Poll: Who Will Win The Central Division?

A few days ago, we asked the PHR community to predict which team would end up winning the Pacific Division, and there ended up being two clear leaders. The Vancouver Canucks Los Angeles Kings, Vegas Golden Knights, Seattle Kraken, Anaheim Ducks, and San Jose Sharks combined for less than 19% of the vote, with the rest nearly split in half between the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames.

The Oilers came out a few percentage points ahead after adding netminder Jack Campbell and bringing back Evander Kane. Calgary’s remade roster with Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, and Nazem Kadri still holds plenty of confidence, a stark change from the days after Jonny Gaudreau’s departure.

While that division is apparently a two-horse race, we now move to the Central, where the vote might not be as close (though maybe it should).

Last year, the Colorado Avalanche would end up taking it after going 56-19-7 in the regular season. They would ride that success all the way to a Stanley Cup championship, and return as the presumptive favorites to take the division once again.

However, there are some changes in Colorado. Kadri, who was an incredibly important play driver for the team last season, has departed to Calgary, while Darcy Kuemper was replaced with Alexandar Georgiev. Andre Burakovsky’s depth scoring has disappeared, and while the team still looks like a very strong contender–having a defense corps led by Cale Makar and Devon Toews will do that–there may be a few chinks in the armor after the dream season.

The Minnesota Wild were second last year, but don’t think they weren’t a powerhouse in their own right. The team finished with a record of 53-22-7, which would have put them first in the Pacific, and went into the playoffs on an 8-1-1 streak. While Kevin Fiala has been sent packing after an outstanding year, the development of Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi means there is still plenty of excitement in Minnesota.

Next was the St. Louis Blues, with their own 109-point campaign, but there is a big question mark in net for next season. Ville Husso, who had emerged as the more reliable option during the year, is gone, leaving Jordan Binnington with Thomas Greiss as his backup. With Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko both headed into their final year under contract, it will be interesting to see what direction the Blues go in this year.

It’s not often you can say a team with Joe Pavelski, Tyler Seguin, and Jamie Benn on it is driven by youth, but that’s exactly the case for the Dallas Stars, who will are ready to hand the keys over to the dynamic trio of Jason Robertson, Miro Heiskanen, and Jake Oettinger. All three were selected in 2017 and all three look like stars in the league at this point. The question for Dallas, of course, is that Robertson and Oettinger remain unsigned to this point.

The Nashville Predators were able to land Nino Niederreiter and Ryan McDonagh, adding some depth and Stanley Cup experience to the roster as they try to take another run at the division crown. The emergence of Tanner Jeannot has given them another weapon, while Yakov Trenin has also looked like he could be a difference-maker if given the opportunity.

Then there are the Winnipeg Jets, who many picked as contenders last year and far fewer are dubbing them that this time around. While there are still some outstanding pieces there, it’s getting harder and harder to see how they will keep up without Connor Hellebuyck getting back to Vezina-level goaltending.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes, meanwhile, are both trying to lose–at least enough to secure a high draft position. The rebuilding clubs shouldn’t pose much of a threat in the division, especially after the deadline when they sell off any pieces that are performing at a high level.

So now we ask you, PHR readers, to make your pick for who will win the Central Division in 2022-23! Vote in the poll below and explain your thoughts in the comment section.

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