LOS ANGELES – The Colorado Avalanche (1) are the defending Stanley Cup Champions. They have the best team in the NHL but defending their title will not be easy. Winning the Central Division will be. The top line of Mega star Nathan MacKinnon, Captain Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen will overwhelm most teams. Val 
Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen give the Avs scoring depth. Veterans Andrew Cogliano and Darren Helm are proven guys you win Cups with. Colorado does have a huge hole at 2nd line center. Nazem Kadri was instrumental to the Avs winning the Cup. He had an MVP level regular season and Conn Smythe worthy playoff season. The Avalanche’s defense is sublime. Cale Makar is at another level over everyone in the NHL. He’s the only defensemen that’s ever really been compared to Bobby Orr. Devon Toews maybe the best defenseman in the league not named Cale Makar. Bowem Byram and Josh Manson top the rest of the blueline that legitimately goes seven deep. The Avs let goaltender Darcy Kuemper walk and are pinning their repeat hopes to Pavel Francouz and Alexandar Georgiev.
The St Louis Blues (2) are the only team in the Central besides Colorado with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations. The Blues are huge, fast and skilled. Ryan O’Reilly, Vlad Tarasenko, Brandon Saad and Pavel Buchnevich lead the old guard. Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas signed huge contracts over the summer. Both are poised to make even bugger contributions this season. Ivan Barbashev and Brayden Schenn are Head Coach Craig Berube type players. The Blues defense is as deep as anybody’s in the league. St Louis has monsters like Colton Parayko and Nico Mikkola on the blue line. Justin Faulk and Torey Krug are are efficient puck movers. Jordan Binnington won his goaltending job back in the post season after a rocky regular season. He won’t be looking over his shoulder this year because Thomas Greiss is a professional backup at this point in his career.
The Dallas Stars (3), Nashville Predators (4) and Minnesota Wild (5) make up the Central’s middle class. They are not Cup contenders but they won’t have their logo’s on a ping pong ball either.
The Stars are moving their franchise from the Jamie Benn / Tyler Seguin era to the Roope Hintz / Jason Robertson era. Joe Pavelski seems to get better with age. The Dallas defense has taken a step back by choosing Ryan Suter over John Klingberg. Suter has made more money with his last name than his game. Miro Heiskanen is All – World. He would be a Norris finalist if played somewhere it snowed. Dallas has run through an abundance of goalies the last couple years, but Jake Oettinger is the future and right now. He put on a clinic in the playoffs last season.
The Nashville Predators always play just good enough not to tear it all down. Filip Forsberg is a star every game he plays. Ryan Johansen and Matt Duchene are stars sometimes. Tanner Jeannot, Yakov Trenin and Eeli Tolvanen are Nashville’s next generation. They play with an edge. Ryan McDonagh came over from Tampa Ba to help Roman Josi on the blue line. Josi almost can’t do any more or any better for the Predators. Juuse Saros is a Vezina level goalie who keeps Nashville in every game.
The Minnesota Wild are in Salary Cap hell. At least their superstar Karill Kaprizov got out of Russian hell. Karill is amazing but Kevin Fiala’s scoring will be hard to replace. Mats Zuccarello and Joel Eriksson Ek will be counted on for more offense. Matt Boldy needs another monster season because Jordan Greenway and Marcus Foligno are truculent but not point producers. The Wild defense led by Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin defend well but they aren’t flashy. Matt Dumba adds flash and physicality. Marc- Andre Fleury will carry a heavier workload this season as the number one netminder. Cam Talbot was sent to Ottawa.
The Winnipeg Jets (6) top the three smoldering dumpster fire franchises at the bottom of the Central Division. Last year was so bad for the Jets season Head Coach Paul Maurice quit mid-season. He cited burnout. Maurice is already back coaching the Florida Panthers. It’s not the first time a key figure has walked away from this franchise. 9th Wonder of the World All Star defenseman Dustin Byfuglien decided a few years ago he’d rather go ice fishing than play on this team. That’s before the Jets traded generational talent Patrik Laine for 3rd line center Pierre- Luc Dubois. Dubois is a baby who owes his career to John Tortorella and one good playoff series. This summer Blake Wheeler had his captaincy stripped. Number one center Mark Scheifele was in trade rumors. The Jets still have Kyle Connor. Connor is a scoring machine. Nic Ehlers quietly gets points. The defense is below average. Josh Morrissey has never played as good as he did with Big Buff. Neal Pionk (acquired for Jacob Trouba, recently named Ranger captain) is not a top pair defenseman. Nate Schmidt used to be. The rest of the blueline is ham and eggers. Connor Hellebuyck led the NHL is rubber faced and stopped. Hellebuyck is an elite goalie who may get PSD this season. Hockey lifer Rick Bowness was hired to steer this sinking ship.
The Arizona Coyotes (7) and the Chicago Blackhawks (8) are both officially rebuilding. The Coyotes have better mojo. The Desert Dogs will be playing in front of only 5,000 people but that’s all their building will hold. The Hawks may end up playing in front of 5000 people and the United Center holds 22,000. The atmosphere in Arizona will have a fun college feel. The sad prospect of trading Patrick Kane will hang over the Hawks organization until he’s moved. Chicago can’t find a trade partner for Captain Jonathan Toews. Inexplicitly Chicago traded Alex Debrincat to Ottawa. Debrincat is young and already a scoring machine. He’s a player you build a franchise around. Chicago signed Andreas Athanasiou and Max Domi two guys that several franchises have given up on. One through twelve Arizona’s forwards are superior to Chicago’s. Arizona’s is waiting for Clayton Keller to become the superstar he has the potential to become. Lawson Crouse is a throwback power forward in the desert. Hawks Seth Jones is a throwback defenseman with modern size and hands. The rest of the Chicago blueline is below the average. Arizona’s entire blueline will be below average after Jakob Chychrun is traded. Coyotes goalie Karel Vejmelka is a very good goalie. Nothing says the Blackhawks are OK with losing more than putting Petr Mrazek in net
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