Beyond Center Ice

 Our 2nd Western Conference preview pits the LA Kings vs the Edmonton Oilers! This series is a rematch of last season, where the Oilers won. The Kings will look to revenge, and they have a solid team to do it. On the other hand, the Oilers come into the playoffs on a 9 game win streak, have the best player in the world, and look unstoppable. They're the hottest team in hockey and some people's pick to win the Stanley Cup. This series should be an exciting one, and let's take a look at the teams.  The Edmonton Oilers are, as I said, the hottest team in the NHL going into these playoffs. They're on a 9 game win streak and are 22-5-5 since the All-Star Break. They lead the NHL in Goals For (325), and are 2nd to the Bruins with a 69 GD. They're 4th in the NHL with 55.94 G% and 3rd with 56.07 xG%. Their Corsi% is 52.07, top 10 in the NHL, so consistently offensively they are top 10. Their Shooting% is top of the NHL, above even the Bruins. The reason why they're not ...

 With just 8 days left in the regular season, playoff spots and matchups are starting to get revealed as each days tick by. 12 teams have clinched, with at least one more on the way extremely soon. However, with the nature of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, 8 teams get knocked out just a couple short weeks after the start of the playoffs. Which teams will contend, and which teams are the pretenders that will fall short when it matters?  The Teams   As I said in the open, 12 teams have clinched. I will go over each of them briefly in this post and decide if they're contenders or pretenders. Though, the Seattle Kraken will be the 13th team on this list as they are all but clinched for at least a WC spot out there in the West. However, they will be the only WC team on this list because it is uncertain who will be the remaining 3 wild card spot. Now, without further ado, let's take a look at the teams! Seattle Kraken Starting from the bottom down, the Seattle Kraken are all but gua...