With all the uncertainty surrounding the Central Division, is it possible for the Arizona Coyotes to surprise everyone and make some noise?
The Arizona Coyotes are in an interesting place going into next season.
General manager Bill Armstrong made it a priority this offseason to bring in players that will help the Coyotes compete next year. Armstrong was able to acquire forwards Jason Zucker, Alexander Kerfoot and Nick Bjugstad as well as defenseman Sean Durzi and Troy Stecher.
The big question is will all of Armstrong’s offseason moves be enough to compete in the Central Division? At least the top three teams from each division make the playoffs leaving room for Arizona to slide into the postseason.
Despite losing in the first round of the playoffs, the Colorado Avalanche are still the topdogs in the Central. The 2022 Stanley Cup champions won the Central this past season even with all the injuries that they had to overcome. The addition of Ross Colton should definitely help boost Colorado’s already potent offense and barring any surprises, they should be a lock to make the playoffs.
The Dallas Stars are fresh off an appearance in the Western Conference Finals and are loaded all across the board. They have an elite forward corps that includes Jason Robertson, Jamie Benn, Joe Pavelski and newest free agent addition Matt Duchene. Their defense is led by 23-year-old Miro Heiskanen and in goal, Jake Oettinger has become one of the NHL’s best. Similar to Colorado, expect the Stars to also be a lock for the playoffs.
After these two teams however, this is where the division gets interesting. The Minnesota Wild lead by Krail Kaprizov have proven to be a playoff caliber team but continue to lose in the first round of the playoffs.
While the St. Louis Blues have the pieces to be a competitive team, after a tough 2022-23 campaign where they missed the playoffs, it is hard to predict where the Blues will end up this upcoming season.
The Nashville Predators are in a similar situation as they have some strong veteran presence that includes defenseman Roman Josi and forwards Filip Forsberg and Ryan O'Reilly but its unknown whether they can put all the pieces together to be a true contender.
Even though the Winnipeg Jets just recently made the playoffs, it seems that the team is unraveling with the departure of forwards Pierre Luc Dubois and Blake Wheeler as well as the inevitable trade of goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.
The Chicago Blackhawks are on the rise with the selection of all-world prospect Connor Bedard but still have a little ways to go before they are ready to make a playoff push.
With all this uncertainty in the Central, the Coyotes could shock the world and potentially secure a playoff spot. It will be very difficult for Arizona to achieve this but it is really not out of the realm of possibility due to some of the moves the team made to beef up the roster.
Even if the Coyotes do not ultimately make a playoff push, it will be important for the team to show improvement and prove that they are not to be taken lightly by any team in the Central.