with four, hits with 25 and managed 11 shots on goal, all while having offensive zone starts at 22.5%. He averaged 18:04 per game and was on the penalty kill 52.6% of the time. Vegas had just three power-play goals in five games..

Zero: Mark Scheifele

There are a few reasons the Jets lost to Vegas in five games, but one of them was the inability of Scheifele to be a difference-maker as he had done in the playoffs before. He ended up with just one point in four games and his name might be on the mind of coach Rick Bowness when he mentioned lack of pushback.

This is no slight to Mason Appleton, but it's a damning stat that he averaged 18:11 per game and his offensive zone starts were 16.2%. He had no points in five games and finished a minus four. His ice time is a coaching issue.

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