The Hardest Division in Hockey
Since I started following the NHL in the early 2010’s, each division has had a serious argument for the league’s best at one point or another. Currently, the Atlantic Division and their seven consecutive Stanley Cup final appearances might make them the premier Division, with teams like the Lightning and Bruins having historic regular seasons in recent memory. The Metropolitan Division saw the best of Crosby, Ovechkin and Lundqvist for over a decade. The Pacific has given us excellent contention windows from all three California teams in the past fifteen years, with teams like Vegas and Edmonton carrying most of the workload in recent seasons. Looking ahead, I believe the Central will be the most well-rounded and competitive division in hockey for years to come. Let’s take a look at what each team in the Central Division brings to the table, their key players, and when they’ll have their best shot at the ultimate prize within the next decade.
Division Overview: Team-by -Team Breakdown
Chicago Blackhawks:
A quick look at the standings quickly paints Chicago in a bad light. However, being stapled to the bottom of the Central Division’s standings each of the last three seasons has had its advantages, mainly in the form of high draft picks and the elite prospects taken with those picks. The grand prize for Chicago enduring a lengthy rebuild has been Connor Bedard, taken first overall in 2023. The young center has put up consecutive 60-point seasons before entering his twenties, doing so with a lackluster supporting cast around him. Although Bedard’s Blackhawks will likely be one of the division's weaker teams for the next couple of seasons, their long-term outlook is promising. Growing with Bedard will be prospects like Artem Levyshunov (18), Sam Rinzel (20) and Oliver Moore (19) and recent third overall pick Anton Frondell (18), all of whom have shown lots of promise in their NHL stints. This trade deadline, the Hawks added to their young talent pool by acquiring a potential goaltender of the future in Spencer Knight (23) from the Panthers.
Down the line, while other teams in the division see their best players age and lose effectiveness, Chicago will continue to build up. If Chicago can continue drafting like they have in recent years and add the right supplemental signings and trades, the Blackhawks could build yet another dynasty.
Colorado Avalanche:
The Colorado Avalanche had the most chaotic season of any team in the NHL, full stop. It started with a bang, shockingly shipping off superstar winger Mikko Rantanen. They made a series of trades to key depth positions throughout the lineups, including a complete overhaul to the goaltending tandem. All of this was to lose to the Dallas Stars for the second consecutive season, the very team Rantanen was (eventually) traded to.
Despite the disappointment in the post-season, this team still has Nathan Mackinnon and Cale Makar on it, twenty-nine and twenty-five respectively. They also found an answer to two of their biggest problems of the past few seasons, acquiring a reliable goalie tandem and getting the return of captain Gabe Landeskog. In the remainder of the Avalanche’s contention window, at least one more deep playoff run seems to be a near-certainty. Whether or not future seasons go their way, they’ll always have their 2022 Stanley Cup win to hang their hats on. If they can't manage to replicate that success, we can rely on the Avalanche to keep the compete level (and barrier to entry for the playoffs) very high within the Central Division.
Dallas Stars:
By any measurable, I believe the Dallas Stars will be the Central Division's best team for the foreseeable future. Whether its playoff series wins, average regular season points, or even Stanley Cups. Entering the ‘24-25 season, the stars were fresh off of back-to-back conference finals losses, with their best players twenty-six years of age or younger.
This season, they were the beneficiary of a falling out between the aforementioned 28-year-old Mikko Rantanen and division rival Colorado Avalanche, acquiring him after his brief stint on the Carolina Hurricanes.
After a shaky stretch of games post-deadline, Mikko Rantanen and the Dallas Stars dispatched of the Colorado Avalanche in a seven-game thriller, later beating the Jets in six before falling to the Oilers in five in the Western Conference Finals, marking the third straight Western Conference Finals the Stars have failed to advance from. Although Rantanen proved he can be a playoff difference maker, his eight game goal drought to end the playoffs saw the Stars playoff success stagnate once again. This offseason comes complete with salary cap issues, and integral trade deadline addition Mikael Granlund appears to have been the odd man out. Add on coach Pete DeBoer’s firing, and there has been a large shift in personnel this summer in the Lone Star State. Nevertheless, considering the Star’s history of drafting and developing, I believe Dallas will regularly finish atop the division and league standings for the remainder of the 2020’s and beyond, and do more than their share to keep the Central Division the league’s most competitive.
Minnesota Wild:
The Minnesota Wild have been an interesting case. Since the debut of Kirill Kaprizov, the franchise’s first superstar has not been able to lift the team out of NHL purgatory (too bad to truly contend, too good for a high draft pick). That being said, the extension of the drought of playoff series wins can be mainly attributed to the team’s salary cap situation. The Zach Parise and Ryan Suter contracts have hurt the team throughout Kaprizov’s tenure, keeping them from retaining key players like Kevin Fiala, or simply signing new stars altogether. However, the ‘cap hell’ the Wild have been in comes to an end this summer, and it couldn't be at a better time. Matt Boldy has evolved into an elite two-way winger, the age of the D-core is one of the league’s best, and goalie Fiip Gustavsson has emerged as a good young starter. Along with this, the Wild have one of the best prospect pools in the league, with a solid crop of young players in all positions of need.
While all this sounds great, not all is sunshine and rainbows in the land of 10,000 lakes. Young center Marco Rossi has been in constant trade rumors. Additionally, defensive cornerstones Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin are on the wrong side of thirty, and have seen numerous injury setbacks in recent years. Furthermore, the early offseason has only seen the Wild add Vladimir Tarasenko and Nico Sturm, far less than many expected in Kirill Kaprizov’s last summer on his current contract. While not everything has fallen the Wild’s way to this point, a new long-term extension for Kaprizov should ensure several seasons with a realistic shot at the ultimate prize.
Nashville Predators:
If you’re a fan of the team hoping for a big free agent haul this offseason, the Nashville Predators serve as a cautionary tale. Following a remarkable second half of the ‘23-24 season, the Preds snuck into the playoffs and put up a good fight in their six game defeat in the first round. After this, the Predators went all in through free agency, signing Jonathan Marchessault (five years), Steven Stamkos (four years) and Brady Skjei (seven years). Expectations were high heading into this past season, but the reality of 2024-25 saw a 'worst-case scenario' realized. Nashville’s three big aforementioned signings were 33, 34 and 30 years old at the time of signing. Allocating 23% of your cap to three players unfamiliar with your team’s systems was already a risk. Throw in the fact that all the new additions were older and showed signs of regressing this year, and the 68 regular season points the Predators got starts to make sense.
Looking ahead, not all is lost in Nashville. They just added a solid 2025 draft to their rapidly-elevating prospect pool, headlined by Jake O’ Brien selected fifth overall. If the team as a whole can find a middle ground between the second half of the ‘23-24 season and the ‘24-25 edition, the playoffs may not be a thing of the past just yet. we could see a brief retool with this group, looking to contend again in ‘27-28 and beyond, before Filip Forsberg & friends age out. While there is still hope, I expect the Predators to find the least success of all teams in the Central Division in the next decade.
St. Louis Blues:
As late as the 4 Nations break, the Saint Louis Blues seemed like they were on the outside looking in at the playoff picture. But, much like the Nashville Predators of last season, the Blues got hot and snuck into the playoffs. The team's final twenty six games saw them go a smoldering 19- 4 -3 heading into the playoffs, where they pushed the Presidents Trophy-winning Jets into overtime of game seven before eventually being eliminated. While they barely snuck into the playoffs due to their first ⅔ of the season, it feels like this group isn’t going anywhere. Their core players (Thomas, Kyrou, Parayko, Binnington) are all 25-31. And as that main group of players begins to age out in 4-6 years, their production will be able to be replaced with younger players like Jake Neighbours, Jimmy Snuggerud, Dylan Holloway and latest first round pick Justin Carbonneau, all 18-22 years of age.
Moving forward, the Blues have shown the league a relative range in which they can be expected to fall. Their 96 points likely felt like a big improvement due to the promising ending, but it was only a four point increase from the year prior. The Blues have built a great foundation, now they need to prove they can hang with the division’s elite in the years to come.
Utah Mammoth:
This franchise finally having a name and logo gives fans everywhere reason to be excited. The young talent on the roster should strike fear into those same fans around the league. The Utah Mammoth have the best and most exciting crop of elite young talent in the entire division. Over their final few disastrous years in different venues and cities in Arizona, the organization managed to do a few things right, particularly when it came to the draft. As a result, Logan Cooley (21) and Dylan Guenther (22) appear to be the young duo headlining the team’s first era in the Beehive State. In recent weeks, they added top trade target JJ Peterka (23) to what is quickly becoming a young and powerful top six unit. Joining him via the draft is fourth overall selection Caleb Desnoyers, another highly skilled center with a bit more size than Cooley. The idea of these young players being mentored by established contributors like Clayton Keller and Mikhail Sergachev (both 26) for the next five to seven years should scare the rest of the West. Even more dangerous still is the fact that the team still has over $10 million in cap space (per PuckPedia), allowing them the ability to supplement the young and growing lineup with whatever they need at any point moving forward. A potential Mammoth team made up of Guenther, Cooley, Keller, Desnoyers and Peterka sounds like the makings of a group that could seriously shift the power balance leaguewide in coming years.
Winnipeg Jets:
A President’s trophy win paired alongside back-to-back 110 point seasons usually warrants more respect and faith than the amount I currently have for the Winnipeg Jets. Their recent history can be summarized by superstar goaltender Connor Hellebuyck; Always performing in the regular season, but underwhelming in the playoffs. Guys like Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele and Josh Morrissey make up the remainder of the team’s core, all between 27-31 years old. A weird start to the summer has seen them lose star winger Nikolaj Ehlers and depth center Mason Appleton, replaced with the returning Jonathan Toews and Gustave Nyquist. The Jets know as well as anyone how scary this division can be, having a hard time with very good Avalanche, Blues and Stars teams in the past two playoffs. While time isn’t up on their contention window, they’ll only go as far as Hellebuyck takes them. Although he hasn’t been able to perform come the spring time, he should have at least a few more chances to come good in the springtime. If he can do that, their shot at glory is as good as anyone’s.
Big Picture: Contention window & Brief synopsis
For this section, I will give a rough estimate of two things for each team in the Central Division. Years they might be good enough to make the playoffs (‘Contention window’) and be a problem, as well as years they have their best shot at the Stanley Cup (‘Stanley Cup window’). I will provide reasoning for my estimate, based on the makeup of each team, using the '25-26 season as our starting point. Projecting and predicting can only get you so far, so I will keep my predictions within the next decade for this exercise, leaving anything beyond that blank. After we have a better overview of the strength of the Central Division, I will close with some comments on the future of the Central Division as a whole.
Chicago Blackhawks :
Bedard and company will need a few more seasons to really ramp it up into contention, seeing as their current roster has shown to be weaker than the competition. That's fine for now, because another year or two with both the quantity and quality of picks in the 2025 draft would really help in the long run. I don’t think the Blackhawks are very close to the playoffs just yet, but I would love to be surprised a few years down the road.
Contention window: 2028 - 29 to N/A | Stanley Cup window: 2031 - 32 to N/A
Colorado Avalanche:
As good as adding goaltending and depth was, the impact is lost due to how poor the Miko Rantanen trade tree looks less than a year after it was made. Furthermore, the Avalanche also traded their top prospects to acquire additional depth that underwhelmed come playoff time. As they navigate a tight salary cap crunch in the coming seasons, the memory of their 2022 run fades further and further with each early postseason exit. Hopefully, they should be able to lean on above-average goaltending and superstar talent, and they will be fine regardless of their depth and what they bring to the table.
Contention window: 2025 - 26 to 2032 - 33 | Stanley Cup window: 2025 - 26 to 2030-31
Dallas Stars:
I won’t be the first or the last to say it, but it would be a complete failure if Dallas can’t find a way to win a Stanley Cup with this core. Despite the recent firing of coach Pete DeBoer, I still wouldn’t bet against this group moving forward. This offseason has already seen the Stars lose some depth, but having too many important players isn’t a bad problem to have. In my opinion, they will have both the safest and longest contention window in the best division in hockey.
Contention window: 2025 - 26 to 2033 - 34 | Stanley Cup window: 2025 - 26 to 2031 - 32
Minnesota Wild:
The Wild’s core (and roster in general) is made up of a variety of ages. Their two leading scorers last season were 23 (Boldy) and 22 (Rossi) respectively. However, it felt like Matt Boldy was just a placeholder for Kaprizov at the top of the team’s scoring charts. The Russian superstar (28) is far and away the team’s best player, and it appears as if their best shot at the cup starts and ends with him. That being said, the post-Kaprizov years should hopefully see young studs like Zeev Buium (19), Brock Faber and Jesper Wallstedt (both 22) blossom into their primes and keep this team competitive for the long run. The Wild just need to make sure they field a team good enough to keep Kaprizov deep into his thirties, and it appears they are positioning themselves to do just that.
Contention window: 2025-26 to 2034-35 | Stanley Cup window: 2026-27 to 2031-32
Nashville Predators:
Of all the teams in the Central Division, I believe the outlook is most grim for the Predators. These next several seasons will see nearly all of their division rivals make stronger pushes for the Stanley Cup with deeper groups of talent at their disposal. Even the Blackhawks, who have anchored the division for the majority of the 2020’s, have laid the groundwork for a future that appears to be far brighter than the Predators'. While their current group could sneak into the playoffs once or twice if things go right, I have a really hard time seeing Nashville finish higher than seventh in the near future, and their first actual stable window of contention is likely very far away.
Contention window: 2031-32 to N/A | Stanley Cup window: N/A
Saint Louis Blues :
The Blues are in a very similar boat to the Wild. A step behind ‘the big three’ in the Central (Colorado, Winnipeg and Dallas) for the last couple years, and looking like they might be stuck there for at least another year. That being said, the young and talented teams like St. Louis and Minnesota could topple some as their future stars grow and develop. The Blues surprised last year, and they could go far at any point if they can play as good as they did after hiring Jim Montgomery.
Contention window: 2025-26 to 2033-34 | Stanley Cup window: 2027-28 to 2031-32
Utah Hockey Club:
It has been a big summer for the Mammoth. The rebuild seems to be coming to an abrupt end after an 89-point season and aggressive sumer. For the time being, expectations remain low, and experience remains limited. Whispers of playoff hopes amidst the Mammoth faithful have grown louder, and predicting a postseason berth seems to be a lot less crazy than it did just last month.
Whether or not next year works out, a lot of their current core will be hitting their prime right as the division rivals like Colorado and Winnipeg begin to age out of their peaks. While predicting 4-7 years ahead can seem like a pointless exercise in sport, I have a lot of confidence in the Mammoth. If they can continue to make the right moves, they might rival Dallas as the Central Division's best shot at the Stanley Cup over the next decade.
Contention window: 2027-28 to 2034-35 | Stanley Cup window: 2030-31 to 2034-35
Winnipeg Jets:
The paradox that is the Jets both being a top team in the league and disappointing come playoff time because of Connor Hellebuyck’s play has become an all-consuming narrative in the land of the white-out. As the reigning president’s trophy winners grow deeper into their thirties, the fear of time running out on them starts to settle in. It seems as if all they can do is try and trade for and sign the right guys, and hope Hellebuyck can play to his best in April and beyond. Losing Ehlers & Appleton and bringing in Toews and Nyquist this offseason appears to be a net negative. While the team depth may fluctuate over the years, the Jets can and should find a way if Hellebuyck can put together a stretch of hockey that is up to his regular season standards. Sadly, due to his (and the entire team's) track record, I wouldn't bet on that happening.
Contention window: 2025-26 to 2030-31 | Stanley Cup window: 2025-26 to 2028-29
Looking at the states of the two Divisions that make up the Western Conference paints an interesting playoff picture for the rest of the 2020’s. This year’s format of five Central teams and Three Pacific teams in the playoffs looks like it could become the new normal. The Central has as many as six teams that could be a serious threat at any point, whereas the Canucks have collapsed and the rest of the Pacific (besides the Oilers & Vegas) are bottoming out or mediocre. However, teams like the Predators of last season have proven that opportunities for success in the NHL can evaporate quickly under certain circumstances. While most of this may seem like speculation, I am firm on my stance that the strength of the Central Division will be formidable moving forward. Teams like Winnipeg, Dallas and Colorado have enough star power to be a true Stanley Cup favorite over the next few seasons. Teams like the Wild and Blues are positioning themselves to overtake those teams in the near future, while teams like Utah and Chicago should scare the league as a whole later down the line. If you are a fan of a Central division team, prepare yourselves for some great hockey from both your biggest rivals and (hopefully) your own team. Even if your allegiances lie elsewhere, keeping tabs on the Central Division should be wildly entertaining.