2021 NHL West Division Odds, Predictions, and Point Totals

• The Colorado Avalanche are slight favorites to win the NHL West Division over the Vegas Golden Knights
• All three California teams missed the playoffs last season; can they bounce back?
• Our season preview covers complete season odds and win totals for all eight West Division teams

The NHL’s West Division is very top-heavy, with the Colorado Avalanche slightly favored to do better than the Vegas Golden Knights, who made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals last season. The St. Louis Blues, who were tops in the Western Conference last campaign, have the third best odds.

Those three teams are aiming higher than just the NHL divisional odds, in particular Colorado and Vegas who are expected to duke it out throughout the truncated season in search of home-ice advantage come playoff time.

Here are the complete pre-season odds for the West Division.

NHL West Division Odds and Win Totals

Odds taken Jan. 12 at DraftKings

Colorado Avalanche

• 2019-20 record: 42-20-8 (92 Points)
• Goals For Per Game: 3.37 (4th)
• Goals Against Per Game: 2.71 (6th)
• Power Play Percentage: 19.1% (19th)
• Penalty Kill Percentage: 81.4% (13th)
• Starting Goaltender: Philipp Grubauer (18-12-4, 2.63 GAA, .916 SV%)

Leading the way in the Stanley Cup odds are the Colorado Avalanche, who might very well be searching for back-to-back cups, had they not lost Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz in the post-season. That forced them to turn to pedestrian Michael Hutchinson in the final three games against Dallas in the second round, where they lost in a game seven overtime thriller.

Signings/Trade Additions and Losses

Picking up underrated Devon Toews and solid veteran Brandon Saad, along with stud fourth overall picks in 2017 and 2019 Cale Makar and Bowen Byram fully ready to contribute on the blueline, the Avs have added to an already deep roster.

"I just can't keep my eyes off of the Byram-Makar tandem."

Which other teams have great prospects in the pipeline? Find out on #NHLTonight at 6pm ET. @avalanche pic.twitter.com/2TNCVPjbua

— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) January 8, 2021

It’ll be hard for anyone to catch Colorado, and there’s a reason they and Vegas are so heavily favored to win the division over several rebuilding teams. Look for them to be dominant in the West Division while they feast on the bottom feeders.

Prediction: 79 Points (1st)

Vegas Golden Knights

• 2019-20 record: 39-24-8 (86 Points)
• Goals For Per Game: 3.15 (13th)
• Goals Against Per Game: 2.94 (13th)
• Power Play Percentage: 22.0% (9th)
• Penalty Kill Percentage: 76.6% (27th)
• Starting Goaltender: Robin Lehner (19-10-5, 2.89 GAA, .920 SV%)

Vegas put their chips into the center of the table and signed prized free-agent defenseman Alex Pietrangelo away from their now division rival St. Louis to a seven-year contract.

Signings/Trade Additions and Losses

They did lose some depth in scoring with Paul Stastny and rearguard Nate Schmidt, who was dealt to Vancouver as part of shedding salary, but they’ll still be able to keep up with Colorado on the scoresheet.

Mark Stone (@MStoner61) is a force to be reckoned with in these #StanleyCup Playoffs. pic.twitter.com/rHtG1XWpsj

— NHL (@NHL) August 24, 2020

They’ll be able to score a lot of goals with their ability to roll out multiple strong lines, led by Max Pacioretty, Mark Stone, Reilly Smith, Jonathan Marchessault, and William Karlsson upfront. Goaltending could potentially be a slight issue with Marc-Andre Fleury long in the tooth and Robin Lehner prone to wild inconsistencies with his play, but most nights they’ll outscore any problems.

Prediction: 77 Points (2nd)

St. Louis Blues

• 2019-20 record: 42-19-10 (94 Points)
• Goals For Per Game: 3.14 (14th)
• Goals Against Per Game: 2.68 (5th)
• Power Play Percentage: 24.3% (3rd)
• Penalty Kill Percentage: 79.3% (18th)
• Starting Goaltender: Jordan Binnington (30-13-7, 2.56 GAA, .912 SV%)

Though losing Pietrangelo to Vegas stings, the Blues adequately replaced him, luring Torey Krug away from Boston. Last year was the first time since 2014-15 that Pietrangelo had more points in a season than Krug, so from that perspective, the Blues are bringing in more offense and are paying Krug $16 million less than the full deal for the former Blues captain.

Signings/Trade Additions and Losses

The Blues lost Alex Steen and Jay Bouwmeester to retirement, the latter calling it quits following a collapse on the St. Louis bench in February. What they’ll lose in leadership with those two stalwarts, they gain in inking what has to be one of the more surprising contracts in relation to production.

Mike Hoffman's tryout is going pretty good. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/B2mrphwTYC

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) January 11, 2021

Despite averaging 59 points a game in the last six seasons, Mike Hoffman was only able to sign a professional tryout contract. He made the team on a 1-yr/$4 million deal which will keep them competitive, considering they were top dogs in the Western Conference last season.

Prediction: 71 Points (3rd)

Minnesota Wild

• 2019-20 record: 35-27-7 (77 Points)
• Goals For Per Game: 3.16 (12th)
• Goals Against Per Game: 3.14 (24th)
• Power Play Percentage: 21.3% (11th)
• Penalty Kill Percentage: 77.2% (25th)
• Starting Goaltender: Cam Talbot (12-10-1, 2.63 GAA, .919 SV%)

The Minnesota Wild saw a changing of the guard in the off-season, with 15-year franchise cornerstone and captain Mikko Koivu leaving for Columbus, and other key contributors like Eric Staal and Devan Dubnyk were dealt away.

Signings/Trade Additions and Losses

Where will the scoring come from? Can Cam Talbot be the answer between the pipes with this being his fourth team in three seasons? Minnesota will struggle to light the lamp and likely be in the bottom half of the league in preventing goals.

Nick Bjugstad: "I drive to the rink every day with a smile on my face."

Says he's grateful for this opportunity given all the injuries he's suffered through his career and he's not taking it for granted. #mnwild

— 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶 𝗣𝗶𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲 (@jessi_pierce) January 5, 2021

Minnesota native Nick Bjugstad came home after he was dealt from the Penguins and is expected to be first line center. He’s only scored more than 20 goals in a season once and has never hit the 50-point plateau. Prized ninth overall pick Marco Rossi is out indefinitely. It’s safe to say the Wild may be in for a bumpy ride.

Prediction: 56 Points (6th)

Arizona Coyotes

• 2019-20 record: 33-29-8 (74 Points)
• Goals For Per Game: 2.71 (23rd)
• Goals Against Per Game: 2.61 (4th)
• Power Play Percentage: 19.2% (18th)
• Penalty Kill Percentage: 82.7% (5th)
• Starting Goaltender: Darcy Kuemper (16-11-2, 2.22 GAA, .928 SV%)

The Coyotes surprised last season, marking their first winning campaign since 2013-14, where they defeated the Predators in the qualifying round of the playoffs. They won’t be mistaken for a dynamic offense, but the D is their calling card, having ranked fourth in goals against.

Signings/Trade Additions and Losses

They lost some sorely needed scoring in Taylor Hall and other role players who helped with some of the goals last season. Their additions will help fill out the lineup but none of them produce points like Hall did.

And the Coyotes already without their first this year from the Taylor Hall deal. https://t.co/E4I0kKukNj

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) August 26, 2020

A slight regression with such dominant defense likely will occur too, leaving them on the outside of the playoff picture.

Prediction: 55 Points (5th)

Anaheim Ducks

• 2019-20 record: 29-33-9 (67 Points)
• Goals For Per Game: 2.56 (29th)
• Goals Against Per Game: 3.17 (25th)
• Power Play Percentage: 14.7% (30th)
• Penalty Kill Percentage: 77.0% (26th)
• Starting Goaltender: John Gibson (20-26-5, 3.00 GAA, .904 SV%)

Long gone are the glory days of the Anaheim Ducks, where they won the Stanley Cup in 2007 and made the playoffs in twelve of 15 seasons. After putting up horrid stats all the way across the board last season on the pond, don’t expect much of a difference which would result in their third straight year missing the post-season.

Signings/Trade Additions and Losses

There really weren’t a ton of moves made in terms of players brought in or lost. Kevin Shattenkirk parlayed a Stanley Cup with the Lightning into a three-year deal with Anaheim, and they have Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale, who were top-10 picks the last two years waiting to contribute.

Fresh off the #WorldJuniors, Jamie Drysdale and @tzegras11 hit the @HondaCenter ice today. #DucksCamp | @FreshNLean pic.twitter.com/bIF61C4qsu

— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) January 11, 2021

There just isn’t enough in the cupboard to seriously challenge for a playoff berth in Anaheim.

Prediction: 51 Points (7th)

San Jose Sharks

• 2019-20 record: 29-36-5 (63 pts)
• Goals For Per Game: 2.57 (27th)
• Goals Against Per Game: 3.21 (27th)
• Power Play Percentage: 17.5% (23rd)
• Penalty Kill Percentage: 85.7% (1st)
• Starting Goaltender: Martin Jones (17-21-2, 3.00 GAA, .896 SV%)

One club that is poised for a bounce-back season is San Jose, who missed the playoffs for just the second time in the last 16 seasons last year. Their only key loss was Joe Thornton, who is in the twilight of his career.

Signings/Trade Additions and Losses

They brought in Devan Dubynk to shoulder some of the load from Martin Jones after he had an off-year, and some spare parts were added to the mix including a franchise legend in Patrick Marleau, who’s back for a third stint.

#SJSharks Logan Couture on the playoffs: "There's a belief in the room and in this organization that if we play the way that we're capable of, we'll be there at the end of the year."

— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) January 5, 2021

Most importantly, after finishing last in the Pacific last year, they’re expected to have Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture back in the fold after they missed 22 and 18 games respectively, which is huge for their scoring. With the five teams all jumbled up after the clear favorites in Colorado, Vegas, and St. Louis, the Sharks have a chance to jump back into the post-season in a division that lacks depth.

Prediction: 59 Points (4th)

Los Angeles Kings

• 2019-20 record: 29-35-6 (64 pts)
• Goals For Per Game: 2.53 (30th)
• Goals Against Per Game: 2.99 (14th)
• Power Play Percentage: 17.1% (26th)
• Penalty Kill Percentage: 77.4% (24th)
• Starting Goaltender: Jonathan Quick (16-22-4, 2.79 GAA, .904 SV%)

The Kings have missed the post-season in four of the last six years, after winning Stanley Cups in 2011-12 and 2013-14. There won’t be a script befitting Hollywood movies in La La Land this season, as the Kings are still a few years away in their rebuild.

Signings/Trade Additions and Losses

Adding second overall pick Quinton Byfield will give them some much needed scoring and jam, but it won’t be enough to offset a roster that lacks the talent to augment an aging core including Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar, Jonathan Quick, Dustin Brown, and Jeff Carter who are all in their 30’s.

.@byfield55’s first practice with the LA Kings ✅ pic.twitter.com/etkiJV8Vca

— LA Kings (@LAKings) January 11, 2021

A successful season would be defined by a big year from Byfield, and continue to stock the cupboards with any trades they could make, which should result in yet another high draft selection.

Prediction: 49 points (8th)

Other Division Previews

• North Division
• East Division