Unlike in the Eastern Conference, the West's field of eight is pretty well set although the seedings are still up for grabs. But now that the dealing is done, we can get a pretty good sense of the strengths and weaknesses of the West's playoff combatants and how they are likely to fare once the postseason fray begins. As it stands, the eight teams fall into three groups.

The Elite Nashville Predators The Preds' acquisition of Peter Forsberg (right) makes them the team to beat -- on paper. That's serious ink for a franchise that has never won a playoff series in its eight-year history. There is a ton to like about this team, including the ability to win close games. Nashville has taken its last three contests by identical 4-3 scores. But there are questions: Coach Barry Trotz hasn't won yet. Goaltenders Tomas Vokoun and Chris Mason haven't won yet. In fact, before Forsberg arrived, forward Jason Arnott -- who scored a Cup-winning goal for New Jersey in 2000 -- was the only Pred who had lifted Lord Stanley over his head. The sum of these parts only adds up to a potent whole if the chemistry between Forsberg and his new teammates actually works. Forsberg's health is the obvious wildcard here. He has tried more than two dozen boots trying to get some comfort for his surgically-repaired right foot. If he's right, the Predators could have a leg up on the Western field. Anaheim Ducks The Ducks may have been the big losers on trade day. Consider that they watched the Preds pick up Peter Forsberg, the Wings roll the dice with Todd Bertuzzi, the Sharks add power forward Bill Guerin, and the Stars grab talented leader Mattias Norstrom. What did the Ducks do? They added tough guy Brad May when they already had their share of tough guys. GM Brian Burke is familiar with May, who twice played for him in Vancouver and has amassed over 2,000 career penalty minutes. Then again, Burke stuck to his guns by not dealing any draft picks or young talent to rent a player for a few months and risk losing him to free agency. Burke has referred to short-term rental players as "kamikaze pilots." Perhaps the Ducks will be big winners in the long run. For now, they are a team with speed (Andy McDonald, Todd Marchant), veteran skill (Teemu Selanne, above), young skill (Chris Kunitz, Ryan Getzlaf, Dustin Penner), good goaltending (J.S. Giguere) and a pair of great defensemen (Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermayer), but, most of all, they are built for the trenches and wars of what playoff battles used to be. The big questions are if the Ducks will still be able to use that physicality to their advantage in 2007 -- consider that Carolina won last year without a heavyweight -- and when it comes time for a big goal in the postseason crucible, do they have someone other than Selanne who can deliver it? After the Flying Finn's 75 points, only one other forward -- McDonald -- is even in the 50s. Anaheim has the NHL's third-best power play, thanks to Selanne's 20 goals, but no other Duck is in double figures. The can spell trouble in the playoffs. Detroit Red Wings The Wings wanted to add muscle and reclaim some of their old Cup-years mean streak. Now they just have to make sure Chris Chelios and Todd Bertuzzi don?t attack one another on instinct. Detroit has one of the NHL's top scoring lines in Henrik Zetterberg(currently out for three weeks with a worrisome back disc problem), Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom -- and a proven Cup-winning goaltender in Dominik Hasek (right), around whom they circle their wagons. The Wings allow the fewest shots (24.1) of any team in the league, a defense-first approach that can win in the playoffs. Still, one-line teams are easier to scout than teams that get production from multiple lines. If Bertuzzi gives them some buzz (perhaps playing with Robert Lang and newly-acquired Kyle Calder), Detroit may have just enough punch to survive its share of 3-2 and 2-1 playoff games. And for all the talk about the leadership lost in the last year or so with the retirements of Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille and Igor Larionov, there are still ten players left who have won Cups. The new acquisitions carry large question marks: Bertuzzi played just seven games with Florida because of a back disc problem. Calder seemed to lose his game playing for last-place Philly. The Wings could fly deep in the postseason if either one contributes significantly.