The surging St. Louis Blues are poised to lock up the last playoff berth in the Western Conference. And barring a late-season miracle, it does appear we have our group of eight, which allows us to start making real sense of the playoff landscape out west.

To that end, I wanted to identify the eight statistics defining this year’s Western Conference playoff picture. Though the conference has been a top-heavy and predictable group all season long, much has changed beneath the surface, giving us plenty to digest as we start analyzing the viability of each contender.

Let’s start with the cream of the crop in the Winnipeg Jets, and work our way down through the wild-card bidders.

Two months ago, I posited Hellebuyck had a real shot at winning the Hart Trophy, a major accomplishment for any goaltender in the modern era.

Hellebuyck’s already a shoo-in for the Vezina Trophy, the third of his career, putting him on par with the likes of Patrick Roy and Tony Esposito. Suffice it to say Hellebuyck’s already solidified his Hall of Fame case, and he’s still just 31 years old. This year, he’s again erased goals at an unrelenting clip, lifting Winnipeg to the top seed in the West:

A goalie erasing nearly a goal per game over an entire season seems improbable, but it has become par for the course with Hellebuyck.

What his legacy needs now is a Stanley Cup, and in lieu of that, a dominant postseason performance. For as unbeatable as Hellebuyck has been throughout his career, his playoff numbers haven’t been as impressive. His past two appearances included disappointing stop rates (around 87 per cent) and quick exits for otherwise promising Jets teams over the prior two seasons (2022-24).

Jets fans know their path to a title starts and ends with goaltending outperformance, and considering his otherwise sterling resume, there has to be hope the past two playoff performances were outliers.

Dallas’ top-end talent and depth were already the envy of the National Hockey League; add an elite forward the likes of Mikko Rantanen at a trade deadline, and it becomes an embarrassment of riches.

While Dallas is oozing offensive prowess, this is still a team that rests its........

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