The Central Division

Hot Takes

Jets Fall, Wild Rise

I believe that the Presidents Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets are set to come back down to reality this coming season. Following another disappointing playoff performance from Hart Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck, you could argue the Winnipeg Jets had an equally disappointing offseason. They lost elite talent in Nikolaj Ehlers, as well as key depth like  Center Mason Appleton. They added hometown hero Jonathan Toews (37), looking to return after missing the entirety of the last two seasons. Alongside him will be Gustav Nyquist (35), looking to bounce back after a brutal 2024-25 with division rivals Nashville and Minnesota. While the core of their presidents trophy team of last year is mostly intact, their aging core has lost a lot of depth, and I predict a drop in the standings as a result.

While I am down on the Jets, I am very bullish on the Minnesota Wild. While they didn’t make any large offseason additions, that wasn’t as bad as it would be for other teams. After a red hot first three months saw the Wild atop the standings, terrible injury luck saw them struggle to stay afloat the second half of the season. I believe the team will be healthier, and the young talent debuting throughout the roster will make this team very dangerous, and one of the division’s best teams.

Mammoth Make the Playoffs

Following a fantastic offseason, I don’t know if this is a hot take anymore. The Mammoth acquired top target JJ Peterka, adding to an already impressive arsenal of young players. While their forward unit is contender-caliber, I believe their defense & goaltending units are comparatively weak. Regardless, I believe their young guns will carry them into the playoffs, and cause for a particularly stressful first-round matchup for a more established Western Conference team come playoff time.

Cellar Dwellers Show Signs of Life

Last season, the Nashville Predators and Chicago Blackhawks finished in seventh and eighth in the Central respectively. To spoil my list, I believe they will repeat this feat for the second consecutive season, down to the position. However, I believe both teams will improve on their point totals from ‘24-25. For the Blackhawks, their young talent should improve, especially after a lot of their youth debuted last season. While the Predators don’t have nearly as much youth to bank on, everyone on that team sported career-worst seasons on top of being extremely unlucky, so we can expect at least some course-correction. While their improvements won’t be enough to see them climb the ranks in hockey’s hardest division, it will still be a step in the right direction for both clubs.

Standings

1.  Dallas Stars- 114 Points

Under new coach Glen Gulutzan, the Dallas Stars will cement themselves as the best team in the Central Division. Following a dominant playoff run, Mikko Rantanen should show the league he is a true superstar, regardless of who he’s playing with (or what team he’s playing for). I believe both Roope Hintz and Miro Heiskanen will improve on last season, with the rest of the core continuing to excel. Regardless of who’s at the helm, the only thing this Dallas core has left to prove is if they can win the whole thing.

2.  Minnesota Wild- 107 Points

If they can keep Marco Rossi, the Minnesota Wild could look even better than they did when they sat on top of the NHL standings in the winter of 2024. While Vladimir Tarasenko is no longer a surefire thing, a better year could be in the cards if he’s surrounded with the right talent. Rookie Zeev Buium should provide the offensive punch that the Wild’s stacked D-core has sorely missed, and If he and Danila Yurov can play as advertised, this team should dominate. If fellow rookies Liam Ohgren and Jesper Wallstedt can perform when called upon, then the Wild have no true weaknesses. With some better team health than they’ve had in recent years, Minnesota can go as far as perennial MVP candidate Kirill Kaprizov will take them.

3.  Colorado Avalanche- 103 Points

Following the loss of Mikko Rantanen, the Avalanche overhauled their depth, with their new acquisitions ultimately disappointing come playoff time. The deeper they get into their contention window, the more depth they lose. Brent Burns should provide cost-effective offense on the bottom pair, but their lineup doesn’t strike fear into opponents beyond their top line. While I still see a relatively similar finish to last season (102 points), the Avalanche are one of several perennial contenders that have larger aspirations than high point tallies in the regular season. 

4.  Winnipeg Jets- 102 Points

As I mentioned before, I believe the Jets will come down to earth this coming season. I predict a 14 point fall off, most of which will be due to a poor start while key players are still injured from the playoffs. Essentially a one-line team, I expect (very) slight regression from everyone when compared to last year. Their defense and goaltending should still be phenomenal, but the depth on offense is concerning for a team with Stanley Cup aspirations.

5.  Utah Mammoth- 99 Points

The Mammoth bandwagon is officially leaving the station. Considered one of the winners of the offseason among fans league-wide, I believe there are still plenty of flaws on this young team. Their forward core looks great on paper, but it’s unproven. Their d-core is above average at best, and their goaltending tandem has been quite inconsistent. I am confident that Logan Cooley will breakout as a star this season, with linemate Dylan Gunether being a big beneficiary of this breakout. While I think they’re a few pieces (and a few years) away from being true world-beaters, this year will be the season that the Utah Mammoth announce themselves to the hockey world.

6.  St. Louis Blues- 93 Points

While mid-season hire Jim Montgomery and his Blues looked good in the playoffs last season, I don’t see them repeating that in 2025-2026. After all, they needed  to go 19-4-2 in their last 25 games to make it there in the first place. While we can attribute most of that to their terrible start to the season before the Montgomery hire, I still have my doubts about the second half of last season becoming the new normal in Saint Louis. While Dylan Holloway and Phillip Broberg were amazing pickups, I do not trust them to continue to put up the numbers they did last year. Will Jordan Kyrou even be on the team by the end of the year? What version of Jordan Binnington will we get? How will rookie Jimmy Snuggerud do in what looks to be a massive roll on the top six? While it may seem like I’m pretty harsh on the Blues, my predicted point tally is only a three point drop off from last season. There is simply too many uncertainties with this Blues team, and I believe Utah has enough young talent to pass them up this coming season. 

7.  Nashville Predators- 74 Points

If you’ve read my first article on the state of this division, you’ll know that I think there is a large gap between the top six and bottom two in the Central division. While Nashville still has big names all throughout the lineup, they are aging quite poorly as a unit. I do expect a better year from free-agent pickups like Stamkos and Marchessault, as well as veteran Predators like Juuse Saros, but ‘better’ still won’t be nearly good enough to get this team back to the postseason. 

8.  Chicago Blackhawks- 71 Points

There’s plenty to be excited about in Chicago, most of which being beyond the 2025-2026 season. Andre Burakovsky is not nearly enough talent brought in to help Connor Bedard on offense. I believe Bedard will continue to steadily improve, while we’ll see a lot of promise from other pieces of the future like Frank Nazar and Oliver Moore.

While most of the Blackhawk's forward core needs a facelift, I am really excited about their defensemen, particularly rookies Sam Rinzel and Artyom Levshunov. They already looked great in their late-season cameos last year, and I think they’ll do a lot this season to help steer this long rebuild towards a very bright future.

Wrap Up- Final Thoughts

The Central Division is particularly tight. While I am fairly certain Dallas will finish either first or second in the Central, I could see the following five teams (that’s the Wild, Avalanche, Jets, Mammoth and Blues) finishing in any order. There’s a group of teams that are truly ‘in the mix’, and a couple bad apples that are going to need a few seasons to get a good group of guys together. This is not exclusive to this division, and I believe this is the general state of the NHL as a whole. Be sure to check out my next article, which is a standings prediction of the Pacific Division.