After several years of the west being by far the stronger conference, it looks (at least to me) like the balance of power has swung back to the east.
In the Metro division, you can make a case for 7 of the teams having a realistic shot at the playoffs. In the Atlantic, there are probably 5 solid teams (2 out of TB, Mtl and the Leafs)
Compare that with the west where, in both divisions, things start to thin out really quickly after 3 teams, or 4 at the most
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