I'm not in the business of counting chickens before they hatch, so let me start by saying that this post is totally hypothetical.  However, as I write this Calgary’s playoff hopes are fading in Boston.  So let us say—hypothetically, of course—that the current top 8 teams in the West remain in a playoff spot.  If you look at points and games remaining, there is a pretty significant rift between the top 4 (San Jose, Chicago, Vancouver, and Phoenix) and the bottom 4 (Nashville, LA, Colorado, and Detroit), so it’s very difficult to imagine any top 4 team dropping into the bottom 4 and vice versa.  However, the battle for position within the top 4 and the bottom 4 is extremely tight.  So, IF this hypothetical scenario plays out, Nashville would not get to play LA, Colorado, or Detroit in the first round, but they could face any team in the top 4.  The question is:  who—among San Jose, Chicago, Vancouver, or Phoenix—do you WANT Nashville to face in the first round?