Around the League: Changes in the Central Division

The off-season is a time of change in the NHL for every team in the league. Whether it’s coaching staff changes, the start of a new era of ownership, or the players themselves, each team finds a way to be at least a little different come puck drop in October.

“Around the League” will be a look at the four divisions in the NHL: the Atlantic, Pacific, Metropolitan, and Central, while analyzing the inevitable edits that will occur within each organization. To kick it off will be a look at the seven teams of the Central Division.

St. Louis Blues

The Blues have had their fair share of disappointment over the last few years as they’ve had immense success in the regular season year after year; however, to juxtapose that success they’ve also had immense failure in the post-season. After winning the Central Division this past year the Blues were expected to make a deep playoff run, but the Minnesota Wild eliminated them in six games during the first round to end that dream.

Looking ahead St. Louis has to make changes within their line-up in order to keep mainstays like Vladimir Tarasenko, which may mean shedding larger salaries like those of Paul Stastny ($7 million), Alex Pietrangelo ($6.5 million), or Alex Steen ($5.8 million).

The Blues have to take a look at performances as well when considering which players to trade and that may mean a change in captaincy. Since September 9^th, 2011 David Backes has been the man with the “C” in the St. Louis dressing room; however, his reduced production and the Blues’ post-season struggles could mean it’s time for the twenty-first captain in franchise history to begin his term.

Nashville Predators

Pekka Rinne and the Predators were a standout in the regular season, allowing them to finish five points behind the Blues for second in the Central Division. Rinne’s knee injury in January, however, put a wrench in their plans to win the division and made it increasingly difficult to return to their early season form. The Western Conference Champion Chicago Blackhawks eliminated the Predators from the playoffs in six games.

Nashville will be focused on once again starting the season strong and most importantly finishing it the same way. They will look for solid performances from Rinne and captain Shea Weber, but Nashville is also in the market for another defenseman to compliment their leader.

After losing defenseman Ryan Suter to the Minnesota Wild after the 2011-2012 season the Preds have failed to find another similar caliber replacement because of the rarity of that amount of skill. I wouldn’t expect a lot of changes in Nashville, but they might shed some players in hopes of acquiring that coveted defender.

Chicago Blackhawks

As one of only two teams remaining in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs the Chicago Blackhawks have a lot to be proud of; however, that doesn’t mean they don’t have their fair share of difficult decisions to be made. Star forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews’ massive contracts that account for a combined $21 million of cap space begin at the start of next season and that should mean big changes are in store.

A total of fourteen player contracts end after the completion of this season and there’s nearly no way that they’ll be keeping all of those players. For that reason I’d expect a blockbuster trade from the Stanley Cup hopeful Blackhawks this off-season. Want to know why it could be Brent Seabrook on the move? Read more here.

Minnesota Wild

The Wild can be nothing but happy with their performance last season as they improved and showed the league they shouldn’t be counted out. After eliminating the division-leading Blues in the first round they were swept by the Hawks in four to end their post-season dreams.

As far as free agency goes the Wild don’t have many big names to worry about. Goalie Devan Dubnyk is probably the biggest concern, as he will become unrestricted on July 1^st along with former Blues forward Chris Stewart.

The Wild will be focused on keeping their players as healthy and productive as possible to make a return to the playoffs next off-season.

Winnipeg Jets

Winnipeg already made some big moves just prior to the trade deadline when they sent Evander Kane to the Buffalo Sabres in a seven-player deal. The most important acquisition of that trade for the Jets was 6’8” defenseman Tyler Myers.

Since they completed this deal it isn’t very likely that they’ll make that many moves in the off-season. Kane seemed to be on the outs with the team for whatever reason and they managed to get rid of him and get a possible go-to defender in the process.

The Jets will just have to try their best to adjust their new players into their system.

Colorado Avalanche

Patrick Roy and the Colorado Avalanche had a rather disappointing season last year after being Central Division Champions. The Avalanche finished the 2014-2015 season two points behind the Stars causing them to miss the playoffs by a mere seven points.

This off-season I wouldn’t expect many changes from the Avalanche despite their disappointing season. They played significantly worse just one year after being the second-best team in the Western Conference and very little of their personnel changed.

Colorado just has to figure out if they can harness their skill to return to playoff form.

Dallas Stars

Lastly for the Central Division is the Dallas Stars. Dallas has an immense amount of talent, but failed to make a return to the playoffs last season because of their greatest weakness: inconsistency.

This off-season the Stars will be on the lookout for a new back-up goalie as well as a number-one defenseman.

The Stars’ focus for next year will be to channel their skill upfront in forwards like Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, while simultaneously being responsible in their own end to help out goalie Kari Lehtonen.

That is the current situation of the teams in the Central Division at the moment. Up next in “Around the League” is the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference!

Which team has the most work to do this off-season? Leave your thoughts in the comments and as always thanks for reading!

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