The two best teams in the Western Conference reside in the Central Division. The only team better on paper than Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche are the Florida Panthers. Since a brutal injury bug hit the Big Cats, Dallas and Colorado are strong choices to hoist the Stanley Cup at season’s end. The rest of the teams in the division are playing for the bronze in the Central.
1, Dallas Stars – The Dallas Stars have an embarrassment of riches upfront. Dallas was loaded before they acquired Colorado’s 2nd best forward via Carolina Mikko Rantanen. Roope Hintz, Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston are studs in the prime of their career. Tyler Seguin and Matt Duchene are still putting up solid offensive numbers. Captain Jamie Benn will be poised for one final ride after he returns from a collapsed lung. The Dallas defense is superskilled. Number 1 defenseman Miro Heiskanen is healthy. Last year’s breakout defenseman Thomas Harley would be a number 1 on all but a few teams. The rest of the defense is rugged with a nasty streak. Goaltender Jake Oettinger is top notch but seems to fade in the playoffs. He could use a better back up than Casey DeSmith. New head coach Glen Gulutzan has been given the keys to a sportscar after Peter DeBoer wore out his welcome in Big D.
2. Colorado Avalanche – The Colorado Avalanche are always among the preseason favorites to win the Stanley Cup. They have 2 of the top 5 players in the world on their team. Center Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Cale Makar are already Stanley Cup winners and sure fire Hall of Famers. Big Mac is more motivated than ever and that is scary for the rest of the league. Captain Gabriel Landeskog needs to stay healthy. Sensational Valeri Nichushkin is an incredible talent who just needs to stay out of trouble. Martin Necas, Brock Nelson and Artturi Lehkonen are an impressive supporting cast. Cale Makar is this century’s Bobby Orr. Makar’s partner Devon Toews is an all-star himself. The Avs added Brent Burns to the blueline. Will Burns be this generation’s Ray Bourque ? The goaltending tandem of Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood are good but are they championship caliber?
3. Winnipeg Jets – The Winnipeg Jets are the Carolina Hurricanes of the Western Conference. A great regular season team that doesn’t have enough top end talent to win a championship. Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele are stars. Who scores a big goal if not them?, Gabe Vilardi and Cole Perfetti could. 3 time Stanley Cup Jonathan Toews was resurrected to. Josh Morissey leads a defense that is better on ice than it is on paper. Much decorated goaltender Connor Hellerbuyck gets the job done unless it’s the playoffs. Hellerbuyck is a sieve on the road in the playoffs.
4. Utah Mammoth – The Utah Mammoth will make the playoffs this season. Utah’s forward core is young and ultra talented. Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther and JJ Peterka are lethal scorers. Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz are now experienced veterans. The bottom 6 are big and rugged. Utah’s blueline is deep and versatile. Mikhail Sergachev and Sean Durzi bring offense from the backend. Karel Vejmelka is an underrated netminder. Backup Vitek Vanecek is coming off a season when he was the backup on Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers.
5. St Louis Blues – The St Louis Blues have all the makings of a playoff team. If the Central gets 5 teams in, they are a playoff team. Center Rob Thomas has become a legitimate number 1 center. Brayden Schenn is a textbook 2nd line center. Jordan Kyrou is a superstar when he’s in the right headspace. The rest of the Blues forwards play winning hockey. The defense is led by Colton Parayko. Parayko is a monster. Veteran blueliner Cam Fowler was a nice mid-season acquisition. Goaltender Jordan Binnington is a big game performer. He has a Stanley Cup and a Four Nations championship on his resume. Joel Hofer is one of the best backups in the NHL.
6. Minnesota WIld – The Minnesota Wild are not your daddy’s Minnesota Wild. The Wild have a superstar. Kirill Kaprizov is one of the best and most dynamic wingers in the NHL. Matt Boldy is also a fabulous winger. After those 2 dynamos it’s scoring by committee. The WIld have decent centers but the Central is littered with centers better than Marco Rossi and Joel Eriksson Ek. Brock Faber is a young stud on the backend. The rest of the defense is steady but not dynamic. Filip Gustavsson is a better than average goalie.
7. Nashville Predators –  The Nashville Predators were last season’s trendy pick to win the Stanley Cup. This season they have a decent chance to win the Gavin McKenna sweepstakes. Last year’s offseason acquisitions Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault played reasonably well.The supporting cast lost their ability or will to play Predator hockey. Filip Forsberg remains a top winger. The rest of the roster needs an overall. Roman Josi remains an all- star defenseman. The rest of the defense is not a vintage Nashville squad. If Juuse Saros doesn’t regain his status as a top 5 goalie GM Barry Trotz will be behind the bench.
8. Chicago Blackhawks – The Chicago Blackhawks last won the Stanley Cup in 2015. The tear down and rebuild started soon after. It has barely progressed in a decade. Other than Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar the Blackhawks look like a 90’s expansion franchise upfront. On the backend Connor Murphy is their best defenseman. Spencer Knight is a goaltender with a bright future who will see a ton of shots.
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