Pre-Free Agency Sixes in the Northwest Division

Jarome Iginla	Matt Duchene	Ryan Smyth	Martin Havlat	Daniel Sedin
Alex Tanguay	Paul Stastny	Jordan Eberle	Mikko Koivu	Henrik Sedin
Olli Jokinen	Milan Hejduk	Taylor Hall	Matt Cullen	Ryan Kesler
Marc Giordano	Erik Johnson	Ryan Whitney	Marek Zidlicky	Alex Edler
Jay Bouwmeester	Matt Hunwick	Tom Gilbert	Nick Schultz	Dan Hamhuis
Miikka Kiprusoff		Devan Dubnyk	Niklas Backstrom	Roberto Luongo

Just so we know what we're looking at here... according to the points from last year, these are the top three forwards, two defense and goaltender signed on for each team in the division. There are going to be better players missing from this list, due to free agency, injuries last season or other miscellaneous reasons. I don't believe this is an accurate look at each team, just a snapshot for comparison purposes.

The Northwest Division had a bit of a tough year in 2011, having only one team qualify for the playoffs in the Western Conference and if the top sixes are any indication, to which they might have a small, almost insignificant indication, nothing has really changed.

There are plenty of questions about the teams in this division, most of which are focussed on making the playoffs.  Is there enough heart and leadership among the top six in Calgary to qualify?  The Flames have the talent.  Is this the year that the youth in Edmonton start to take real strides towards the playoffs?  Can the Avs find enough players this Summer to help their rebuild and jump back into the playoffs?  The Wild offense will be the biggest question mark, to which they will need to support Backstrom to put wins in the standings.  Finally, the Canucks don't really have a question mark about making the playoffs, rather how far will their top six take them?

If I were to project division standings from these sixes, which isn't wise, but I will anyways... Vancouver, Calgary, Minnesota, Edmonton and Colorado (see goaltending issue for Tampa Bay for being last place in the division).