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Seven Western clubs on the outside looking in

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Spector

At home in Prince Edward Island, Canada, he's known as Lyle Richardson. But around these parts, he's known as Spector, FOXSports.com's Prince of Pucks. Check in with Spector's NHL Blog on Yardbarker.com for NHL rumors and analysis.

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Updated Sep 21, 2009 3:27 PM ET
     
 
With the NHL preseason now under way and the season fast approaching, here's a look at the seven Western Conference clubs which could finish outside this season's playoff picture. St. Louis Blues: Returning to the playoffs last spring for the first time in five years has placed heightened expectations upon this young Blues roster. Goaltender Chris Mason was the main reason the Blues made the postseason and he'll have to be at his best if they're to qualify again. The return of a healthy Paul Kariya should provide a big boost to their offense as well as the anticipated development of young forwards David Backes, T.J. Oshie, Patrick Berglund and David Perron. Young D-man Erik Johnson will be back from season-ending knee surgery a year ago. The Blues enter this season with lots of promise but they'll need their key veterans to stay healthy and their young talent to keep improving if they're to build upon it. Dallas Stars: Last season quickly fell apart as several key players were injured or under-performed and the club was distracted by the antics of Sean Avery, whom they suspended and eventually dumped via waiver to the Rangers. A healthy Brenden Morrow and Brad Richards should go a long way toward improving their performance this season and having Alex Auld to back up starting goalie Marty Turco should help ease the latter's workload. They'll need promising young Stars like 36-goal scorer Loui Eriksson, 24-goal man James Neal and 35-point defenseman Matt Niskanen to build on last season's performances and Turco to bounce back from a sub-par campaign to be in this season's playoff race. Minnesota Wild: A change in management and coaching brought expectation of a change in playing style for the usually defensive Wild and it'll be interesting to see how this club responds. They swapped out one frequently injured star winger in Marian Gaborik for Martin Havlat via free agency and added Petr Sykora, but otherwise didn't make any significant offensive upgrades. Defensively the Wild remain a very strong club, and in Mikko Koivu possess a bona fide first line center. But they'll need a healthy Havlat and others to step up, including Sykora and Pierre-Marc Bouchard, to make the playoffs this season. Nashville Predators: Defensively the Predators are in good shape. Goaltenders Pekka Rinne and Dan Ellis battling for the starter's job could prove beneficial while defensemen Ryan Suter, Shea Weber and Dan Hamhuis anchor a solid blueline core. The main concern however is offense as the Predators were among the lowest scoring teams in the league last season and did nothing thus far to address their popgun offense. Injuries were a factor in their low scoring last season but they'll need another scoring winger or regulars Jason Arnott, Martin Erat, David Legwand and Steve Sullivan to ramp up their production if the Predators are to make the playoffs. Los Angeles Kings: They were a much better defensive club under head coach Terry Murray and with most of their best talent under 27 years old their future is promising. Budding stars like Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson should have strong performances this season while veteran off-season additions Ryan Smyth and Rob Scuderi should provide welcome depth in experience and leadership. The one question mark is in goal where the Kings lack an experienced starting goaltender, relying on Jon Quick and Erik Ersberg to once again carry the load. Their play could ultimately determine how close the Kings come to making the postseason. Phoenix Coyotes: For all the distractions involving their ownership in the off-season, Coyotes management quietly added some veteran depth in Adrian Aucoin, Radim Vrbata and Jim Vandermeer. They're also loaded with promising young talent, including forwards Peter Mueller, Martin Hanzal, Kyle Turris and Mikkel Boedker and defenseman Keith Yandle. Starting goalie Ilya Bryzgalov looks to bounce back from an inconsistent 2008-09 performance. Despite the potential for improvement, however, the off-ice distractions over the future of the franchise could hurt team morale. Colorado Avalanche: After bottoming out last season, the front office made changes in general manager and head coach as part of what appears to finally be a significant rebuilding process. Adding goalie Craig Anderson and defensemen Kyle Quincey and Tom Preissing should help bolster their defense. If young forwards Paul Stastny and Wojtek Wolski can be healthier this season it would be a significant boost to the Avs' overall offensive game. Still, there remain a lot of holes on this roster which will take more than one season to fill.
Tagged: Sean Avery, Martin Erat, Martin Hanzal, Kings, Marty Turco, Stars, Ryan Smyth, Brenden Morrow, Tom Preissing, Paul Stastny, Jonathan Quick, Rangers, Ilya Bryzgalov, Dustin Brown, Avalanche, Craig Anderson, Blues, David Perron, Pekka Rinne, David Backes, Coyotes, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Radim Vrbata, Jim Vandermeer, Loui Eriksson, Jack Johnson, Predators, T.J. Oshie, David Legwand, Steve Sullivan, Wild, Anze Kopitar, Mikko Koivu, Drew Doughty, Alex Auld, Shea Weber, Rob Scuderi, Dan Ellis, Keith Yandle, Jason Arnott, Erik Johnson, Kyle Turris, James Neal, Brad Richards, Martin Havlat, Paul Kariya, Marian Gaborik, Wojtek Wolski, Petr Sykora, Mikkel Boedker, Dan Hamhuis, Matt Niskanen, Ryan Suter, Erik Ersberg, Adrian Aucoin, Peter Mueller, Kyle Quincey

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