What are some of the stories you should be following in the Central Division this year? It is mostly a division of pretenders hoping to compete and move out of the shadow of the defending champs. Will this be the year? It certainly brings us to our first story.
5. Will the Wild or Blues ever get over the hump?
ST. LOUIS, MO – APRIL 18: Vladimir Tarasenko #91 of the St. Louis Blues controls the puck against Jared Spurgeon #46 of the Minnesota Wild during Game Two of the Western Conference Quarterfinals during the 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Scottrade Center on April 18, 2015 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
Both the Wild and the Blues are good and some may even say great regular season teams that keep pumping out impressive seasons which don’t really amount to anything come playoff time. The problem for both teams and their fans? Not everyone can win the championship. It is a tough reality that teams need to realize.
The Blues traded away TJ Oshie, a player that many are now going to use as a possible scapegoat this upcoming year if the team does improve. Pinpointing a player, especially a strong contributor such as Oshie, is a ridiculous thought but it happens when you aren’t winning. These are desperate times in St. Louis and many in the front office and behind the bench will be looking to save their jobs and at that point many of them will be looking for a fall guy.
The Wild on the other hand are one of the odder cases in the league. They got their butts kicked by the Blackhawks this past year but as a team look solid on all fronts. Their defense is young and continuously improving. It will only get better as they added college free agent Mike Reilly this offseason. Their forward group is headed by Zach Parise but may be heading toward an ugly downward curve if they don’t move some of their aging core around. They should be fine as a team this year as they once again try to win the Stanley Cup but much like the Blues, they may need to look behind the bench for answers as Mike Yeo will feel the heat coming from the hot seat.
4. Were the Winnipeg Jets a fluke last season?
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
As far as surprises go, the Jets were one of the biggest in the NHL last year. Many believed that they were a couple of seasons ahead of schedule and would be flirting with a lottery selection. While they did make the playoffs, they were swept by the Anaheim Ducks in a series that was much closer than many will admit. Not much was done to improve in the offseason and their only real loss was Michael Frolik, a player who is good but shouldn’t be a make or break player for the team. General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has drafted strongly the past few seasons and may finally be seeing his picks come to fruition as players such as Nikolaj Ehlers and Nicolas Petan may compete for spots in the starting lineup come opening night. A team so young should be able to compete again but in such a competitive division it wouldn’t be a surprise for them to see a down year before competing for years to come.
3. Will the Colorado Avalanche bounce back?
DENVER, CO – DECEMBER 11: Nathan MacKinnon #29 of the Colorado Avalanche warms up prior to facing the Winnipeg Jets at Pepsi Center on December 11, 2014 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Jets 4-3 in an overtime shootout. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
Many in the analytics community pointed out a summer ago that the Avalanche, one of the few non-believers of so called “fancy stats” would start regressing. They scoffed at these predictions and believed that they would continue on with great success. Well the analytics community was right and the team regressed back to the mean, which in reality was more of Semyon Varlamov becoming human after a Vezina caliber season.
They are strong on the forward front with players like Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon as the stars. Their defense could be described as average with strong players like Tyson Barrie and Erik Johnson leading the pack, but their depth is lackluster to say the least. In a deep division they seem to be caught squarely in the middle. They won’t have a statistical advantage on any teams and they more than likely won’t have the talent advantage either, proving that they have an uphill battle in the seasons ahead.
2. Will the Dallas Stars’ additions lift the team?
<> at American Airlines Center on March 21, 2015 in Dallas, Texas.
After being sorely disappointed last year by their performance, the front office decided to add even more fire power this offseason by trading for Patrick Sharp and signing Johnny Oduya – two Stanley Cup champions. Many throughout the league were pursuing these players not only for their pedigree but also for their talent. Sharp had a down year by his standards and will more than likely improve by playing with the likes of Benn and Seguin.
Kari Lehtonen had a down year but should be able to bounce back since he will be aided by Antti Niemi and the addition of Oduya on the back line. Many are concerned that the defense and goaltending will not be up to snuff, which begs the question to many fans if they will be able to out score their opponents every night. The answer is far away but the team is going to damn well try.
1. Are the Chicago Blackhawks going to repeat?
CHICAGO, IL – JUNE 18: Head coach Joel Quenneville of the Chicago Blackhawks kisses the Stanley Cup trophy during the Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup Championship Rally at Soldier Field on June 18, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
An awful lot has taken place in the city of broad shoulders this offseason. They have traded away the likes of Brandon Saad and Patrick Sharp, while bringing in the likes of Artem Anisimov, Marko Dano, Ryan Garbutt and Trevor Daley. This may not seem like the most prudent of moves but it at the very least was a horizontal move that shouldn’t bring down the team in any way. Anisimov was a third line center on the Blue Jackets but is more than capable of being on any team’s second line. His health remains a concern but he may be the tipping point in one of the summers blockbuster trades.
This doesn’t even bring up the Patrick Kane situation which undoubtedly will be monitored very closely not only by the team but the league as well. It remains to be seen how they will handle this but it looks as if they will be in a holding position until further notice.
Camp is fast approaching and with it the journey begins for the Stanley Cup champions to repeat.
