The 2022-23 NHL season is almost upon us. Soon, we will see the return of hockey in all it’s glory. This past off-season has been one of the crazier ones in recent memory, so with the next season looming, it is a good time to recap and preview how each team will do this season. The preview will be split into four parts, each part previewing one division. For today, we’re going to be looking at the Central Division. I will be discussing the teams in what place I predict they will finish for the season.

As a general preview of the entire division, the Central is an intriguing division this year for the sole reason that the top and the bottom of the division is very predictable, with some looming question marks in between. The top teams are certainly going to compete for the long run, but ones at the bottom are in it for the tank. Regardless, there are interesting teams here and some of them could surprise the hockey world come April.

It was an obvious choice to put this team up at first, although they did shed quite a bit of talent following their Stanley Cup win last season. The most notable loss will be Darcy Kuemper, and coming in to replace him is ex-Rangers backup Alexander Georgiev, which is an interesting move to say the least. Watching Georgiev play, he did show some good flashes in the couple of postseason games vs the Penguins. Now the question remains if he can be an adequate goalie for the reigning Stanley Cup champions. Beyond him, Kadri is gone after a career year, along with solid winger Burakovsky and bottom sixer Aube-Kubel. Those are not too damaging, but the loss of Landeskog to a long term injury hurts. The team has more than enough talent (especially in defense) where they should be fine without their captain for a little while, and to even shield Georgiev for a majority of games. I would be a bit more worried if they had more intense competition in this division (not to discredit the next couple of teams here), but as the defending champs, they should be able to claim another Central Division title. The question comes in April in whether they are able to defend their title or not.

The Blues are a fairly underrated team. It seems they have been flying under the radar this offseason, though that has been mainly due to their inactive free agency (outside of extending key players of course). This season revolves around Jordan Binnington, and whether he can return to his 2019 form. Ville Husso is gone; Thomas Greiss takes his place as the backup. Other than him, Perron was the other big loss, although it should not be a huge one. The team’s top six is arguably one of the best in the league, not one player is a liability up there. Beyond that, their depth is not too shabby either. The question comes to defense and goaltending (as previously stated). They certainly are not bad on the blue line, but may come into question of the goalies do not perform up to par. This is only said theoretically, of course. I predict the Blues will not have this major a problem, not enough to drop them any lower, but the chance is their regardless. I would watch out for the Blues this season. They may not be one of the elite, but they certainly can compete with the elite.

Nashville is looking to be another underrated team. They do not scream cup contender, but they are a solid playoff team as they stand, and I believe it is enough for them to overtake the Wild in the Central. The Preds made some big acquisitions this offseason, getting Ryan McDonagh from the Lightning and signing Nino Niederreiter in free agency (which is an absolute steal if you ask me). They did not lose much either, so these moves only serve to improve the team compared to last season. While I would be skeptical to believe Roman Josi can have another monster season, I would not doubt him putting up a decent number of points. Juuse Saros is still a great goalie, and the team will go as far as he allows them to. The only other question remains if the Preds’ top scorers from last season can continue the production. Given their histories, I would be surprised if they have a big dip in production. As previously stated, this team is not likely to compete for a Stanley Cup, but they know how to battle, and I believe they would be a tough out for anyone running into them in April. For now, it may be a hot take placing them in third, and they could still easily place in fourth, but I believe the top scorers for the Preds can sustain their production, compared to the Minnesota Wild.

I am not as high on the Wild this year compared to last year. Last year felt like their best chance to do some damage in the postseason, but they squandered it. Now, they pay the price in losing Kevin Fiala to the Kings. Losing Cam Talbot is not huge, they do get a young goalie from Ottawa in Gustavsson in exchange for him. The true problem for the Wild this season will be whether some of their top players from last season can sustain that production. As stated with my Predators prediction, I do not believe they can do so. It is very possible, of course, but unlikely to say the least. Zuccarello had a career year at the age of 34, and he is due for a regression to the mean. Ryan Hartman’s season came out of nowhere, and while I will not fully dismiss the notion of him repeating it again, due to past history he is not likely to repeat it either. That is where Kevin Fiala will truly be missed, in his point production, which I suspect the Wild will miss as well. Kirill Kaprizov is still the engine of the offense and he is going to produce with no matter who, but it may not be enough for them. Marc Andre Fleury will have the carry the backend. He still has immense talent, but you wonder when it will go down hill for him, as he is 38 years old. Beyond him, the blueline is nothing superb, but not terrible either. The Wild this year will either prove doubters (such as myself) wrong and be a top playoff contender, or they will regress to the mean of a potential sub-100 point season. They do still talent, whether it is enough is the question for them this season.

The Stars are about as mediocre as a hockey team can get. They have a top tier first line, but beyond that, it is nothing special. Their roster does not scream bad team, but they are not good enough to be taken as a threat come playoff time (if they make it there). Defense is what is going to make or break this team, and whether Jake Oettinger can repeat his playoff heroics in the regular season as their new starting goalie. Mason Marchment is a nice add, if he proves that last season was not an anomaly. Beyond that, the only way they can get truly better on offense if veterans like Tyler Seguin return anywhere near to previous form. Secondary scoring was a huge issue for them. Last season, all three of their top scores (Pavelski, Robertson, and Hintz) were on the top line. After than, it drops off to below 50 points, with only Seguin scoring more than 20 goals. It does not look like that is improving this year, so while the Stars will not be a bad team, they are not quite good enough to compete. If things go right, they can maybe get to 100 points and a wild card spot, but as it stands it still is a big question mark.

Did I say the Stars were as mediocre as you can get? The Jets give them a run for their money in this field. Like the Stars, the Jets are not terrible on paper, but on the ice, they’ve been nothing special. Kyle Connor is a monster of a player, and having Scheifele and Ehlers on a line with him is certainly good, but like the Stars, nothing special beyond it. Wheeler and Dubois can still be contributors, however, I suspect Dubois could be deadline fodder considering how unhappy he seems to be playing for the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck had a down year last season, and it would be a surprise if he did not return closer to his form before 2021. He alone may be able to steal them some games like he has done in the past. Overall, not much to say with the Jets. I believe they deserve this spot in sixth place, but always possible they can finish ahead of the Stars, although that is likely the best they can hope for this season.

Hot take, the Chicago Blackhawks are a very bad hockey team. It seems the team has finally committed to a full rebuild, but in a very perplexing way, as they traded young talent like Alex DeBrincat and Kirby Dach away. Anyone they signed to fill in the roster will not change the fact they Blackhawks will be bad. They would be an easy last place team if not for a certain team in a college arena. The big story for them this year will be whether Patrick Kane and/or Jonathan Toews will be dealt midway through the season. While they do have them, however, they are the only thing separating this team from seventh and eighth in the Central. To comment any more in depth of their offense and defense is pointless. Even if they did sign Stanley Cup champion Jack Johnson to the blueline, it will be for naught. Only win they can get out of this season is by winning the lottery, and drafting Connor Bedard. They will be in for some tough competition for him, however, especially with our next team here.

The Coyotes are bad. I can end this right here and it will be more than enough description for this season. Like the Blackhawks, they are in it for the tank for Connor Bedard, and he will be the only way this season will be a win for them. Beyond that, they acquire more old veterans and ineffective players in cap dumps for more draft picks. Only major loss is with Phil Kessel, but he is nowhere near good enough to turn things around alone. The Coyotes have a nice prospect pool building up, so the main goal now is just not only for the tank, but for pride. Considering they are going to play in a 5,000 seat college arena however, I do not believe they can get a whole lot of pride this season. The fact this team is still in Arizona is astounding, and I feel for any players drafted by them. Perhaps Connor Bedard can turn that around if they were to win the lottery, but for now, they will just continue being bad.