Central Division Predictions

(Photo Credit: Richard Rodriguez - Getty Images)

The NHL's Central Division is right there with the Atlantic for the toughest division in the league.

Outside of the still rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks, there's a playoff case to be made for just about every other team, three of whom are among favorites to win the Conference, let alone the division.

Goaltending is very strong throughout the Central, so much of who ends where may depend on which netminders can continue their strong play versus having a possible set back.

---

Chicago Blackhawks - 8th Place, 67 Points

Projected Lineup

Forwards

Ryan Donato - Connor Bedard - Andre Burakovsky

Teuvo Teravainen - Frank Nazar - Tyler Bertuzzi

Oliver Moore - Jason Dickinson - Ilya Mikheyev

Nick Foligno - Ryan Greene - Colton Dach

Defensemen

Alex Vlasic - Sam Rinzel

Wyatt Kaiser - Artyom Levshunov

Ethan Del Mastro - Connor Murphy

Goalies

Spencer Knight - Arvid Soderblom

Synopsis

Chicago has some good young pieces as a result of being a lottery team in recent seasons.

Led by Conor Bedard, Frank Nazar is expected to have a possible break out year for the Hawks, and Artyom Levshunov - a 6'2", 208 pound right shot defensemen - is Chicago's 2nd overall pick from the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, and could be a strong development in his first full season on the back end.

Spencer Knight is also a curious storyline to follow as the netminder was acquired late last season as part of the Seth Jones trade to Florida.

Could the 13th overall pick in 2019 (FLA) become the Blackhawks No. 1 goalie for years to come?

Outside of those promising young players, Chicago's lineup has some serviceable, veteran players in Ryan Donato coming off a career year, Tyler Bertuzzi, Teuvo Teravainen, Nick Foligno, and Connor Murphy - but no needle movers.

Another long year in The Windy City is expected.

---

Nashville Predators - 7th Place, 85 Points

Projected Lineup

Forwards

Filip Forsberg - Ryan O'Reilly - Brady Martin

Steven Stamkos - Fedor Svechkov - Luke Evangelista

Michael Bunting - Erik Haula - Jonathan Marchessault

Cole Smith - Michael McCarron - Zachary L'Heureux

Defensemen

Adam Wilsby - Roman Josi

Brady Skjei - Nick Perbix

Andreas Englund - Nick Blankenburg

Goalies

Juuse Saros - Justus Annunen

Synopsis

Nashville finishing as high as 4th in the division with an eye at a wild card spot is not out of the question if all goes well, and if they can bounce back from last season.

The Predators have a ton of veteran talent in Roman Josi, Ryan O'Reilly, Steven Stamkos, Filip Forsberg, and Jonathan Marchessault.

Those players are complimented well by Michael Bunting, Erik Haula, Brady Skjei, Nicolas Hague, and Nick Perbix.

6th overall selection in 2025, Brady Martin, and Luke Evangelista headline the start of a youth movement as well.

The question, is how do all these players mesh? Because last year they played down to their talent level.

Having Juuse Saros in goal can be a luxury provided he bounces back from a down year.

The trouble for the Predators in this exercise, is that they'll be battling it out with teams who aren't showing signs of regression in Minnesota, St. Louis, and Utah.

Combine that with the unknown of Nashville bouncing back, and they land 7th in this preseason cut.

---

Minnesota Wild - 6th Place, 89 Points

Projected Lineup

Forwards

Kirill Kaprizov - Marco Rossi - Matt Boldy

Liam Ohgren - Joel Eriksson Ek - Vladimir Tarasenko

Marcus Johansson - Danila Yurov - Ryan Hartman

Marcus Foligno - Nico Sturm - Yakov Trenin

Defensemen

Zeev Buium - Brock Faber

Jacob Middleton - David Jiricek

Jared Spurgeon - Zach Bogosian

Goalies

Filip Gustavsson - Jesper Wallstedt

Synopsis

All eyes are going to be on Kirill Kaprizov after signing the richest contract in NHL History - 8 years, $136M.

Kaprizov is a star, and he'll be joined by Matt Boldy, Brock Faber, and Zeev Buium who all have varying levels of star potential.

Beyond them, the roster is solid in most areas with the exception of center ice where they currently lack a true No. 1 center and instead are hoping Marco Rossi can be someone he probably isn't equipped to be.

Rossi is still young at 24 years old and he did score 60 points in 82 games last season - but Minnesota's up and down usage of him, including fourth line minutes at times, insinuates that they aren't entirely sold on his two-way ability.

Joel Eriksson-Ek, Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan Hartman, Marcus Foligno, Jared Spurgeon, Matts Zuccarello (out 7-8 weeks to start the season), and Jonas Brodin (recovering from surgery and also out to star the year), round out an overall pretty good roster that can once again make the playoffs.

Filip Gustavsson will need to have another strong year in net for Minnesota's postseason chances.

---

Utah Mammoth - 5th Place, 94 Points

Projected Lineup

Forwards

Dylan Guenther - Logan Cooley - JJ Peterka

Clayton Keller - Barrett Hayton - Nick Schmaltz

Lawson Crouse - Jack McBain - Michael Carcone

Liam O'Brien - Kevin Stenlund - Brandon Tanev

Defensemen

Mikhail Sergachev - John Marino

Ian Cole - Sean Durzi

Nate Schmidt - Olli Maatta

Goalies

Karel Vejmelka - Vitek Vanecek

Synopsis

Utah is knocking on the door for postseason qualification.

They have a ton of great pieces up front in Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, Nick Schmaltz, and of course the trade acquisition of JJ Peterka.

Lawson Crouse, Jack McBain, Liam O'Brien, Kevin Stenlund, and Brandon Tanev is a nightmare of a bottom six to play against from a size, speed, and physicality perspective - but can they produce enough secondary scoring? That's the question that needs answering.

Mikhail Sergachev, John Marino, and Sean Durzi are fun players to watch on the blue line and they'll be joined by veterans Ian Cole, Nate Schmidt, and Olli Maatta.

Karel Vejmelka is coming off of an okay year in goal but will need to be better for the Mammoth to take that next step.

At the end of the day, I need to see it from Utah before anointing them as preseason playoff favorites, but they are right there and qualifying for the postseason wouldn't shock me in the least.

---

St. Louis Blues - 4th Place, 95 Points

Projected Lineup

Forwards

Pavel Buchnevich - Robert Thomas - Jimmy Snuggerud

Dylan Holloway - Pius Suter - Jordan Kyrou

Jake Neighbours - Brayden Schenn - Mathieu Joseph

Alexey Toropchenko - Nick Bjugstad - Nathan Walker

Defensemen

Cam Fowler - Colton Parayko

Philip Broberg - Justin Faulk

Tyler Tucker - Logan Mailloux

Goalies

Jordan Binnington - Joel Hofer

Synopsis

St. Louis was less than two seconds away from eliminating the Presidents Trophy winning, Winnipeg Jets from the playoffs in Game 7 of the first round last season.

In fact, they had a 3-1 lead with under two minutes remaining in regulation.

This isn't meant to be a painful rehash for Blues fans, rather, it's an indicator of just how close they came to being a final eight team, and how they can once again be in that same hunt this year.

Robert Thomas is officially at star status after tallying higher than a point per game over his last two seasons.

Jordan Kyrou, Pavel Buchnevich, Dylan Holloway, Brayden Schenn, and Jake Neighbours all are capable of scoring 50-70 points, and Jimmy Snuggerud, St. Louis' first round pick in 2022, is a highly anticipated watch in his first full season.

The Blues' backend is doesn't have any Norris candidates, but they possess a nice combination of size, physicality, puck moving, and mobility between Cam Fowler, Colton Parayko, Philip Broberg, and Justin Faulk as their projected top four.

In net, Jordan Binnington is a proven goalie, and big game player who is more than capable of giving the Blues what they need.

---

Winnipeg Jets - 3rd Place, 102 Points

Projected Lineup

Forwards

Kyle Connor - Mark Scheifele - Gabriel Vilardi

Cole Perfetti - Jonathan Toews - Gustav Nyqvist

Nino Niederreiter - Vladislav Namestnikov - Alex Iafallo

Tanner Pearson - Morgan Barron - Cole Koepke

Defensemen

Josh Morrissey - Dylan Demelo

Haydn Fleury - Neal Poink

Logan Stanley - Luke Schenn

Goalies

Connor Hellebuyck - Eric Comrie

Synopsis

Winnipeg is a curious team this season.

After finishing 3rd in the league in goals scored (277) and 1st in goal differential (+86) - thanks in large part to a Vezina winning season from Connor Hellebuyck - the reigning Presidents Trophy winning Jets are going to have to make up for the free agency loss of Nikolaj Ehlers.

Gustav Nyqvist is a player brought in who is now three seasons removed from scoring 75 points, and Jonathan Toews is expected to plug in as the Jets' No. 2 center after missing the last two full seasons.

Toews is an all time top-100 player but at 37 years old it's difficult to project much meaningful offense from him after missing such time - and that's if he stays healthy.

Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, and Josh Morrissey will provide big time offense, while Cole Perfetti, and Gabriel Vilardi will chip in solid secondary scoring.

But there's something about this roster that has me thinking they'll be a come down from their high of being the top team in the regular season last year and that they won't be as high of a scoring team.

Short of another Vezina performance from Hellebuyck, Winnipeg may struggle to win the division again but they should comfortably be a playoff team.

---

Colorado Avalanche - 2nd Place, 108 Points

Projected Lineup

Forwards

Valeri Nichushkin - Nathan Mackinnon - Martin Necas

Gabriel Landeskog - Brock Nelson - Artturi Lehkonen

Ross Colton - Jack Drury - Victor Olofsson

Parker Kelly - Zachary Bardakov - Joel Kiviranta

Defensemen

Devon Toews - Cale Makar

Sam Girard - Josh Manson

Sam Malinski - Brent Burns

Goalies

Mackenzie Blackwood - Scott Wedgewood

Synopsis

When a team arguably has two of the top five players in the world, they're going to make the playoffs - health provided.

It's that simple.

That said, Colorado's speed, skill, and depth goes even beyond Nathan Mackinnon, and Cale Makar.

Martin Necas has and can again be more than a point per game player.

Brock Nelson can score upwards of 70 points.

This year marks the full season return of Gabriel Landeskog for the first time since the 2021-2022 season.

Valeri Nichushkin, Artturi Lehkonen, Logan O'Connor (out until likely December) and Victor Olofsson are all capable of providing secondary scoring as well.

Devon Toews, Josh Manson, and Brent Burns help to round out one of the league's better defense units behind Makar.

Mackenzie Blackwood was good enough in net last year but he needs to be great going forward for Colorado to have any chance to repeat the success they did back in the spring of 2022.

---

Dallas Stars - 1st Place, 112 Points

Projected Lineup

Forwards

Jason Robertson - Roope Hintz - Mikko Rantanen

Sam Steel - Matt Duchene - Tyler Seguin

Justin Hryckowian - Wyatt Johnston - Mavrik Bourque

Oskar Back - Radek Faksa - Colin Blackwell

Defensemen

Esa Lindell - Miro Heiskanen

Thomas Harley - Nils Lundkvist

Lian Bichsel - Ilya Lyubshkin

Goalies

Jake Oettinger - Casey DeSmith

Synopsis

The Stars are primed for another great year after three consecutive trips to the Western Conference Finals.

Dallas has high end talent, and are deep at every position.

Miro Heiskanen and Thomas Harley each have the ability to yet again win Norris votes on the blue line while Esa Lindell, Lian Bichsel, Ilya Lyubshkin, and Nils Lundkvist configure the rest of a great defense core.

Up front there's no shortage of star power (pun very much intended).

Here are last seasons point totals from some of their key cogs at forward.

Mikko Rantanen (88 points), Matt Duchene (82 points), Jason Robertson (80 points), Wyatt Johnston (71 points), Roope Hintz (67 points), Jaime Benn (49 points), and Tyler Seguin (21 points, in 20 games).

Mavrik Bourque, and Sam Steel can provide depth scoring as well.

Oh, and in goal? Jake Oettinger is among the better goalies in the league.

Dallas has it all.

The main concern for them, is health.

Heiskanen, and Seguin both missed a lot of time last year, and Jamie Benn is already out to start this season due to a collapsed lung suffered in preseason action - the Stars captain is set to miss at least a month before being re-evaluated.

Still, Dallas has just about more depth throughout their lineup than anyone (to start the season) - Florida when healthy still possesses the most depth in the league but after them, Dallas is right there.