For the next four weeks on Thursdays, Sports World News will preview the 2014-15 NHL season with a division-by-division look into what fans can expect when the National Hockey League returns for another season of action in October. Over the past two weeks, we finished off the Eastern Conference with the Metropolitan Division and Atlantic Division previews, now we'll delve into the Western Conference, starting with the Central Division.
Metropolitan Division Preview And Predictions
The Central Division had no shortage of competition last season as it sent five of the seven teams to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With some personnel movement and teams spending the summer making adjustments, it should be another highly competitive season inside the Central.
Note: All projected line and defensive combinations courtesy of NHL.com.
Atlantic Division Preview And Predictions
Colorado Avalanche (52-22-8, 112 points): The Avalanche had a somewhat surprising and very successful campaign in 2013-14, emerging atop what was possibly the toughest division in the league before losing a heart-breaking Game 7 to the Minnesota Wild in overtime in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It was a tough loss to swallow, but it did wonders for the development of this young group as they enter their second year under head coach Patrick Roy, who won the Jack Adams award as the league's best coach after guiding the team from the 29th-best record in 2012-13 to the third-best record in the league last season in his first campaign behind the bench.
The Avalanche will look a bit different without center Paul Stastny, who departed through free agency and signed with the rival St. Louis Blues, but they have a lot of weapons that still make the team formidable.
Colorado replaced Stastny's veteran presence by adding Jarome Iginla (30 goals, 31 assists and 61 points in 2013-14), who is projected to play on the right wing of the team's top line, which will be centered by reigning Calder Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon (24-39--63) and will have 2011-12 Calder Trophy winner Gabriel Landeskog (26-39--65) on the left. Iginla tied for fourth with a plus-34 rating last year.
Rounding out the top six will be a second line that is centered by Matt Duchene, who led the team with 70 points and 47 assists while adding 23 goals. Duchene is slated to be anchored by Alex Tanguay (4-7--11), who is recovering from injuries that limited him to 16 games, and Ryan O'Reilly, who led the Avs with 28 tallies and added 36 helpers for 64 points last season.
Other forwards in the mix for Colorado include veterans Danny Briere and Maxime Talbot.
On defense, Jan Hejda and Erik Johnson are slated to serve as the team's top pairing while new import Brad Stuart and Tyson Barrie round out the top-four.
In net, the Avalanche turn to Semyon Varlamov, who led the league with 41 wins last season and ranked third in the NHL with a .927 save percentage while posting a 2.41 goals-against average.
The Avalanche have a solid lineup, but they'll have to limit the shots they allow on defense. The only thing working against Colorado is that they won't be catching anyone by surprise like last season. Still, with MacKinnon turning heads as a rookie last year, Duchene putting up MVP-caliber numbers and Varlamov emerging as a Vezina Trophy finalist last season, there is a lot of reason for optimism in Colorado.
St. Louis Blues (52-23-7, 111 points): The Blues once again had a tremendous campaign in 2013-14, but the team blew a 2-0 opening-round series lead for the second year in a row and once again lost four straight games to lose the set in six. St. Louis lost 4-2 to the Los Angeles Kings in 2012-13 and then did it again against the Chicago Blackhawks last season.
The most notable move the Blues made this offseason was winning the Paul Stastny sweepstakes and bringing the free agent in from the rival Colorado Avalanche to fill the No.1 center role this season.
Stastny (25-35--60 in 2013-14 with Colorado) is slated to center the top line for St. Louis that will be anchored by Alexander Steen, who led the team with 60 points and 33 goals last season while adding 29 assists, on the left and T.J. Oshie (21-39--60) on the right.
The Blues have plenty of center depth with the addition of Stastny, and rounding out the top-six on offense is an expected line of David Backes (27-30--57) centering 2010 first-round picks Jaden Schwartz (25-31--56) and Vladimir Tarasenko (21-22--43), who will take on bigger roles this season. Patrik Berglund will also be in the mix as well.
The Blues are stacked on defense as Alex Pietrangelo, who led the team 43 assists last year, will team up with Jay Bouwmeester on the top pairing while Barrett Jackman and Kevin Shattenkirk will round out the top-four. The defense could lack physicality with the trade of Roman Polak.
In net, the team turns to Brian Elliott and Jake Allen after allowing Ryan Miller to walk to the Vancouver Canucks. Elliot will compete with Allen for the job, but it is expected that Elliott -- who hasn't played more than 55 games in a season -- will earn the starting nod.
Elliott went 18-6-2 in 31 games for the Blues last season and ranked second in the league with a 1.96 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage.
The Blues have great depth at center and a solid top-six to go along with a well-established if not physical defense. The question will be whether or not Elliott can shoulder the load for an entire NHL season. Still, the Blues showed last year how deep they can be and the addition of Stastny just makes them even better, so there should be another postseason appearance for St. Louis in 2014-15-- it's just a question of whether or not they can put their spring demons behind them.
Chicago Blackhawks (46-21-15, 107 points): The Chicago Blackhawks had a very successful 2013-14 campaign, but ultimately failed to win their second straight Stanley Cup and third in five years. Chicago enters as one of the favorites to hoist the cup in 2014-15.
The Blackhawks showed their resilience by bouncing back from a 2-0 series deficit against the Blues and going on to win four straight games and win the series in six games and went on to defeat the Minnesota Wild in six contests before falling to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings in seven in the Western Conference Final.
The Blackhawks most notable offseason moves were signing superstars Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane to huge extensions and bringing in center Brad Richards to likely center the team's second line after the New York Rangers bought out his contract.
The Blackhawks' projected top-six is chocked full of talent. Toews (28-40--68) is slated to center the top line with Patrick Sharp, who led the team in points (78) and goals (34) while adding 44 assists, on the left and Marian Hossa (30-30--60) on the right.
Richards (20-31--51 with Rangers) will likely center the second line with Kane (29-40--69) on the right and Brandon Saad (19-28--47) on the left. Andrew Shaw (20-19--39) is also in the mix at center with Chicago's new found depth at that position.
As it has been for years, the blue line for Chicago is anchored by the top pairing of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook while Johnny Oduya and Niklas Hjalmarsson will round out the top-four. One defenseman to watch is Nick Leddy as head coach Joel Quenneville has lost faith in him at times as evidenced by him riding the bench a lot down the stretch last season.
Corey Crawford will once again be the No. 1 goalie in Chicago after going 32-16-10 with a 2.26 GAA and .917 save percentage a season ago.
The Blackhawks have dealt with trade rumors due to cap problems and that will likely continue to happen until their cap issues are settled.
The Blackhawks were plagued by a lack of depth at the center position last season, but the addition of Richards should help that. With the offense being anchored by guys like Toews, Kane, Sharp and Hossa and the defense being flanked by a solid top-four of offensive powers Keith and Seabrook and shut-down defenseman Oduya and Hjalmarsson, Chicago is stacked this season. Add in a solid backstop like Crawford and there's reason to believe Chicago will go deep once again in 2014-15.
Minnesota Wild (43-27-12, 98 points): Last season was very successful for the Wild as the team clinched its second straight postseason berth and took it a step further than they did in 2012-13. Entering a new campaign, Minnesota will look to expand and take a couple of more steps forward this season.
The Wild went toe-to-toe in a tremendous series against the Avalanche in the opening round last spring, winning it in an overtime thriller in Game 7 before falling to the Blackhawks in six games in the second round -- marking the second straight year Chicago ousted them.
The most notable offseason move for the Wild was bringing in former University of Minnesota product Thomas Vanek out of free agency to join an already potent offense that has strong skilled players in Zach Parise, Jason Pominville and Mikko Koivu and solid young players in Charlie Coyle, Mikael Granlund, Nino Niederreiter and Erik Haula, who all had big roles down the stretch last season.
Parise (29-27--56) is projected to play on the left side of center Koivu, who led the team with 43 assists in 2013-14 and added 11 goals for 54 points while Coyle (12-18--30) will be on the right side.
Vanek (27-41--68) will likely be on the left side of the second line, which is projected to have Granlund (8-33--41) at center and Pominville, who led the team with 30 goals and 60 points while adding 30 assists on the right.
Haula and Niederreiter, who netted the Game 7 overtime game-winner in Round 1 last year, will likely start out on the bottom-six, but could eventually move up and are expected to have big roles.
The defense still runs through minutes-eater Ryan Suter, who had a team-high 29:24 average time on ice per game last season. Suter led the defense in goals (eight), assists (35) and points (43) last season and is projected to be paired alongside Jonas Brodin to start the season. Marco Scandella and Jared Spurgeon are slated to round out the top-four.
Goaltending is a question coming into the new campaign as the Wild used five goaltenders last season and have Darcy Kuemper, Ilya Bryzgalov and Niklas Backstrom battling it out in camp while Josh Harding (foot) was suspended by the team for injuring himself in a non-hockey activity. Harding led the NHL with a 1.65 GAA and a .933 save percentage last season.
Coming off of a solid 2013-14, the Wild have plenty of reason for optimism as they added Vanek to a solid offense that already boasts Parise and last year's leading team scorer Pominville while the team also has plenty of solid youth. Defensively, Suter still controls everything at the blue line, but one has to wonder if the minutes he's logged on his body will begin to hamper him at age 29. Goaltending is also very important in the NHL and while the team has plenty of options, it remains to be seen if anyone will break from the pack.
Dallas Stars (40-30-11, 91 points): The Stars are coming off of a great 2013-14 campaign that saw the team end its five-year playoff drought en route to losing to the Anaheim Ducks in the opening round.
Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin teamed up as one of the most dominant offensive pairs in 2013-14 and the Stars traded with the Ottawa Senators for Jason Spezza and brought in Ales Hemsky to add some depth to the team this offseason.
Seguin finished fourth in the NHL in points (84) and fifth in goals (37) last season while leading the team with 43 assists and he is projected to center a line that consists of Benn, who ranked second on the team in goals (34) assists (45) and points (79) and Valeri Nichushkin (14-20--34), who had a solid rookie campaign last year.
Spezza (23-43--66) and Hemsky (13-30--43) will anchor the center and right wing of the second line while Erik Cole (16-13--29) will be on the left. Cody Eakin, who netted 16 goals and 35 points in his first full season last year provides great depth for the team at center, but he will likely start on the team's third line.
Rich Peverley still hasn't been cleared to skate after collapsing on the bench during a game last March.
On defense, Alex Goligoski and Trevor Daley combine for the top pair while Brenden Dillon and Jordie Benn round out the top-four. While these defensemen are solid, they may not stack up to the rest of the league and could be a weakness on the team's chances.
Kari Lehtonen is slated to assume the crease as the No. 1 goalie this year for Dallas after going 33-20-10 in 2013-14 with a 2.41 GAA and .919 save percentage.
The Stars should be very solid up front as Seguin and Benn showed what they can do last season and the additions of Spezza and Hemsky should provide depth while Nichushkin and Eakin both should continue to rapidly progress this season. Lehtonen is formidable in net if he stays healthy, but the defense could really be what costs this team down the stretch as the offense can only do so much.
Nashville Predators (38-32-12, 88 points): The Predators were one of two Central Division teams to miss the playoffs last season and they enter 2014-15 looking to avoid a two-year postseason drought, though they missed a berth by just three points a year ago.
Barry Trotz is out as coach for the first time in team history, as Peter Laviolette will look to guide Nashville back to contention this season.
The Predators brought in a lot of inexpensive veterans in the offseason including defenseman Anton Volchenkov and centers Mike Ribeiro, Olli Jokinen and Derek Roy. Nashville also traded team leader Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling to the Pittsburgh Penguins for James Neal.
Ribeiro (16-31--47) and Neal (27-34--61) are projected to play center and left wing respectively on the top line while Colin Wilson (11-22--33) is expected to flank the top unit on the right side.
Slated to round out the top-six is a line of Matt Cullen (10-29--39), Jokinen (18-25--43) and Filip Forsberg (1-4--5 in 13 games). Also in the mix offensively are Craig Smith and Mike Fisher. Smith is projected to play a third line role after leading the team with 24 goals last season while Fisher is still recovering from an Achilles injury.
The defense for the Predators is still led by Norris Trophy finalist Shea Weber, who led the team with 33 assists and 56 points last season and is slated to slot next to Roman Josi. On the second pairing, Mattias Ekholm is slated to start next to fourth overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft Seth Jones. Volchenkov will likely be on the third pair on the blue line.
In net, Nashville turns to Pekka Rinne, who was sidelined by a hip injury last season but is very solid when healthy. Rinne went 10-10-3 through 24 games last season with a 2.77 GAA and .902 save percentage.
The Predators have a chance to improve this season as their defense and goaltending are strong, but they have to rely on the durability from their bargain bin veteran free agents that were brought in, which could prove to haunt them down the stretch.
Winnipeg Jets (37-35-10, 84 points): The Jets were one of two teams that didn't make the playoffs in the Central Division and their playoff drought in Winnipeg stretched to its third straight season while the team has missed the playoffs for seven straight seasons dating back to when the franchise was the Atlanta Thrashers.
Paul Maurice enters his first full season as Jets coach after spelling Claude Noel last year and with a lack of major activity in the offseason, the Jets will basically be sending the same group to the ice every night as they did last season aside from a few changes to its bottom six. The team will look to work on not giving up as many goals this season after allowing an average of three per game.
Bryan Little, who tied for the Jets lead with 41 assists last season and added 23 goals and 64 points, is slated to center a top line consisting of Andrew Ladd (23-31--54) and Michael Frolik (15-27--42) as the team will look to spark some offense to make up for the amount of goals it tends to give up.
Right wing Blake Wheeler is slated to lead the team's second line to round out the top-six after pacing the team in goals (28) and points (69) while tying for the team lead with 41 helpers a year ago. Wheeler will have Evander Kane (19-22--41) on the other side of him while Mark Scheifele (13-21--34) is slated to center it. Kane has been linked to trade rumors throughout the offseason.
New import Mathieu Perreault and forward Dustin Byfuglien could find themselves on the third line to open up the season.
On defense, the Jets turn to Tobias Enstrom and Zach Bogosian to flank the top pair while Mark Stuart and Jacob Trouba should round out the top-four.
In net, the Jets turn to Ondrej Pavelec, who simply needs to improve if the team is to compete in the Central Division this season. Pavelec could be pulled for one of the young up-and-coming netminders if he struggles out of the gate this season. Pavelec went 22-26-7 last season with a ghastly 3.01 GAA and .901 save percentage.
The Jets have some talent and could very well improve this season, but it's uncertain if they have enough power on offense to overcome their struggles defensively and in-net to compete in what may be the toughest division in the NHL after Winnipeg went just 9-15-5 last season against division foes.
Breakdown: The Central Division looks as though it could very well once again be the best division in the NHL. The Avalanche, Blackhawks, Blues, Wild and Stars all improved after making the playoffs last season and could conceivably battle it out for the top five spots again. The Predators could improve now that Rinne has returned to the crease while Winnipeg may have a little while to go before making it to the postseason.
Here is Sports World News projected standings for the Central Division in 2014-15:
1) Blackhawks
2) Blues
3) Avalanche
4) Wild
5) Stars
6) Predators
7) Jets
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