Which Western Conference team will make the playoffs after missing in 2025? 

The Western Conference is wide open this season after the top three in the Central Division, where Colorado, Dallas and Minnesota stand above the pack.

The Pacific Division has been thrown into flux, with the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks coming in ahead of their projected timelines to return to the playoffs, and the Utah Mammoth in the Central are pushing hard for a wild card spot after missing out in disappointing fashion a season ago.

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL video coach Steve Peters discussed which of those three teams has the best chance to still be playing come mid-April.

Tyler Yaremchuk: How about surprising teams in the West that are actually in on the playoff picture? Anaheim moves into third place in the Pacific. They’ve won four in a row… San Jose’s still holding on to a playoff spot, tied with the LA Kings for the final playoff spot. Utah, they seem to have sorted things out. They’ve won three in a row, points in 8 of their last 10. If you look at San Jose, Utah and Anaheim, which one are you most confident in that can hold on to their playoff spot?

Steve Peters: You talk about the [Leo] Carlsson injury and how it affects the Olympics, well that’s going to affect the Ducks, too. And when I look at these three teams specifically, outstanding young forwards can add a lot of offense on their team, but you’ve got to look at how they defend. And for me the big benchmark is goal differential. Anaheim is minus-12; San Jose is minus-20. Utah’s plus-18, and I think Utah’s got some things that those other teams don’t when you look at their back end. They’ve got experienced defenders on the back end led by Sergachev, and Vejmelka’s given up two or less in six of his last eight starts.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…