Top Five Forward Groups in the NHL's Western Conference

The NHL’s trade deadline is now eight days away, and there are going to be notable additions made by the Western Conference teams. 

But before any other big moves take place in the West, it’s a good time to follow up on Wednesday’s Eastern Conference piece, which judged the best groups of forwards in the conference, and turn our attention to ranking the West’s best groups of forwards.

To be clear, we’re judging the talent that’s on the current rosters, including players that may be on the injured list the rest of the regular season, as we assume they’ll be ready for the playoffs.

The Golden Knights don’t have a forward with at least a point per game in their lineup – top-line center Jack Eichel (18 goals, 40 points in 44 games) is not delivering to a standard you’d expect from a $10-million-per-season player – but what is all but a guarantee is that Vegas is going to spend every dollar of its cap space. 

As per CapFriendly, Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon is projected to have more than $8.7 million in cap space to use. He may opt for goaltender insurance, but otherwise, McCrimmon has likely set his sights on another point-producing forward. 

The team and forward group will benefit if and when star forward Mark Stone returns from the long-term injured reserve. But regardless of whether Stone is held out until the playoffs begin, you could easily see Vegas trading for Patrick Kane or James van Riemsdyk to give their offense a boost.

The Golden Knights have a nice balance at forward – six of their top nine players, Stone included, have between 36 to 48 points this year – and although they don’t have a generational talent to focus on, the forwards play a great group game. Eichel, William Karlsson and Chandler Stephenson are a solid group down the middle, and wingers Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith can finish plays. 

Vegas is lower down this ranking because they need more above-average depth on the wing.

Like the Golden Knights, the Kings don’t employ a top-five forward in the league, but GM Rob Blake has built his forward unit into a deep group that can run and gun with the best of them. 

Top center and accomplished veteran Anze Kopitar is second on the team in assists (32) and points (51), and first-year Kings winger Kevin Fiala (40 assists, 61 points) has delivered as hoped. 

Meanwhile, forwards Adrian Kempe (28 goals), Viktor Arvidsson (16 goals), Gabriel Vilardi (17 goals) and Phillip Danault (14 goals) all provide necessary scoring depth. 

Blake has more than $3.5 million in cap space to work with by the deadline, but he may decide to give L.A. more help on defense, with Arizona star defenseman Jakob Chychrun leading the assets most appealing to Blake, or assistance in net.

The Kings have the NHL’s 12th-best offense (averaging 3.31 goals-for per game) so far this year, but they don’t have a wealth of depth up front and need to stay healthy as much as any playoff team does. But if they can remain on the ice, the Kings will present a huge challenge to whatever defense takes them on.

The Avs won the Stanley Cup last season because their depth of elite talent at forward pushed them to such lofty heights. No opponent had an answer for the combination of superstar center Nathan MacKinnon and elite forwards Gabriel Landeskog, Mikko Rantanen and Valeri Nichushkin. 

While injuries have prevented Colorado from icing its best lineup, there’s still a very good core of forwards who will likely be all back together by the playoffs.

The Avalanche have been without Landeskog all season, and MacKinnon has missed 11 games, but once those two are on the same ice pad together, Colorado will once again have a highly-skilled group of forwards – and they’ve also got more than $6.4 million in cap space to use by the deadline. 

They’re probably more suited to adding a bottom-six forward, but that’s not a bad thing. That means they have enough top talent to allow them to focus on depth additions.

As we noted earlier this season, the Stars don’t have an acute need for help at any position, forward included. With veteran stars Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Joe Pavelski combining to generate 135 points this season, and with youngsters Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz and Mason Marchment combining for 146 points, the Stars are getting all sorts of contributions to make life easier on their also-solid defense corps and goalie tandem.

It’s true Stars GM Jim Nill has only $2.5 million in projected cap space to use by the deadline, but the team has played well enough to make it an attractive target for a forward like Patrick Kane, who is in total control of his destination in any trade. 

Dallas likely won’t win the Timo Meier sweepstakes, but a player such as Kane or James van Riemsdyk is not at all unattainable for the Stars. They’re already about as deep as it gets up front, but Nill could choose to strike again at the trade deadline and really put his forward collection over the top.

When you have superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on your team, you’re automatically in the upper tier of any ranking of a top group of forwards. 

That said, Oilers GM Ken Holland has given McDavid some impressive depth below them, keeping longtime core component Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in Edmonton and bringing in free agents Zach Hyman and Evander Kane. That’s a top-four group of forwards that can pack a punch as much as any top-four group.

Holland has only $562,500 in cap space to use by the deadline, but if he can find a new home for beleaguered winger Jesse Puljujarvi, he can bump up that number to what’s left of Puljujarvi’s $3-million annual salary. 

Edmonton is another team that, from a sheer talent standpoint, would be attracted to Patrick Kane, strictly as a rental. Adding a veteran like Kane would increase the Oilers’ lead for the top group of forwards, but they’re already in a territory that makes them the most skilled group in the game.