The 2024-2025 NHL season is set to be wide open, with several teams that could come away with the title and earn a trip to the Stanley Cup Final. With the winner of the West falling short in the Stanley Cup Final in 2024, the winner of the West this year will hope for better results against the winner of the East. Here, we look at the race to win the Western Conference and handicap the group of favorites and dark horses to win the conference.
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Western Conference Futures Betting Odds
| Team | Western Conference Championship Odds |
| Edmonton Oilers | +350 |
| Dallas Stars | +550 |
| Colorado Avalanche | +650 |
| Vegas Golden Knights | +850 |
| Vancouver Canucks | +850 |
| Nashville Predators | +850 |
| Los Angeles Kings | +1000 |
| Winnipeg Jets | +1100 |
| Minnesota Wild | +1800 |
| Utah Hockey Club | +2800 |
| St. Louis Blues | +2800 |
| Seattle Kraken | +2800 |
| Calgary Flames | +4000 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | +7500 |
| Anaheim Ducks | +10000 |
| San Jose Sharks | +20000 |
NHL Western Conference Championship Favorites
Edmonton Oilers
In the 2023-24 NHL season, the Edmonton Oilers won the right to represent the West in the Stanley Cup Final. Edmonton got off to a terrible start last season, firing their coach early in the year and having to rebuild on the fly. But they managed to do just that, as their explosive attacking ability helped them to overcome that early season adversity.
This season, the Oilers are coming the favorites to win the West once again. But there are questions about whether this group can continue doing what they did during their run to the NHL Western Conference title the last time we saw them in the postseason. This group is getting older and it is never easy to overcome a Game 7 loss in a cup final, as the Oilers will have to overcome all of those things if they want to get back to the last series of the year in the NHL.
Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars finished last season with the highest point total in the Western Conference during the regular season. But they lost in the Western Conference Final to the Edmonton Oilers in six games. Dallas was one of the more offensively gifted teams in the Western Conference this past season, finishing second to the Colorado Avalanche in goals scored among teams from the West. If they can find better goaltending this season, they could very well come out on top of the West.
Colorado Avalanche
No team in the Western Conference scored more goals than the Colorado Avalanche last season. But they were cut down in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Dallas Stars. Colorado was one of the best home teams in hockey last year, winning 31 of their 41 home games during the regular season. But that home-ice advantage wore off during the playoffs, which they will need to remedy if they want to win the West in the year to come.
Other Western Conference Title Contenders
Along with the three favorites mentioned above, there are a few other teams with a genuine shot to win the West in the NHL in 2025. The Vegas Golden Knights, Vancouver Canucks, Winnipeg Jets, and Los Angeles Kings are all viable options to win the conference according to oddsmakers. The Canucks and Golden Knights are especially intriguing among that group of teams, with Vegas having recent championship experience and the Canucks being one of the most explosive teams in the league for most of the 2023-24 season.
