Central Division Prediction
Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
7. Colorado Avalanche
After another year slipping back in the division. Patrick Roy made the decision to step down as head coach of the Avalanche. Jared Bednar was hired to take over and he will have his work cut out for him. He inherits a team with tons of talent but low on success. This team could go one of two ways, they could click and run away with the division or they could struggle learning Bednar's system. This year they struggle but next year watch out.
6. Winnipeg Jets
Winnipeg is going to get a boost with the addition of Patrick Laine and it should be enough to push them out of the basement but not into a playoff spot. The Jets have a surprisingly potent offense and the defense is progressing nicely but the goaltending is a huge question mark. Ondrej Pavelec and Michael Hutchinson combined to go 22-28-7 last year and Pavelec has been a .500 goalie his entire career. The saving grace for the Jets will be their offensive output keeping them in games.
5. Minnesota Wild
Another team with a new head coach, the Wild hired Bruce Boudreau to increase the offensive intensity the Wild have never really had. Chris Stewart returns to Minnesota and the addition of Eric Staal will solidify the center position throughout the whole lineup. The Wild are hoping these additions will improve an offense whose top point producer finished with 56 points. Ryan Suter tied a career high with 8 goals last year and set a new high with 51 points and will have to duplicate that for Minnesota to compete again this year. If Devan Dubnyk can revert back to his form of two playoffs ago, the Wild could make a deep run this year but we see them finishing just on the outside this year.
4. St. Louis Blues (Playoffs)
The Blues were within two wins of making the Stanley Cup Finals but losing three key pieces in the offseason, it's going to be extremely tough to make it back to that point this year. Brian Elliott backstopped the Blues though the playoffs and had a remarkable run but was traded to Calgary to give Jake Allen the keys. David Backes and Troy Brouwer, the two most seasoned playoff performers, followed the money out of town. There is still a ton of talent on this team but the core has gotten younger which could be a downfall this year. The talent alone will get them in the playoffs but another Cup run isn't likely. Jake Allen is going to have to show why the team invested years and money into a player who hasn't been the number 1 guy yet. Of course because expectations are so low, watch them win the Cup. It would make Alex Pieteangelo's first season as captain pretty remarkable.
3. Dallas Stars (Playoffs)
The Stars made a huge jump from missing the playoffs to division winner last year but poor goaltending and injuries derailed their playoff run. If Tyler Seguin was healthy against St. Louis we probably would have seen Dallas flying around the ice against Pittsburgh in the Finals. If Dallas Ian tonget back to that spot they are going to need to decide who their primary goalie is. Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen split time almost equally last year and that seemed to shake their confidence. Both players were looking over their shoulder whenever they made a mistake waiting to get pulled. The defense got bigger in the offseason as well and that is an upgrade over their smaller core from last year which was dominated by the physical Blues. Jiri Hudler adds another weapon to an already star studded offense. Goal records might fall.
2. Nashville Predators (Playoffs)
Normally adding a defensemen isn't the final piece a team needs to push them to a new level but P.K. Subban isn't abnormal defensemen. Nashville has been known to go big and the addition of Subban for Shea Weber is no different. Yes they lose Weber's big time shot and solid defensive play but they get a younger, more offensive minded player in Subban. Adding Matt Carle will help replace the defense lost from moving Weber. The offense is the best group Nashville has seen probably in its history. Filip Forsberg is one of the most exciting young forward in the league but will need to have more success in the playoffs if this is to be the year. Forsberg and Mike Ribeiro, two of the top players for Nashville last year, combined for 2 goals and a minus 14 rating in the 6 playoff games. Pekka Rinne will be pressed to play a majority of the games as their backup has very little experience in the NHL with Carter Hutton in St. Louis now.
1. Chicago Blackhawks (Playoffs)
A disappointing exit in the first round will only fuel the fire for the Hawks and having a weaker division will help them win the division yet again. Once again pushed to the cap ceiling, Chicago had to shed some salary by letting Andrew Ladd walk and trading away Bryan Bickell and Teuvo Teravainen but they still have one of the top offenses in the league. Artemi Panarin burst onto the scene last year and Chicago may have found the next breakout star in the draft in Alexander DeBrincat. Corey Crawford bounced back from a shaky postseason two years ago by posting a 35-18-5 record with a .924 save percentage and a 2.37 GAA. To replace the loss of agitator Andrew Shaw the Hawks brought in Jordan Tootoo and he will be a thorn in every teams side this year. With new coaches in the division and teams losing established players Chicago has the chance to rise back to the top yet again this year.
Did we get it right? Who did we oversell and who got left out that shouldn't have? Let us know in the comments.
