The 2024-25 NHL season is upon us, and with it comes a host of new plot lines to follow. The Western Conference has plenty of them, including Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers going on their revenge tour after falling just shy of the Stanley Cup last season. The Oilers enter the season as the class of the Western Conference, but they will have a tough road to a championship.
Reigning Hart Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon is eyeing his second Cup, and the Dallas Stars will be out to avenge their Western Conference Final loss from a year ago. Elsewhere in the conference, the Nashville Predators spent big in the offseason, and now they'll have to get some return on those investments. The Utah Hockey Club is also looking to make moves in its new locale, and the Vancouver Canucks will need to prove that last year's surge was no fluke.
Here's a preview of what to come in the Western Conference this season. Central Division Going into last season, the only thing MacKinnon's trophy case lacked was a Hart Trophy. That is no longer the case following a 140-point campaign in which he set career highs in both goals (51) and assists (89).
In addition to those gaudy raw numbers, a look under the hood makes MacKinnon's season even more impressive. With him on the ice at five-on-five, the Colorado Avalanche owned a plus-35 goal differential and an expected goals share of 56.5%, per Natural Stat Trick .
When MacKinnon was on the bench getting a swig of water, those numbers dropped to a min.
