Friday Four: Western Conference Qualifying Round

With the NHL season having been paused on March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus, Kevin Weekes will continue his Friday Four. The former goalie and current NHL Network analyst will be blogging about four of his favorite or memorable items on a certain topic. Today, he analyzes the four Western Conference Qualifying Round series.

RELATED: [Weekes: Eastern Conference Qualifying Round]

Edmonton Oilers vs. Chicago Blackhawks

The Oilers have tightened up their game this season, thanks to the great job done by coach Dave Tippett and his staff. Edmonton had the best power play in the NHL (29.5 percent) and were second on the penalty kill (84.4 percent) after finishing 30th on the penalty kill last season (74.8 percent).

Center Leon Draisaitl, who won the Art Ross Trophy as the League's leading scorer (110 points; 43 goals, 67 assists), is my choice for the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP, with center and teammate Connor McDavid and New York Rangers forward Artemi Panarin the other finalists.

Draisaitl was able to drive the bus himself when McDavid missed time with a knee injury. The two didn't play together much at even strength and the Oilers still produced. I liked Draisaitl's line with forwards Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Kailer Yamamoto. The Oilers also players like forward Jujhar Khaira and defenseman Darnell Nurse, who provide some physicality. And the goalie tandem of Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen has been solid.

For the Blackhawks, Corey Crawford has come back from injuries and looks great in goal, and forward Dominik Kubalik led rookies with 30 goals this season. Center Jonathan Toews, forward Patrick Kane and defenseman Duncan Keith are still going, and we know the championship pedigree each of them have have.

Forward Alex DeBrincat and center Dylan Strome have each taken a step back offensively this season, but let's see if they can pick it up in the qualifying round.

Nashville Predators vs. Arizona Coyotes

The Predators will be looking for more from their marquee players; forwards Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson and center Ryan Johansen have each been off his game this season. But keep in mind the Nashville roster contains many of the players who made a run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017.

I think this might be defenseman Roman Josi's best NHL season. The Predators captain is steady, defends, attacks, is smooth every shift and doesn't make many mistakes. Defenseman Ryan Ellis is healthy after missing time earlier this season because of a concussion, and that's also big. I'll be curious to see who Nashville starts in goal; Pekka Rinne has had a great career but a down season and Juuse Saros was playing better when the season was paused. Either way, its goaltending should be strong.

For the Coyotes, goalie Darcy Kuemper was selected to the All-Star Game although he couldn't play because of a lower-body injury, which caused him to miss 28 games. Antti Raanta played well in his absence, however. Defenseman Jakob Chychrun and forward Clayton Keller each had a strong season, forward Conor Garland led them with 22 goals during the regular season, and if veteran forwards Taylor Hall and Phil Kessel can get it going, they'll be a dangerous opponent. Don't sleep on Arizona.

Vancouver Canucks vs. Minnesota Wild

Forward Brock Boeser, center Elias Pettersson and defenseman Quinn Hughes each will have a chance to advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in his NHL career. Though Vancouver will rely on its younger players, it also has plenty of veteran leadership to lean on, including center J.T. Miller, who had a League career-high 72 points (27 goals, 45 assists) this sedason, along with Stanley Cup winners in forwards Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli and center Jay Beagle. Jacob Markstrom has done an outstanding job in goal and got a chance to heal from a lower-body injury during the pause.

Any time we thought the Wild were done or needed to get younger, they proved us wrong. To me, the heartbeat on that team is still forward Zach Parise. Forward Kevin Fiala was on a tear with 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in eight games prior to the pause and can certainly power the offense, and defensemen Mathew Dumba, Ryan Suter and Jared Spurgeon won't be easy to play against. Maybe the time off for Devan Dubnyk to be with his wife, Jenn, who was dealing with a medical situation, and the pause will help him reset and find his game again.

Calgary Flames vs. Winnipeg Jets

Which Flames team is going to show up? I know one thing: Forward Matthew Tkachuk will. Forward Johnny Gaudreau and center Sean Monahan can each take over a game with his skill, but will they be able to do it when it matters? Calgary has advanced to the second round of the playoffs once (in 2015) since reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2004; let's see if it can put an end to that trend.

What a great job general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and coach Paul Maurice have done with the Jets, who lost their top four defensemen from a season ago (Jacob Trouba, Dustin Byfuglien, Tyler Myers, Ben Chiarot) and were still competitive in front of Vezina Trophy candidate Connor Hellebuyck. Forward Kyle Connor (38 goals, 35 assists) and center Mark Scheifele (29 goals, 44 assists) helped power the Winnipeg offense, tying for the scoring lead with 73 points each.