5 things to watch in the Central Division

The Central Division looks like the strongest division in the league.  Five teams from the division made the playoffs last year and those same five still look like they have a good chance to make it to the playoffs again.  Chicago remains the favorite but St. Louis, Minnesota, Dallas, and Colorado are not far behind.

Here are the top 5 things to watch in the Central.

1.  How good is Dallas?

Dallas made the biggest splash this offseason trading for Jason Spezza and signing Ales Hemsky to a 3 year deal.  They did have to give up a pretty good checking forward in Alex Chiasson for Spezza, but their top six looks like it can compete with almost any team in the West.  They had one of the better top lines in hockey last season with Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, and Valeri Nichushkin.  Nichushkin might have more to offer going into his second season.  He had a solid rookie season with 34 points(14 goals, 20 assists) in 79 games.  The Stars have some options in who to play with Spezza and Hemsky on the second line.  Antoine Roussel and Erik Cole could get a look.  The rest of the forward group looks solid with Cody Eakin, recently signed to a new contract, anchoring the third line.

If the Stars have any weakness, it may be their defense.  Alex Goligoski was better last season under new coach Lindy Ruff and Trevor Daley also had a solid campaign.  But Sergei Gonchar had one of the worst offensive seasons of his career.  They’ve also not come to an agreement with Brenden Dillon, who is a restricted free agent.  Goalie Kari Lehtonen had a playoffs to forget and will need to be better if the Stars want to get past the first round.

elliot

2.  Goaltending in St. Louis

After trading for Ryan Miller last year before the trade deadline, St. Louis looked like a serious cup contender.  But it all fell apart for the Blues in the first round of the playoffs against Chicago.  They lost four straight after winning the first two games in OT.  The Miller trade was a major disappointment and St. Louis opted not to re-sign Miller or go for anyone else on the free agent market.  Brian Elliott, who’s had his share of playoff implosions, and Jake Allen will be the goaltending tandem for the Blues.  Elliott had a very good regular season in 2013-2014, with a .922 SV% and a 1.96 GAA.  Allen has had limited experience in the NHL, playing only 15 regular season games in 2012-2013 and posting a .905 SV%.  Playing behind one of the NHL’s best defenses should help both goalies but this could still be a major question come playoff time for the Blues.

Colorado Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy

3.  Can Colorado win the division?

The biggest surprise all of last season may have been Colorado winning the stacked Central division.  The Blues and Blackhawks both stumbled towards the end of the season and Colorado finished strong with 112 points, a huge improvement over the year before.  Head Coach Patrick Roy was a major reason for the surge in the standings.  He was immediately respected by his players and helped goalie Semyon Varlamov become one of the top goalies in the league(Varlamov finished second in voting for the Vezina).  Nathan MacKinnon had a great rookie campaign, and Matt Duchene lead the team in points.  The Avalanche ended up losing in Game 7 in the first round of the playoffs to Minnesota.  They had some injuries to deal with, Duchene only played in two games and Tyson Barrie was lost for the series after a dirty hit by Matt Cooke.

Colorado made some changes in the offseason, signing Jarome Iginla and trading for veterans Brad Stuart and Daniel Briere.  After a lot of tense negotiations they also re-signed Ryan O’Reilly to a two year deal.  They did lose Paul Stastny, he signed one of the biggest free agent deals of the summer with the Blues.  Even with losing Stastny, Colorado’s roster still looks strong and they should be able to challenge for the division again.

lavy

4.  Laviolette in Nashville

The Predators made a coaching change for the first time in franchise history this offseason.  Barry Trotz was fired and former Flyers/Hurricanes/Islanders coach Peter Laviolette was brought in as the new head coach.  With the change, Nashville is looking to be a little more of an offensive team.  More importantly, they’re looking to make the playoffs after not making it for the last two seasons.  Laviolette brings a lot of experience to the job.  He’s coached in the Stanley Cup finals twice and he’s a well rounded coach who gets his teams to play well at both ends of the rink.

The personnel for Nashville up front still could be a problem for Laviolette, as it was for Trotz.  James Neal was brought over in a trade from Pittsburgh, which should add some goal scoring, and Mike Ribeiro comes over from Arizona after being (a psycho) bought out.  Filip Forsberg could be a potential breakout player for the Predators, he’s had a good camp so far playing on a line with Neal and Ribeiro.  Beyond that line and Craig Smith(52 points last year), it’ll be interesting to see where the Predators get offense and how much Laviolette alters the way they play.

richards

5.  Brad Richards

Chicago wasn’t able to make many moves this offseason due to their cap situation but they made one interesting move signing Brad Richards to a one year, $2 million deal.  The Blackhawks have been looking to find a capable center for the second line for a while now and Richards will get a good look.  He’ll likely be playing in between Patrick Kane and Brandon Saad.  Richards played with some good players in New York, but this looks like an even better opportunity at this stage of his career.  He didn’t get bought out in New York because he was a bad player, his contract just didn’t make sense anymore.  He should be plenty motivated this year as he’ll have another chance to cash in next summer.

 

Quantcast