Okay, I have a lot of thoughts on the Central Division, and I wanna start by saying that I don't think this division is as strong as we think it is. There are definitely some good teams here, but none of them look like clear cut cup contenders to me. Here is why.

1. Dallas Stars: I like their team very much, they're my personal pick to win the Central. Can't understate how "dynamite" their top line is, I don't think Wyatt Johnston will advance to being a 50+ point player just yet, but I think he should score at a 0.5 PPG pace with relative ease once again. I think Jamie Benn can pot at least 60 pts next season, Duchene should come in and be a reliable secondary scorer, and yeah, the team's depth ain't too shabby up front or on the back end. On a goaltending note, as much as I like Oettinger, I don't think he's quite got himself into the elite tier of goaltenders just yet. There is obviously still time for him to get there, but I can't say for sure that he will.

2. Colorado Avalanche: This team looks good overall on paper, but they're certainly not the powerhouse they were a couple of years ago. A big part of that is not having Landeskog for the upcoming season obviously. Center depth isn't too shabby, but I'm not sure it's cup caliber. I'd say the winger depth is a bit shallow compared to most other playoff contenders, an unfortunate byproduct of navigating the salary cap will staying in the upper half of the league. Defense is obviously good, goaltending is...fine, I guess.

3. Minnesota Wild: Sure, call it impressive that Bill Geurin has been able to maintain this roster as perennial playoff contenders while operating under the pressure of astronomical amounts of dead cap space on the books. That said, I'd like for us to be able to separate this from the fact that these past two post-seasons, the Wild's top guys have actually struggled to perform in post-season action, at least outside of Kaprizov. Kevin Fiala pretty infamously got away from his identity as a player back in 2022, and Boldy and Zuccarello's playoff struggles are pretty well documented from 2023. Dead cap penalties or not, if this isn't something that rectifies itself going forward, it's not going to matter when the buyout penalties relieve themselves if the team still can't get it done in the playoffs. At least their are lots of good prospects to look forward to, although they got into the system through being forced to move win-now players for future assets due to cap reasons. Also looking ahead a little bit, by the time the cap recapture penalties drop down to relatively negligible proportions, Kaprizov will only have one year remaining on his contract. What will it cost to re-sign him? Will he even want to re-sign after having to put up with years of relative mediocrity? If he doesn't want to stay, how far back does it set the Wild in terms of their ability to contend?

4. Nashville Predators: I don't think this team has a playoffs mandate by any means, but I don't think they're going to slide out of the mushy middle the way some of us have wanted them to, but hey, at least they took a bit more of a definitive step back compared to previous years of just running things back.

5. Winnipeg Jets: I know we are still arguably waiting on shoes to drop regarding Scheifele and Hellebuyck, but honestly, whether they're with the team or not during the season, I don't see the team being a significant threat either way. I do think they're overall weaker after the Pierre Luc Dubois trade.

6. St. Louis Blues: I feel like us non-Blues fans are only just now starting to wake up to just how bad S. Louis's top four on the back end actually is. It's not just inefficient, it's actually quite poor in it's construction as well, with Marco Scandella as a lackluster no. 5 being paid a premium penny to add insult to injury. Forward depth is...fine, not spectacular, just fine. I see this upcoming season being a very bumpy ride for the Blues.

7. Arizona Coyotes: Outside of some obviously talented pieces up front, this is still a relatively desolate roster in terms of it's construction. Outside of punching above their weight on the odd night, I don't see the Coyotes making any noise really.

8. Chicago Blackhawks: Let's just call it what it is, the Connor Bedard TRAINING GROUNDS.

1. Dallas
2. Colorado
3. Minnesota
4. Winnipeg
5. St Louis
6. Chicago
7. Nashville
8. Arizona

1. Colorado
2. Dallas
3. Minnesota
4. St. Louis
5. Nashville
6. Winnipeg
7. Arizona
8. Chicago

Chicago ahead of Nashville? Am I reading that correctly?

May I ask what gives you confidence in St. Louis being better than Nashville? Just curious

1. Brunette is a dog **** coach
2. The forward core for Nashville is lifeless outside 2 guys
3. The defence outside the top pairing isn’t that good

Brunette is most certainly a good coach, he played a part in helping the Devils take a big franchise defining step, he's a presidence trophy winner, he didn't just inherit a strong roster there. You're only kidding yourself if you think Nashville has a weak defense. Sure, it's not spectacular, but it's not going to sink the team singlehandedly. Lastly, I don't know what to tell you if you are calling their forward group lifeless. So Filip Forsberg and Luke Evangelista are lifeless offensive talents? Watch the entire Predators army storming over to you home to come break down your door. Also, you are criminally sleeping on Thomas Novak as well. Haven't even mentioned O'Reilly in all of this yet.

Yeah kinda. Training grounds can turn into battle grounds real fast if all goes well. Honestly tho, Nashville probably is better most of the season then falters at the end like last season

That president’s trophy win was fraudulent

Me too, don't see either St Louis or Nashville over Winnipeg tho

Maybe from an off-ice perspective, but not from an on-ice perspective

That sort of thing only happens once in a blue moon, nothing to remotely suggest it will be the case here



Eh, I can see Nashville overtaking Winnipeg if Scheifele's uncertain future is unresolved, it could become a bit of a distraction, because without him, Winnipeg's center depth becomes extremely questionable, and that's putting it politely, and I think Connor and Ehlers are smart enough to recognize that

Chicago just got a blue moon winning the lottery (I think lol).

Talk about questionable center depth. Nashville gives away RyJo and straight up ditches Duchene and the only real name to fill either of those spots is Ryan O'Reilly? He's on the declining arc of his career and isn't going to fill both of those spots. Connor and Ehlers at least keep the first line in tact, and if they need a new 1C, they have a couple options.

Don't sleep on Thomas Novak, or Cody Glass for that matter

They spent more time trailing to real teams and got bailed out by high end talent
Went to 6 vs THE CAPITALS where Brunette was tactically spanked by Laviolette

Then got obliterated by their in state rivals the following round

Also 1/31 on the powerplay just to put the cherry on top

Andrew Brunette didn't have Matthew Tkachuk

Still had Huberdeau in his best season and a 1000x better defence

Huberdeau isn't as good as Tkachuk, and you're severely overrating Weegar as well

Here's my predictions for the Central Division. As of right now, the tiers of this division are pretty well defined in my mind. There are three clear playoff teams, three teams stuck in limbo due to being in the middle of some semblance of a retool, and a pair of rebuilding teams rounding out the group of eight. Right now I'm leaning towards the Central only sending a trio of clubs to the playoffs this year, with both Western Conference wildcards coming from the Pacific.

1. Dallas Stars - In my mind the Stars and Avalanche are the clear top two teams in this division, and it'll come down to the wire as to who takes the crown. I'm giving Dallas the nod here for now, as they bring back everyone from their main roster last season and add Matt Duchene and Sam Steel to provide an additional boost down the middle. I believe that roster consistency relative to Colorado will yield more consistent results over the course of the season and propel Dallas to the top of the Central.

2. Colorado Avalanche - The Avs might actually improve points-wise from last season; since this time around they know they'll be without Gabriel Landeskog from the beginning, they were able to use their newfound cap flexibility to bolster their depth with Ryan Johansen, Ross Colton, and Miles Wood. They're a deeper team now even in spite of the trade of Alex Newhook, though I don't think their depth is quite at the level it was during their cup run. Couple those improvements with a hopefully healthier season and they could give Dallas a real run for its money. I have the Avs finishing second here, but as I mentioned above, they are more than capable of finishing atop the division.

3. Minnesota Wild - Minnesota has done admirably in remaining a good team while working around the dead cap space from the Ryan Suter and Zach Parise buyouts. However, that lack of cap flexibility has hindered offseason moves, and I have them as a playoff lock here mainly because none of the teams below them seem primed to threaten the Wild. They made a savvy trade for Pat Maroon to bolster the bottom six, but besides that their offseason has basically consisted of re-signing their own guys. I think the Wild will still find themselves in the playoffs thanks to the state of their division, but aren't likely to make much noise once they get there.

4. Winnipeg Jets - I had a hard time ranking the next three teams on this list given the states of their respective franchises. Winnipeg is probably the best of the group at the moment, even with the departure of Pierre-Luc Dubois via trade. The Jets got a solid return from the Kings; each of Alex Iafallo, Gabe Vilardi, and Rasmus Kupari will contribute to the team this season to varying extents. I believe the Jets as presently constructed are still a solid if slightly less talented team who will hang around in the playoff race, which is why I have them 4th; however, if they decide to pivot more towards a rebuild and trade veterans like Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck, they could plummet down the standings in a hurry and finish lower.

5. St. Louis Blues - The future is now for the Blues, who after trading away several of their key veterans from the 2019 cup run last season are now relying on Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, and Pavel Buchnevich as their core contributors. There's also still several older players remaining from that time who survived the retool, and the team went and added Kevin Hayes to help fill the void left by Ryan O'Reilly. The forward group looks solid, but the defense, while it has a lot of name brand recognition, isn't what it once was. I think this team will be competitive, but I doubt there's enough here right now to make them a playoff team.

6. Nashville Predators - The Predators of today are nothing like their counterparts from prehistoric times (aka, last year). The retool undertaken by new GM Barry Trotz has more closely resembled a purge, with the former core shipped out and a host of new faces - Ryan O'Reilly, Luke Schenn, and Gustav Nyquist - brought in to replace them. There's not really a ton of name brand recognition here, but this is a team with some intriguing youth up front that I think can punch above its weight on occasion and be a real nuisance to opponents, aided by what is top-to-bottom one of the best goaltending groups in the league. If they do nothing else I think they finish around here, but the Preds have the flexibility to make some moves; if they maximize that, I can envision this team finishing higher in the standings.

7. Arizona Coyotes - The Coyotes actually made some splashes in the offseason, trading for Sean Durzi and adding Jason Zucker, Alex Kerfoot, and bringing back Nick Bjugstad via free agency. Couple that with some of their underrated core players, intriguing youth (most notably Logan Cooley), and a surprisingly competent goaltending tandem, and I think this team is poised to be if nothing else better than they were last season. There will still be some growing pains with their young players that I think will keep them from making a serious playoff push this year, but the trajectory of this team appears to be finally pointing up.

8. Chicago Blackhawks - The winners of the Connor Bedard sweepstakes wasted no time putting some infrastructure around him, adding Taylor Hall, Ryan Donato, Corey Perry, and Nick Foligno over the offseason. While that injection of veterans should help their burgeoning star's development, this is a team that did a full teardown just a year ago. The rest of the roster is too much of a train wreck for the Blackhawks to making noise this year. I predict they once again finish at the base of the Central Division.

1. Colorado
2. Dallas
3. Minnesota
4. Winnipeg (unless they move Scheifele/Hellebuyck)
5. Arizona
6. Nashville
7. St. Louis
8. Chicago

Colorado ahead of Dallas? Arizona ahead of both Nashville and St. Louis??

Colorado and Dallas are really close for me, and I think Arizona surprises people this year

Nah, Arizona's defense is still barren as heck, they'll get shelled night in night out, even if there is some offense to speak of on their roster