The Central Divison

Minnesota Wild

GM: Al Wehr

Top Forwards: Kirill Kaprizov, Steven Stamkos, Loui Eriksson

Top Defenders: Kris Letang, Matthew Dumba

Goaltender: Semyon Varlamov

Dark Horse: Joel Farabee (will score 35 goals in NHL)

Weakness: Defense

Prediction: 1st in the Central Division. Al has silently built a super strong team. I have been a fan of his team ever since I scrolled onto them. A very deep and skilled forward group that also includes the likes of Kevin Fiala, Mats Zuccarello, Tomas Tatar. A top 5 sim goalie in Varlamov will also steal him a few games. If there was any area for this team to improve it would be defence, more specifically, an upgrade on Erik Brannstrom. Nonetheless, the Central is stacked but I see Minnesota finishing 1st in this division.

Colorado Avalanche

GM: Bryce Shuck

Top Forwards: Sebastian Aho, Mikko Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon

Top Defenders: Justin Faulk, Jacob Trouba, Erik Karlsson

Goaltender: Tuuka Rask

Dark Horse: Roope Hintz (will score 75 points in NHL this season)

Weakness: Does Not Have Phillipe Grubaeur

Prediction: 2nd in the Central Division. The reigning BRHL cup champion. I used to think that BRHL’s abbreviation stood for “Bryce Ran Hockey League” until I was told it was “Best Run Hockey League” e5. Bryce’s team is still an offensive juggernaut and will pick up where they left off last season. Depth on all lines ranging from Dustin Brown, Radulov, Iaffalo, Atkinson followed by the stars mentioned above. The team also has an underrated defense core led by Trouba. Karlsson deserves a mention, but I think his best playing days are behind him. Tuuka Rask was brought in as Bruce lost the FA war that Rex started on his behalf. Ultimately, this team will still finish 2nd in the Central.

Dallas Stars

GM: Junya “In Massachusetts” Kato

Top Forwards: Sean Couturier, Mark Scheifele, Elias Lindholm

Top Defenders: Ryan Ellis, Dougie Hamilton

Goaltender: Igor Shesterkin

Dark Horse: Andre Burakovsky (will net 37.5+ goals in NHL)

Weakness: His STHS Tactics are 2nd best in the league now

Prediction: Junya is stuck in a stacked division. He had a quiet off season and was also the main promoter for all F/A battles that were ongoing. The central is full of stacked offenses and the Stars fit the bill. Bratt, Schwartz, Hayes, Soderberg to name a few depth players along with the elite talent mentioned above. Junya is also known as a masterful tactician but a new season with new blood is upon us, and his tactics will wear thin. Dallas does have one of the better defense cores in the division with studs like Hamilton, Pesce, Spurgeon, Hjalmarsson and Pionk leading the pack. Do not know why Friedman is there but ok. Junya will finish 3rd in the division.

Chicago Blackhawks

GM: David Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah

Top Forwards: Ryan l, Dominik Kubalik, Miles Wood

Top Defenders: Quinn Hughes, Nikita Zaitsev

Goaltender: Robin Lehner

Dark Horse: Blake Coleman (going to play top line minutes in Calgary)

Weakness: Lack of Depth Up Front

Prediction: 4th in the Central Divison. David had a wild off season. First by criticizing the writers trading habits. And then trades 3 firsts to said writer for Quinn Hughes. Anyways, David has a well-rounded team that is top heavy but gets thin the lower down the lineup you go. Plenty of great depth players. A great one two punch with O’Rielly and Danault. Speedy wingers such as Eberle and Kubalik. In comparison to the superpowers of the central, David’s team lacks depth on offense. However, the defense on paper is top 12 in the league with Weegar, Brodin, McNabb, Zaitsev and Hughes. Lehner also has elite rates. I say 4th place finish in this stacked division.

St. Louis Blues

GM: Eric “The Catman” Dolegowski

Top Forwards: Logan Couture, Alex Ovechkin, Jake Guentzal

Top Defenders: Gustav Forsling, Travis Hamonic

Goaltender: Tristian Jarry

Dark Horse: Jaret Anderson-Dolan (40+ point season in NHL)

Weakness: Offense

Prediction: 5th in the Central Division. Eric’s big off-season splash was signing Logan Couture in free agency. Also letting Matt Murray get claimed for free during the waiver draft. Lol. Eric has a top-heavy offense with Couture, Ovechkin, Guentzel leading the charge. The supporting cast is where the team will get tested. The team is great down the middle with Dowd, Eller and Backlund but on the wings is where it gets dry. The defense will keep this team middle of the pact as there are solid DF rated players there such as Ferraro, Forsling, Forbort and Koekkoek. Goaltending is shaky at this point as Jarry does not have good rates. In this super stacked division, I see Eric finishing 5th.

Nashville Predators

GM: The Tyler Sheddington

Top Forwards: Tomas Hertl, Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn

Top Defenders: John Klingberg, Jakob Chychrun

Goaltender: Jake Allen, Braden Holtby

Dark Horse: Tyler Seguin (will bounce back in Dallas, 83 points +)

Weakness: Goaltending

Prediction: 6th in the Central Division. Sheds team is in for a rough ride this year. The team is real life Dallas heavy (Klingberg, Holtby, Benn and Seguin). Benn and Seguin are coming off some of their worst years statistically in the NHL. I expect them to easily bounce back this upcoming NHL season which will bode well for Sheds the next time I write this for him next year. But for this season, this team will unfortunately get trampled on viciously by the superpowers of the central division. Stepan, Hertl, Filpulla, Gagner, Lucic will not be enough for this team to stay relevant. The defense core is decent however with lackluster goaltending they will still irrelevant. And for this, I foresee a 6th place finish.

Winnipeg Jets

GM: Jordan “The Doc” Hansford

Top Forwards: Mitch Marner, William Nylander

Top Defenders: Drew Doughty, Jake Bean

Goaltender: Frederik Anderson

Dark Horse: Jaroslav Halak (Demko will drop ball in Van, Halak will take over)

Weakness: Will Not Drop His Price for Drew Doughty

Prediction: 7th in the Central Division. I think Doc likes to see his team here as he is clearly going for a rebuild/retool. I would say more of a retool as he is not totally selling off his team. The team has a nice core led by Marner and Nylander. Getzlaf’s best days are behind him. The rest of the forward group is full of project players like Turris, Bellows, Skinner, Gadjovich. Greenway is another nice piece but perhaps should be sold for assets. The defense core is led by Doughty, Dermott, Brodie, Bean and Manson. Andersson is also a bright spot for the team. Anderson is Carolina’s clear-cut starter so I could see him being a trade chip later in the season. I also believe Halak will steal the crease in NHL Vancouver at some point this season which will give Doc some options at the deadline. Hopefully he lowers the asking price for Doughty for me after reading this. Doc will finish 7th in the Central.

Seattle Kraken

GM: The Rex Leak

Top Forwards: Sidney Crosby, Elias Pettersson

Top Defenders: Miro Heiskanen, John Carlsson, Rasmus Dahlin

Goaltender: Alex Nedeljkovic

Dark Horse: Rasmus Dahlin (breakout season incoming, 55+ pointsl

Weakness: Waged Free Agency War and Lost

Prediction: 8th in the Central Division. It was a wild off season. One bid changed everything for Rex. It waged a Free Agency war which he unfortunately lost. Rex thinks he is a playoff team but I do not see that happening as the Central is full of super teams. Yes, Pettersson and Crosby are an amazing 1-2 punch. But that’s pretty much all they have on the offensive front. The defense is a strength but full of puck movers and passers such as Dahlin, Heiskanen, Grezlyck, Carlson. There is one defensive defenseman though and his name is Adam Larsson. Nedeljkovic will win this team some games but nonetheless will still embark onto a 8th place finish in the Central.