On the Fly, NHL Roundtable: All-Star Scott?, wondrous Ward, East vs. West, and more

"On the Fly," theScore's NHL roundtable series, continues. We're talking potential All-Star John Scott, unheralded Joel Ward, Jake Allen, and more.

John Scott, All-Star?

Justin Cuthbert: John Scott was saying all the right things with respect to the laughable (in more ways than one) campaign to have him voted into the NHL All-Star Game and compete in the 3-on-3 tournament intended to showcase the talent of 44 of the best hockey players on the planet. That was then.

Scott contradicted his previously commendable response to the shenanigans Thursday, revealing plans to join the circus and indeed represent the Arizona Coyotes if voted in. You tell me, is there a better campaign strategy than that? Rather than using the platform to champion the Max Domis and Oliver Ekman-Larssons - players having truly terrific seasons - Scott is, inadvertently or not, now essentially lobbying for votes.

There's probably only going to be one representative in Nashville from the Coyotes, who have been one of the better stories of this young season. It'll be a damn shame if his name is John Scott.

Signing of the summer

Josh Gold-Smith: When the Sharks signed Joel Ward to a three-year deal in July, it was seen by many as a depth move, but the 35-year-old has exceeded expectations in his new surroundings.

Ward ranks third on the team with nine goals, second with 11 assists, and his 20 points are second only to Sharks captain Joe Pavelski. He's fit in perfectly on the second line alongside Patrick Marleau and Joonas Donskoi.

The Washington Capitals replaced Ward with Justin Williams, and many considered that deal to be the smartest of the summer, but Ward has been better than his replacement early on.

The Sharks winger is riding a five-game point streak, and San Jose has won three of those games. Williams (17 points in 23 games) has been solid in his own right, but less was expected of Ward as an aging, physical forward whose career highs of 24 goals and 49 points came in 2013-14.

San Jose made the most underrated move of the offseason, and Ward's contributions are exactly what the Sharks needed after an otherwise tumultuous summer.

Sale in Vancouver

Ben Whyte: Despite a continuing rebuild under general manager Jim Benning and team president Trevor Linden, the Vancouver Canucks sit only a point behind an upstart Arizona Coyotes team for the third playoff spot in the Pacific.

But even with the Sedins productive as ever through 26 games, Vancouver would be foolish to start buying ahead of the trade deadline. The Anaheim Ducks and Calgary Flames are bound to improve at some point, and if not for the loser point, the Canucks would find themselves eight points behind the Coyotes.

Radim Vrbata, Brandon Prust, and Dan Hamhuis all have expiring deals, but backup goalie Jacob Markstrom could also become an affordable target with the emergence of prospect Thatcher Demko at Boston College. The 19-year-old has six shutouts through 13 games - including three in a row in October - while boasting a 12-1-0 record and a ridiculous .953 save percentage.

Is the East better than the West?

Craig Hagerman: In a new trend, the bulk of the NHL's top clubs reside in the Eastern Conference a quarter way through the season.

Among teams to hit the 35-point mark, three are in the East, while only one is in the West.

That doesn't necessarily mean we're approaching a changing of the guard, though. While Eastern teams are atop the league standings, to suggest the East is becoming the tougher of the two conferences is a bit premature, since one must look at how each conference does against its counterpart.

The Eastern Conference's eight playoff teams currently have a combined record of 48-24-6 against Western teams, a 61.5 percent winning percentage. The West, however, edges the East slightly with a 45-18-6 record and a 65.2 percent success rate against Eastern opponents.

Another important fact: the Montreal Canadiens - who lead the league in points - have gone 15-0-3 against Eastern opponents and only 4-4-0 against the West.

Oddly enough, despite having a dismal record against its own conference (3-10-1), the last-place Edmonton Oilers are 6-5-1 against the East.

Faith in Jake

Ian McLaren: Jake Allen started all of the St. Louis Blues' playoff games last spring, allowing 12 goals on 125 shots before being pulled in lieu of Brian Elliott in a first-round, series-deciding Game 6 loss to the Minnesota Wild.

Through the first four games, split evenly between the two clubs, Allen was very strong, giving up only six goals and stopping 93.5 percent of shots. It's a small sample size, sure, and he and the team fell off in the final two games of the series en route to another playoff disappointment, but the flash from Allen was enough to warrant a shot at establishing himself as the team's No. 1 option, which he's become this season.

Through 19 appearances, Allen - still only 25 - is 11-5-2 with three shutouts and a .926 save percentage, placing him among the league's leaders in all three categories. As far as trusting him in the playoffs, it's the same as with any goalie - there will always be question marks until he actually wins a 16th game. But based on his track record to date, Allen seems as good a bet as anybody to finally get the Blues over the hump when it matters most.