Modifié 23 juill. 2023 à 20 h 51
Okay, I have a lot of thoughts on the Central Division, and I wanna start by saying that I don't think this division is as strong as we think it is. There are definitely some good teams here, but none of them look like clear cut cup contenders to me. Here is why.
1. Dallas Stars: I like their team very much, they're my personal pick to win the Central. Can't understate how "dynamite" their top line is, I don't think Wyatt Johnston will advance to being a 50+ point player just yet, but I think he should score at a 0.5 PPG pace with relative ease once again. I think Jamie Benn can pot at least 60 pts next season, Duchene should come in and be a reliable secondary scorer, and yeah, the team's depth ain't too shabby up front or on the back end. On a goaltending note, as much as I like Oettinger, I don't think he's quite got himself into the elite tier of goaltenders just yet. There is obviously still time for him to get there, but I can't say for sure that he will.
2. Colorado Avalanche: This team looks good overall on paper, but they're certainly not the powerhouse they were a couple of years ago. A big part of that is not having Landeskog for the upcoming season obviously. Center depth isn't too shabby, but I'm not sure it's cup caliber. I'd say the winger depth is a bit shallow compared to most other playoff contenders, an unfortunate byproduct of navigating the salary cap will staying in the upper half of the league. Defense is obviously good, goaltending is...fine, I guess.
3. Minnesota Wild: Sure, call it impressive that Bill Geurin has been able to maintain this roster as perennial playoff contenders while operating under the pressure of astronomical amounts of dead cap space on the books. That said, I'd like for us to be able to separate this from the fact that these past two post-seasons, the Wild's top guys have actually struggled to perform in post-season action, at least outside of Kaprizov. Kevin Fiala pretty infamously got away from his identity as a player back in 2022, and Boldy and Zuccarello's playoff struggles are pretty well documented from 2023. Dead cap penalties or not, if this isn't something that rectifies itself going forward, it's not going to matter when the buyout penalties relieve themselves if the team still can't get it done in the playoffs. At least their are lots of good prospects to look forward to, although they got into the system through being forced to move win-now players for future assets due to cap reasons. Also looking ahead a little bit, by the time the cap recapture penalties drop down to relatively negligible proportions, Kaprizov will only have one year remaining on his contract. What will it cost to re-sign him? Will he even want to re-sign after having to put up with years of relative mediocrity? If he doesn't want to stay, how far back does it set the Wild in terms of their ability to contend?
4. Nashville Predators: I don't think this team has a playoffs mandate by any means, but I don't think they're going to slide out of the mushy middle the way some of us have wanted them to, but hey, at least they took a bit more of a definitive step back compared to previous years of just running things back.
5. Winnipeg Jets: I know we are still arguably waiting on shoes to drop regarding Scheifele and Hellebuyck, but honestly, whether they're with the team or not during the season, I don't see the team being a significant threat either way. I do think they're overall weaker after the Pierre Luc Dubois trade.
6. St. Louis Blues: I feel like us non-Blues fans are only just now starting to wake up to just how bad S. Louis's top four on the back end actually is. It's not just inefficient, it's actually quite poor in it's construction as well, with Marco Scandella as a lackluster no. 5 being paid a premium penny to add insult to injury. Forward depth is...fine, not spectacular, just fine. I see this upcoming season being a very bumpy ride for the Blues.
7. Arizona Coyotes: Outside of some obviously talented pieces up front, this is still a relatively desolate roster in terms of it's construction. Outside of punching above their weight on the odd night, I don't see the Coyotes making any noise really.
8. Chicago Blackhawks: Let's just call it what it is, the Connor Bedard TRAINING GROUNDS.