THN.com/podcast. From THN On The 'O': Bulldogs to Brantford and Building an OHL D-Man Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTk1NTg0MTYwMzI3MjgwMDEz/usatsi_19773111.jpg] With the NHL basically at its weeklong all-star break, we decided there was no better time to take stock of every franchise and project where we see them going as they move through the league’s March 3 trade deadline and the rest of the season. On Monday and Tuesday, we focused on the bottom four [https://thehockeynews.com/news/keeping-up-with-the-nhls-pacific-division-part-1] and top four [https://thehockeynews.com/news/keeping-up-with-the-nhls-pacific-division-part-2] Pacific teams, respectively. We now zero in on the bottom four teams in the Central Division. NASHVILLE PREDATORS Standings Position: 5th Record: 24-18-6 Projection: Getting close to the playoffs, but ultimately, not having enough horses to outlast more skilled teams at the top of the Central; arriving at a crossroads with GM David Poile Why: The Predators are a pesky group, but not an intimidating group. They’re capable of strong play – they’re 9-4-0 in their past 13 games – but they’re also capable of extended losing streaks, as they’ve posted a five-game and six-game-losing skid this season. Nashville’s offense is puny – only six teams in the league have a lower goals-for average this year than the Preds (2.81 goals-for) – and star goalie Juuse Saros can do only so much. And if they did beat out other Central teams for a playoff berth, Nashville would rightfully be the underdog in every series they play. Poile is projected to have nearly $11 million in salary cap space to use by the deadline, according to capfriendly.com [https://www.capfriendly.com/teams/predators]. For that reason, the Preds may be a dark horse big-trade team to keep an eye on in the next month. They definitely could use the help. As it stands, they’ve got just enough talent to stay well ahead of the lowly Blackhawks and Coyotes at the bottom of this division, but they don’t have enough talent to be a playoff team. A veteran, point-producing forward is likely to be their target at the deadline, but it will cost Poile no small amount to land one. Frustrating days ahead for their fans, wethinks. ST. LOUIS BLUES Standings Position: 6th Record: 23-25-3 Projection: Continuing to disappoint; dismantling key components of their roster with the trading of star forwards Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko; finishing 10th or 11th in the West Why: It’s been one calamity after another for the Blues this season. Their bottom-six group of forwards has not delivered, and neither has No. 1 goalie Jordan Binnington and his .892 save percentage. Their whopping 25 regulation-time losses demonstrate there’s no sense of urgency to St. Louis’ game this year, and GM Doug Armstrong is projected to have only $1.8 million in cap space by the trade deadline, per capfriendly.com [https://www.capfriendly.com/teams/blues]. With a continuing cap crunch next season, speculation is rife that the Blues will be a major seller on the trade front, sending O’Reilly and Tarasenko to the highest bidders. That feels like the smartest, safest route for Armstrong to take. The Blues also have all their first-round draft picks in the next three seasons, but this isn’t the time for them to spend one of those and attempt to secure a wild-card playoff berth this year. They’re now nine points out of third place, and the team in that spot – the Minnesota Wild – have three games in hand on St. Louis. The odds are too heavy against them to try putting a band-aid on a massive wound. Being realistic means bidding goodbye to some veterans and getting younger, sooner. ARIZONA COYOTES Standings Position: 7th Record: 16-28-6 Projection: Correcting their early-season successes by trading away a slew of veterans by the deadline; front-runner contender in the Connor Bedard Sweepstakes. Why: Flotsam, meet jetsam (in eighth place). When NHL commissioner Gary Bettman argued that teams don’t tank, did he forget about the Coyotes and Blackhawks? Their intention has been clear for months in Chicago’s case, and years in Arizona’s case. The Coyotes and Blackhawks are essentially the same team, with just one win and two overtime points separating the two teams in the Central standings and near the league’s basement. The Yotes have the NHL’s fifth-worst offense and its eighth-worst defense – and they’re going to be even worse after GM Bill Armstrong is done dealing away three or more of their veterans by the trade deadline. Since Dec. 29, the Coyotes are 3-12-1. In nine of those losses, they’ve allowed at least four goals, and they haven’t won in that span when scoring three goals or fewer. This is a through-and-through substandard collection of players, and Armstrong is praying to the draft lottery gods to bring him Bedard and a legitimate generational talent to Arizona. And no denial of tanking will make the Coyotes’ tank job any less factual. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS Standings Position: 8th Record: 15-29-4 Projection: Tanking as any tank team ever tanked it. Tank. Why: Jetsam, meet flotsam. Only the bottom-scraping Anaheim Ducks have a worse offense than Chicago (2.46 goals-for average per game), and their defense is below average. Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson is still in the early stages of his franchise rebuild of this organization, but holding on to pending UFA veteran forwards does not make sense for them. The Hawks are also hoping to land Bedard, but they’re bad enough to all but assure themselves of a future high-impact player in one of the top five spots in the draft. All eyes in the Windy City will be on cornerstone forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, and while there’s no assurance either player will be moved, why would they want to stick around if they want to win? It’s not like the Blackhawks will be Cup contenders next season or the season after that. The process of meaningful turnaround is not fully underway, but it will take a step forward once Davidson finds new homes for Toews and Kane. The road back to relevancy is long and not always direct. There will be bumps ahead, and the challenge for the Hawks is to absorb them with the least amount of long-term damage possible.
