WHL U.S. Division preview: Can the Seattle Thunderbirds knock the rival Portland Winterhawks off their perch?

Yahoo’s Buzzing the Net will preview the upcoming 2014-15 WHL season, going division by division and asking the biggest question of each team. Here is the U.S. Division preview.

Teams here are listed in predicted order of finish, from first to last.

Portland Winterhawks – 2013-14 record: 54-13-2-3, 113 points; division finish: first; playoff result: lost WHL final to Edmonton.

With Mike Johnston gone, will the Winterhawks finally regress?

There’s no doubt that Portland has a number of major holes to fill, with Mathew Dumba, Taylor Leier, Brendan Leipsic and Derrick Pouliot moving on to the pros. But the Winterhawks have had to deal with similarly devastating losses in each of the previous four seasons, and still won the Western Conference.

With Mike Johnston in Pittsburgh and Jamie Kompon now running the show, some might think this is the season the Hawks finally fall off their pedestal. It probably won’t happen quite yet.

Portland features what should still be the most prolific offence in the league, headed by 50-goal scorer Oliver Bjorkstrand and Nic Petan, who has 233 points over the last two seasons. Recent draftees Chase De Leo, Keegan Iverson, Alex Schoenborn and Dominic Turgeon, plus 2015 first-round prospect Paul Bittner, give the Winterhawks a dynamic group of forwards that will score a lot of goals.

The blue line is a bit more of a mystery, as there’s no surefire star among the defencemen. Canucks prospect Anton Cederholm and WHL rookie Blake Heinrich (a 19-year-old Capitals draftee) should be the best of the bunch, with 17-year-old Keoni Texeira ready to make a big jump in his draft year.

Returning goalie Brendan Burke didn’t play particularly well in two preseason games, but he impressed USA Hockey in world junior camp and has showed well at Coyotes rookie camp.

Draft picks lost as part of the sanctions handed down by the league in 2012 have started to slice into the Portland prospect list a bit, but the Hawks are confident that they’re finding American players late in the draft (or just listing them) who can perform just as well as high bantam picks. If that’s the case, Portland might not be going away anytime soon.

Seattle Thunderbirds – 2013-14 record: 41-25-2-4, 88 points; division finish: T-second; playoff result: lost second round to Kelowna.

Are the Thunderbirds’ young forwards ready to be major producers at the WHL level?

There’s been significant roster turnover up front on a Seattle team that won 40 games last year for the first time since 2007-08. But despite the departure of quality scorers like Alex Delnov, Roberts Lipsbergs and Branden Troock, there’s expectations that the T-Birds will be even better this season.

Seattle currently has no 1995-born forwards on its roster, and will instead rely on a group that currently consists of eight 17-year-olds and two 16-year-olds.

The pressure mostly falls on the shoulders of Mathew Barzal and Ryan Gropp, both of whom are considered first-round talents for the 2015 NHL draft. Barzal put up 54 points in 59 games last season as a 16-year-old, while Gropp arrived in late October and had an uneven, but productive, rookie campaign (42 points in 59 games).

Those two will join overage captain Justin Hickman on a top line that will be expected to be the best offensive line in the division outside of Portland. If they can handle it, the T-Birds should be a solid second-place team in the U.S. and could at least put an occasional scare in the Winterhawks.

New import forwards Florian Baltram and Alexander True showed promise in the preseason, and could provide some secondary scoring on a T-Birds team that’s smaller and faster than in recent seasons. Keegan Kolesar is a bigger forward who could break out this season, and little guys like Scott Eansor, Lane Pederson, Kaden Elder and Nolan Volcan could contribute as well.

Defensively, the T-Birds look solid with Ducks prospect Shea Theodore leading an experienced group that includes a promising 17-year-old in Ethan Bear.

Seattle still has to sort out an overage situation, with five 20-year-olds still on the roster. Goalie Taran Kozun is one of them, and he’s in a battle with holdover Danny Mumaugh and rookie Logan Flodell for a roster spot.

Tri-City Americans – 2013-14 record: 29-33-4-6, 68 points; division finish: fifth; playoff result: lost first round to Kelowna

Can the Tri-City offence take some pressure off of Eric Comrie?

It’s clear that Comrie, a Winnipeg Jets prospect, is the best goaltender in the U.S. Division this season. He was last year as well, but didn’t get a lot of support from an offence that scored 178 goals, third fewest in the league and the lowest total by a playoff club.

Luckily for the Ams, their top three scorers return this season, with 36-goal scorer Brian Williams ready to have another big season. Parker Bowles, who averaged a point a game despite missing nearly half the season, will provide a big boost along with Beau McCue, who scored 20 goals last season.

Beyond that, Tri-City’s forward group is experienced, but a bit offensively challenged. That might be OK, as the Ams’ depth forwards are bigger and can fit into the physical, grinding style that new head coach Mike Williamson likes to play.

Russian imports Semyon Krasheninnikov and Vladislav Lukin could provide some secondary scoring, along with overager Lucas Nickles.

On defense, Tri-City returns overager Justin Hamonic as well as young talents like Brandon Carlo, Josh Thrower and Parker Wotherspoon. That group should hold up well in front of Comrie and capable backup Evan Sarthou, meaning the Ams could return to their winning ways this season.

Everett Silvertips – 2013-14 record: 39-23-7-3, 88 points; division finish: T-second; playoff result: lost first round to Seattle

Can the Tips withstand the potential loss of Mirco Mueller?

As late as December last season, the Silvertips had the best record in the entire WHL. But then they hit an extended slide before rallying with an 11-0-2 finish to tie for second in the U.S. Division.

Unfortunately, the Tips have lost four of their top five scorers from last season, including a 47-goal man in Joshua Winquist. They might also have to go without superstar defenceman Mirco Mueller, who will be given every opportunity to crack the San Jose Sharks roster at 19.

Kevin Constantine’s structured style should keep Everett in a lot of games, but it’s hard to see where the offence is going to come from, while the defensive group will suffer if Mueller doesn’t come back.

The top returning goal scorer is Carson Stadnyk, who had 23 last season. Russian center Ivan Nikolishin is crafty, but 41 of his 59 points in 2013-14 came via assists, mostly to guys like Winquist, Manraj Hayer and Jujhar Khaira, all of whom are gone.

Tyler Sandhu, who was limited due to injury last year, will be expected to pick up some of the slack along with overager Kohl Bauml, who scored 21 goals in 2012-13 but regressed to 14 last season.

If Mueller is out, the Everett defence will be led by 20-year-old Ben Betker, along with a pair of solid 17-year-old draft prospects in Noah Juulsen and Kevin Davis.

Goaltender Austin Lotz, who’s capable of stealing games like Comrie, will need to be consistent all season for Everett to challenge for a top-three finish in the Division. He allowed three or fewer goals in each of last 15 regular-season starts last season.

Spokane Chiefs – 2013-14 record: 40-26-3-3, 86 points; division finish: fourth; playoff result: lost first round to Victoria

Can the Chiefs stay afloat after the loss of Mitch Holmberg and Mike Aviani?

Last season, Holmberg and Aviani were the top one-two punch in the league among overagers, combining for 100 goals (62 by Holmberg) and 199 points.

This year, there doesn’t seem be anyone waiting in the wings to replace that production, and the unexpected departure of captain Reid Gow and fellow defenceman Jeremy McIntosh leaves the Chiefs with an inexperienced back line.

With a pair of 19-year-old goalies who have never been full-time starters in the league in Garret Hughson and Alex Moodie, it appears as if Spokane is set to take a step backward this year.

Some fear the bottom will fall out and the Chiefs could have a historically bad season, but head coach Don Nachbaur has been around the block a few times and should be able to get effort out of his club.

Adam Helewka, who scored 23 goals last season, is the probable leading scorer, with Austrian Dominic Zwerger hoping to improve on a 16-goal rookie season. Brothers and Spokane natives Kailer and Keanu Yamamoto are also promising talents. Overagers Connor Chartier and Liam Stewart haven’t been big-time scorers in the past, but will need to chip in offensively this season.

Jason Fram had 57 points last season from the blue line, and is currently the only 19-year-old defenceman on the team. Colton Bobyk, Matt Sozanski and Tyson Helgesen will have a play a big role this season, along with new 6-foot-6 Hungarian import Tamas Laday.

Scott Sepich writes about the WHL for Buzzing the Net. Follow him on Twitter @ssepich.