The Central Division of the NHL is a mixed bag. From cup-contenders to basement dwellers, the central has a little bit of everything. What makes this division stand out is the overall talent. There’s no shortage of superstars here, from Connor Bedard to Nathan Mackinnon to Roman Josi to Clayton Keller (Yes, Clayton Keller, do your research. He’s a dog).
With such a wide variety in team talent, there’s a wide variety of different benchmarks that each team wants to achieve. Some want the cup, others would kill to make the playoffs. 2027 will be a big year around the Central Division. Let’s take a look at what each team should hope for going into the season.
Chicago Blackhawks
Colorado Avalanche
Dallas Stars
Minnesota Wild
Nashville Predators
St. Louis Blues
Utah Mammoth
Winnipeg Jets
In terms of teams deep in a rebuild, Chicago is in a decent spot. Their future superstar, Connor Bedard, is on a newly signed five-year deal. Bedard has shown glimpses of utter dominance and has been steadily improving each year since joining the Blackhawks. Last season, Bedard had his first season above a point-per-game, an accomplishment which is no easy feat. Bedard’s supporting cast has been slowly growing, with first round pick Frank Nazar beginning to show his own glimpses of brilliance. Chicago’s 2025 first round pick, Anton Frondell, put up a solid nine points in twelve games last year.
Will Chicago win this cup this year? Absolutely not, they won’t get close. The talent and depth just aren’t near where they need to be yet. However, this will be an important year of growth for the Blackhawks. If Bedard can turn those glimpses of dominance into a nightly habit, the future will look a whole lot brighter for Chicago. One man who will help the young Bedard take that step is a hometown legend by the name of Showtime.
When Sidney Crosby first joined the Pittsburg Penguins, he had the honor of playing alongside one of the greatest to ever do it; Mario Lemieux. That experience and mentorship from Super Mario left a profound effect on Crosby, and his legacy is partly thanks to those years with Lemieux. Chicago wants to replicate that by bringing in Patrick Kane.
As a Red Wings fan, I had the privilege of watching Kaner night after night for the past two years. When Kane touches the puck in the offensive zone, it feels different. Defenders freeze and his teammates know if they’re open, they’re getting the puck. Kane has a generational vision for the sport of hockey. The kind that elevates the players around him. The kind that Bedard could strive to replicate. Bedard has dealt with sup-par talent around him for too long, and Patrick Kane is exactly the kind of player he needs to really take the next step.
Focusing on Bedard so much may seem reductive of the Blackhawks, but ask yourself, what are the Chicago Blackhawks without Connor Bedard? Yes, Frank Nazar has some truly brilliant moments, and Bowen Byram is a nice addition, but Bedard is the key. The next few seasons will show what kind of superstar Bedard is. Is he a guy like Crosby, dragging his team kicking and screaming towards success, or is he like Auston Matthews, brilliantly talented, but lacks the ability to truly elevate his team in clutch situations. Sorry Leafs fans, but I think I’m justified in saying that.
A step back for Bedard this season isn’t about points or goals. He’ll put up a decent point total, almost certainly, but if the Blackhawks continue to look lifeless and unmotivated, then Bedard will start having to answer for it. He is still young, and he still has a lot to learn, but Bedard is the guy for Chicago. If Bedard can’t inspire some comebacks, elevate the guys around him, show off his clutch gene, and provide hope for the future, his goal total won’t matter. The season would be a step back.
The Avs are a fun hockey team. If you love hockey, these Avalanche are a must-watch, in my opinion. Seeing Mackinnon fly down the ice, Makar’s dazzling footwork on the blueline and the aggressive team strategy working to perfection is pure sports poetry. At times, however, it’s hard to remember just how good the Avs are because they can’t seem to break through the buzzsaw that is the Western Conference.
Since their cup victory in 2022, the Avalanche have had massive trouble getting through Vegas and Dallas. The Avs will have a fun regular season and make it, but what happens in April is what matters. Don’t get it twisted, playoff success is the only thing on Colorado’s mind going into the season.
Colorado has the pieces to win the cup. They have for a while. Unfortunately, recently there always seems to be something wrong when the playoffs roll around. Injuries, uninspired play, stars not showing up in the clutch, you name it. This year can be different. No team can coast through the NHL playoffs, but going up against the incredible talent in the West, the Avs can’t have an off-night. If Colorado can get full buy-in from their players and find the mentality needed to make a deep run, there’s nothing stopping them. They have the roster construction, the star talent, the goaltending, the depth and the grit. Whatever has been holding them back has been mental.
Nathan Mackinnon had a bad year in 2026. Losing in the gold metal game of the Olympics definitely stung, and missing a wide-open net on the potential game-winning goal certainly didn’t help. Then, Colorado gets swept by their emerging rivals in Vegas. All the while, videos of Mackinnon going for a swim in his pool mid-series go viral. Mackinnon is pissed, and desperate for success.
Another year of losing to Vegas or Dallas or someone else in the West would only piss Mackinnon off more. If Mackinnon wants a change of scenery, Colorado is no longer a cup-contender. It’s as simple as that. Yes, there’s plenty more talent on the roster, but Mackinnon is the powder keg. Making Nate more frustrated is the worst thing that could happen to Colorado this year.
Dallas is one of the juggernauts in the Central Division. Just ask Colorado, Vegas, or many of their other first and second round opponents. Unfortunately for the Stars, they are only one of the juggernauts. After making the finals of the bubble playoffs in 2020, Dallas has fallen to Edmonton twice, as well as Minnesota and Vegas once. Rising above their peers in the Central Division has been the thorn in the side of Dallas.
There were always excuses for losing. A fresh, hungry Minnesota Wild team in 2026, the eventual cup champs with Vegas in 2023, and Connor McDavid going supersonic. However, as a team with such high skill and grit, excuses don’t cut it. For year now, Dallas has been a cup-caliber team, but with contract tension starting to boil over, the hourglass is running out for Dallas’s time in the limelight.
Let’s not mince words. We’re talking about Jason Robertson. The three time 40 goal scorer is a dynamic, unique talent in the league. Robertson has been a staple of the Stars lineup for a while, but with almost no money left in the bank, Dallas is running out of ways to keep the young star. He is now on a one year arbitration deal, and will likely look for a change of scenery once said contract is up.
Dallas is in a weird position where winning the cup, and thus causing players to look for paydays elsewhere, is a good thing for them. Winning the cup could motivate Robertson to stick around, and possibly even take a pay cut. With a cup victory and Robertson sticking around, Dallas will be able to extend the time in that hourglass.
Needless to say, I’m missing the forest for the trees here. Dallas winning the cup would matter because Dallas would win the cup. Bringing home the championship for the first time since 1999 would be an incredible accomplishment for this Stars team. The obstacle in their way is keeping the puck out of their net. If Miro Heiskanen and Thomas Harley, the top defensemen on the team, can tighten up the defensive end and if Oettinger can get hot when it matters, Dallas has a real chance of taking it all.
Another year of bitter playoff failure would cause dominoes to start falling. Robertson would leave at the end of the year, making it so Dallas would only have $12 million left in cap space. Yes, they could sign another star, but with only that much room, options are limited. Since Robertson is on an arbitration contract, he will draw no assets in return. Unless he is traded at the deadline, but that would mean Dallas is in a much worse place, which frankly isn’t realistic.
Top stars won’t be clambering to join a team with such a poor playoff record. Dallas could survive without Robertson’s talent, but since he was the top point producer for them last season, a major hole would form in the Stars lineup. Rebuilding or retooling is essentially out of the question due to the limited cap space. Basically, a poor playoff performance would mean that Dallas would have to run it back the year after without Robertson, which lowers their chances at the cup even further.
Vibes are weird in Minnesota right now. After paying star forward Kirill Kaprizov to a massive eight year, $17 Million AAV contract, and after winning the Quinn Hughes sweepstakes last season, things felt like they were all going Minnesota’s way. They lost to the Avalanche in the second round of the playoffs, but skated away excited for the future.
However, the uncertainty of Hughes’s future with the Wild has been causing fans some anxiety. The other issue for Minnesota is the lack of a first-line center. Dylan Larkin seems like the solution, as the Wild were on his trade list, but GM Bill Guerin vetoed the trade, as he didn’t want to give up young star Matt Boldy. Larkin would make the Wild a whole lot scarier. As of now, the first line center for Minnesota is Joel Eriksson Ek, who is a solid depth center, but not the kind of talent that the team needs on the top line.
If Minnesota makes the Stanley Cup Finals with their current roster, they’ll be proving a whole lot of folks wrong. That would also mean Joel Eriksson Ek had a massive breakout year. I don’t believe I’m crazy for thinking it’s possible. Kaprisov, Boldy, Hughes and Faber are stars in this league. Gustavsson and Wallstedt are a solid tandem. Making the finals would mean that the defeated one, or multiple, of the juggernauts in the West. Hughes would likely resign with the positive growth. Heck, he might bring one or both of his brothers up to Minnesota.
This is a situation for Minnesota where their success would beget more success, in a lot of ways. The positive momentum from a finals caliber season would pay massive dividends going forward.
As good as things would get for Minnesota if they made the finals, the polar opposite would go for missing the playoffs. Quinn might leave based on a bad season. Kaprizov’s contract would be a real tough pill to swallow if the team tries to do any kind of rebuild or retooling.
The small market of Minnesota, the lack of sunshine and beaches, and the existence of their state-income tax makes it a hard place to sell to potential free agents. Yes, it is the state of hockey but, sadly, hockey players take pretty beaches over pride any day. Just ask Detroit. It’s scary for Minnesota, but that’s the NHL. Be successful or rebuild. If this iteration of the Wild can’t figure it out, it might just be more dark days ahead.
On paper, the Nashville Predators should be a really fun team. Don’t believe me? Look at the roster. Steven Stamkos, a veteran legend. Roman Josi, one of the best offensive-defensemen in the NHL and 2020 Norris Trophy winner. Jonathan Marchessault, one of the key pieces in Vegas’s early success. And the list goes on. I didn’t even mention 40 goal scorer Filip Forsberg or dynamic goalie Juuse Saros. However, the talent on paper has not translated to what happens on the ice.
Something is wrong in Smashville. In the past five years, they’ve made the playoffs twice, both series being anti-climactic loses in the first round. Last season came down to the wire, but was ultimately fruitless, as they missed the playoffs. Fingers are being pointed at defensive struggles. There’s validity to those claims. Nashville ranked 26th worst in the league for goals against last year, and 27th worst the year before. Yes, Josi is phenomenal, Brady Skjei and Nicolas Hague are decent. The problem is that rest of the defense are less than decent.
Diagnosing the issues with Nashville is a story for another time. The roster is what it is. The front office has been revitalized, with new GM Chris MacFarland taking the helm. What can the Preds do next year to inspire some more confidence in the future?
Despite the results of Nashville’s playoff history in recent memory, the playoff atmosphere in Smashville is always electric. The folks in Tennessee love their hockey team, and they deserve to have their passion rewarded. Easier said then done, but the talented and hungry Predators roster has the ability to do it. Stamkos and Filip Forsberg both had 40 goal seasons last year, which makes it just the second time in Predators history where they had two 40 goal scorers. Juuse Saros is still an elite goaltender, I don’t care what the numbers say. He does need some confidence to get on a roll, however.
By “positive playoff run”, I essentially just mean making the second round. Taking down a juggernaut in the west, like Colorado or Dallas, would be massive for the Preds. Yes, Nashville will most likely still struggle to keep the puck out of their net, but maybe they can find success by putting more in their opponent’s. A few playoff barn burners in Nashville would be absolute cinema. But Stamkos and Josi have the responsibility of leading by example, and motivating the talent on the roster.
Another year of missing the playoffs would hurt the Predators badly. Stamkos, Forsberg and Josi aren’t getting any younger. Saros needs a confidence-building year, and missing the playoffs, regardless of his stats, would be a big step in the wrong direction. A new GM can be really exciting for a team on the rise, and can be devastating to a team on the decline. Missing the playoffs would start making new MacFarland consider rebuilding, building the team his way, from scratch.
Nashville is in a rough spot, as the past few years the team has been in and out of the wildcard spot. Not quite good enough to make noise in the playoffs, not quite bad enough to make noise during draft time. Not being able to buck this trend for another year would be a rough way for Nashville to use the 2026-27 season.
St. Louis is in an interesting spot as an organization. After the outstanding surprise cup victory in 2019, St. Louis has been in and out of the playoffs and up and down the standings. The Blues are hoping this year is the first step towards more consistent growth. With new GM Alexander Steen at the helm, a fresh look to the lineup, and a solid prospect pipeline, which was recently named 7th best in the league, St. Louis has a decent amount of reasons to be optimistic.
There’s a fresh look to this year’s team. Offseason additions Connor McMichael and Mason McTavish will bring some skill to the forward unit. Robert Thomas is continues to prove he is a star in this league, adding another point-per-game season to his resume last season. I’m not certain that this team has enough to make a deep run, but if they click, anything can happen.
As I mentioned, St. Louis’s prospect pipeline is taking shape. Two first round picks, Tynan Lawrence (No. 11 overall) and Maddox Dagenais (No. 16 overall via Washington), certainly help that. This means that the Blues are in a position where they can hit the gas hard. Yes, every team wants a deep playoff run, but if a team like Vancouver or Chicago made the playoffs, it would frankly hurt them in the long run. This is not the case in the St. Louis.
What inspires a deep cup run better than anything else? A goalie getting hot at the right time. Who is arguably the most competitive and fierce goalie in the league? Jordan Bennington. Well that’s convenient. If Bennington gets hot, Thomas uses his new forward support to dominate and Steen gives the team what they need at the deadline, this team has the chance to make some noise. Doing so would create a good culture for the prospects to come in to and inspire confidence for next season. Only good could come from that.
St. Louis would be really hurt by mediocrity. I mean literal mediocrity, as in the same thing as the last few years. Being among the worst in the league would suck, but at least they could get a good first round pick for their suffering. In the NHL, being constantly mediocre can be worse than just being straight-up bad. This is because being mediocre can inspire false confidence. Alexander Steen might buy in to the near-success, and start digging into the pipeline to try and make the team better now. Thus, the team’s future would be in jeopardy for a team’s present which might not be worth it.
Utah has the pressure of an expansion team. Yes, they moved from Arizona, but let’s be honest, they had a lot of internal expanding to do. It might be hard to remember now, but when Vegas joined the league, they were real fun. The “Golden Misfits” took the league by storm. They were flashy, gritty, shiny. What I’m getting at is that Utah is in a similar position with their fanbase.
Nothing beats playoff hockey, and the good people of Salt Lake City were treated to that last season. The scrappy, loveable Mammoth have a lot to prove, but also a lot of raw talent. Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz and Dylan Guenther all crossed the 70 point mark last season. Keller had 90 points in 81 games. Dog.
Off season addition Anders Lee will add a skilled, veteran presence while Vincent Trocheck will add the physicality. Good times are ahead for Utah, if all goes right.
One of the biggest surprises from last season was just how rocking Utah’s fans were in the first round of the playoffs. That arena was shaking, and the proof was in the pudding that Utah had welcomed its new hockey team with open arms. What a step up for long-time Coyotes/Mammoth players who, just three years ago, played in Arizona State’s barn. How does Utah get even better? Keep it going. Management has hit the gas in terms of trades and free agent acquisition. Clayton Keller is in his prime, and is a very underrated star in the NHL. The addition of goaltending prospect Sebastian Cossa could be a jackpot in the future.
My definition of “momentum” is fluid. Does it mean a gritty round one victory? Does it mean making it to the conference finals? Does it mean putting on an incredible effort to just barely squeak into the playoffs? That’s yet to see. To put it into words, my definition of momentum is whatever fires the fans and team up the most. Keep the good times coming in Salt Lake, and the good times will keep on rolling.
Who’s the other expansion team? Oh right, Seattle. That’s who Utah should try to avoid becoming. Sorry Kraken fans, but a team built on depth role players and middle ground talent just doesn’t do it in the modern NHL. Yes, Seattle defeated the battered Avalanche in the 2023 playoffs, but aside from that, Seattle’s stadium hasn’t had many instances of pure chaotic glee. A boring year for Utah would push them in the direction of Seattle and further from Vegas. Utah’s M.O. should be star talent and exciting players, not middling talent. A boring season would force them into the “middling talent” realm.
Missing the playoffs with no notable storylines would be a very bad thing for Utah. No, their whole future isn’t based on vibes and appearances, but that’s a big part of bringing in more talent. Utah can capitalize on a fresh, excited fanbase in a fun city to lure in stars.
Quick question: what’s worse than an apathetic fanbase? A ravenous one with nothing to cheer for. Vibes go further than you think in the NHL.
What a weird few years for Winnipeg. In 2024-25, they won the Presidents trophy, and had one of the best moments of the playoffs with the Manitoba Miracle. However, last year found them second to last in the Central Division. It was weird to watch. The whole team, collectively, just seemed to forget how to score goals. Hellebuyck also started sinking, as his save percentage on the year was a pitiful .895.
Well… there’s one other consideration. Hellebuyck was the main goaltender for Team USA’s gold medal run. Yes, the grind of the Olympics and the resulting party likely hurt his stats. However, the concern here is, like Auston Matthews, Hellebuyck has tasted sweet victory for the first time in a long time. The main thing giving Jets fans nightmares is the thought of Hellebuyck deciding to leave Winnipeg to search for glory elsewhere. Keeping their goalie happy should be the Winnipeg’s main concern.
Option one; make a deep playoff run, reminiscent of 2018. Make it to the conference finals, and prove to Hellebuyck, as well as the rest of the team, that this team still has a lot of potential. Don’t forget, Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor both had elite production last year, the former finishing with 103 points. Hellebuyck has his part to play, but a team with an elite goalie playing at an elite level can literally do anything. Just ask Jonathan Quick and the 2012 LA Kings.
Option two; trade Hellebuyck at the deadline if things are going wrong. Ok, imagine this, Winnipeg is suffocating and hasn’t had a good year. The trade deadline rolls around and dozens of cup-hopefuls are desperate for a goalie. Hellebuyck would be the belle of the ball, and Winnipeg could basically ask for anything in return. “Next three year’s first round picks? Sure!” Yes, losing such a goaltending talent would hurt. However, the future could look downright savory if GM Kevin Cheveldayoff could make the best trade possible.
Another first or underwhelming second round exit after a promising season would be downright miserable for Jets faithful. Not to mention the flashbacks from 2025. Hellebuyck would be justifiably upset that his team couldn’t show up in the clutch. The worst thing that could happen for the Jets is Hellebuyck making his frustrations more clear: a trade request. If Hellebuyck doesn’t mince words, and tells the world that he wants out, then his trade value goes way down. It’s simple supply and demand; trade him at the deadline and his worth is like a glass of water on the hottest day of a drought. Trade him over the offseason and he’s a nice wristwatch, valuable but less than essential.
This Hellebuyck situation is a tricky one for Winnipeg. While there is plenty of other notable talent aside from him, a goalie of his caliber does not come around often. Hockey is a team sport, but frankly, when a goalie is good enough, it can become akin to a solo sport. Losing Hellebuyck for less than he’s worth would be a brutal blow to the fine people of Manitoba.
The cup champion could come out of the Central Division. The worst team in the league could also come out of the Central Division. Whatever the case, it’ll be a fun year of hockey for almost all of them. There’s a lot to watch for, and there’s no doubt that there will be some truly incredible storylines this season.
With that being said, this division is quicksand. The best teams are just that good, and the worser teams are that hungry. Any team that has any kind of issue will get eaten alive. Any team that clicks, and gets hot at the right time, might just find themselves at the top.
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