The NHL season is almost here, and the Central Division will once again feature several Stanley Cup hopefuls.
In the 2021-2022 season, the Central was led by the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Colorado Avalanche, who finished the regular season with a 56-19-7 record (119 points).
The Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues came in second and third, respectively, as both enjoyed competitive seasons. Minnesota went 53-22-7 (113 points), and St. Louis was 49-22-11 (109 points).
Both wild card teams in the Western Conference also came from the Central a year ago. The Dallas Stars came in fourth in the division (46-30-6, 98 points), while the Nashville Predators were fifth (45-30-7, 97 points).
Which Central Division teams are in line to make the playoffs?
The first team out in the Central last season was the Winnipeg Jets (39-32-11, 89 points), and that was the only other club in the division that was in postseason contention.
In seventh place, the Chicago Blackhawks (28-42-12, 68 points) found themselves nearly 30 points below the division’s playoff teams. 11 points behind the Hawks were the Arizona Coyotes (25-50-7, 57 points).
Fast forward to this season, and the Central Division is once again full of teams with playoff expectations and championship aspirations.
The Blues and Wild largely spent the offseason taking care of their own players. St. Louis signed several long-term extensions, while Minnesota ensured the return of 2021 Vezina Trophy winner Marc-Andre Fleury.
Additions and subtractions were more plentiful for the Avs and Preds, as Colorado saw a plethora of players depart over the summer, like Darcy Kuemper and Nazem Kadri, and Nashville brought in players like Ryan McDonagh and Nino Niederreiter.
Meanwhile, Dallas, Chicago, and Winnipeg are all coming into the 2022-2023 season with new head coaches in place, one of which has already started to make major changes to his team.
Overall, the Central can be split into three clear groups: one that has a legitimate chance to contend for the Cup, one that will be respectable but not relevant in the playoff hunt, and one that won’t contend at all.
With that, here is the 2022-2023 Central Division preview.
There’s not a ton to say about the two teams at the bottom of the Central Division, but they have to have their own section, because they are so far below their rivals.
To start, the Arizona Coyotes are not to be taken seriously until we see some sign of competency. The Yotes have made the playoffs one time in the last decade, and it was in 2020 when 24 teams were in the field.
There is some talent on the roster, but players like Phil Kessel took their first opportunity to leave the desert, and it’s fair to wonder if the good players still with the Coyotes will be dealt at some point this season.
When Zack Kassian is the biggest addition of the offseason and the most interesting thing about the team is that it will be playing its home games in a college arena, things don’t exactly look promising for Arizona this season.
Similarly, the Chicago Blackhawks have officially given up on clinging to their championship hopes and are now in full rebuild mode. Kirby Dach, Alex DeBrincat, and more were let go over the summer, leaving Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews to pick up the pieces.
Last offseason, the team made a few big splashes that made me believe that it could make one last run at a deep trip through the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That thought was met with resounding rejection, and now the club’s trajectory is going completely in the other direction.
Fans can’t even say for sure that Kane and Toews will finish the 2022-2023 campaign in the Windy City, so this is going to be a long season for the Blackhawks.
This team, without question, has more talent than the Coyotes, so I have them finishing in seventh place, but there is enough uncertainty that, in one of the other divisions, this could be a last-place team.
The Winnipeg Jets slot in at number six for me in the Central Division, which I find to be very disappointing.
With Connor Hellebuyck in goal (and hopefully playing at a higher level than last year), this team should have a chance. However, the Jets did nothing to make their roster stronger, despite having opportunities to do so in free agency.
As a result, this team will continue to struggle defensively in front of Hellebuyck, and I don’t see the offense as being strong enough to carry the underwhelming defense anymore.
Winnipeg has no depth, no captain, and no chance at the postseason. The Jets are on the decline and will watch the playoffs from home for a second straight season.
Also on the decline are the Dallas Stars. This team has been more frustrating for me over the years, but now I think that the writing is on the wall.
Dallas did manage to sign Jake Oettinger to a three-year deal and barely got Jason Robertson locked up as well. Unfortunately, there are simply not enough scoring options for this team to find success in the regular season.
The Stars will hope that Mason Marchment, who tallied 18 goals and 29 assists for 47 points with the Florida Panthers last season, can provide some type of a scoring punch after emerging during last year’s offensive outbreak in Sunrise.
Even if he’s able to do that, they’ll still need more from the likes of Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, as Alexander Radulov is gone, and Joe Pavelski is a year older. Dallas’s core has to prove that it still has some offense left to give.
Unfortunately, I’ve seen this story too many times in Big D, so fifth place feels like a good spot for a team that has its best hockey behind it.
Only the top three teams from each division will earn automatic bids to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but in the Central, the top four all deserve to be mentioned in the same section.
The Minnesota Wild are the team that I see squeaking into the postseason as a wild card team, but they belong in this conversation with the top three teams in the division, rather than with the Jets and Stars that don’t appear to be playoff-bound.
Minnesota re-signed goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and said goodbye to Cam Talbot and Kevin Fiala, but overall, this team should be similar to the one that had success last year in the regular season. Expect this team to be good, but not great.
In third place, I have the Nashville Predators. The Preds made the playoffs a year ago and were swept by the Colorado Avalanche, but plenty has changed since then.
Goaltender Juuse Saros was not healthy for that series last spring, and the team added Ryan McDonagh and Nino Niederreiter this offseason, so don’t worry too much about that ugly first-round exit.
Nashville is going to be a tough team to score goals against, so if players like Matt Duchene can score at a rate similar to last year’s, this team’s potential is extremely high. My biggest reservation here is head coach John Hynes.
My second-place finisher will come as a surprise, but I see the Colorado Avalanche as being a very different team this season. Without a doubt, the depth from last season will help the Avs overcome some offseason departures, but we still have to remember exactly what they lost.
Starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper left and was replaced with two players that have never played full NHL seasons. At forward, Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky headline the group that has moved on.
The star power on the Colorado Avalanche roster is still about as good as it gets, but this team lost some real difference makers, and as a result, it is no longer untouchable in the Central.
That leaves the St. Louis Blues to claim the top spot. St. Louis proved last season that it is capable of scoring goals at an impressive rate, which I expect to be the case again this year. David Perron is out, but I still like what this roster has shown it can do.
The big question now is between the pipes. Can Stanley Cup champion Jordan Binnington return to his 2019 form? We got a taste of that elite Binnington in the 2022 postseason, and if he can find that form regularly, the Blues will be among the NHL’s best teams.
There seems to be a clear divide between the top four teams and the bottom four teams in the Central, but things may not be as straightforward at the top as many people expect.