This division was mostly a snorefest when it came to making moves.  Avs only made a couple moves, while the Blues weren't able to, as both were up against the cap.  Wild are just giving up or not trying very hard, who knows what Al is thinking.  The sellers of the divisions did make a lot of moves, so they kept things interesting.  The playoff race is something to watch in this division, as they will have both wild card teams.  Preds and Stars seem to have pulled away, while the Jets and Knights decided to sell for those said spots.  The matchups are far from set in the conference, so this is something to get your popcorn out for.  We have some interesting scenarios...who wouldn't want to see the Stars play Bryce's Avs in round one or have them jump to the Pacific side and play Sumit's Sharks in round 2, if both win round 1.

Well, let's see how the teams did in their trades

Colorado Avalanche - 51 - 12 - 3 (1st in Central) GF: 3.41 (4th) GA: 2.09 (1st)

In - Warren Foegele, Michael Stone

Out - Jonathan Drouin, Gabriel Carlsson

GM Bryce was up against the cap, so he was only able to make small moves.  Also, Avs didn't have much room for improvement, as he's top 5 in goals for and tops in goals against, so I can understand.  He did make a homer move by acquiring Warren Foegele in exchange for Jonathan Drouin.  This wasn't the usual rape job with his farm team, so that's nice to see.  He also made a move to acquire Michael Stone's rates for this year, in exchange for the potential of Carlsson.  Bryce gave up a potential decent piece for a slight upgrade on his 3rd pairing; I'm glad to see this as his division rival.  He's just on cruise control, at this point, so the real test will come once the yoffs start in 4 weeks.

St Louis BLues - 45 - 17 - 4 (2nd in Central) GF: 3.33 (5th) GA: 2.18 (2nd)

In - Double ended dildo

Out - heterosexuality

GM Eric didn't make a single move, but he is in the same boat as the Avs, ranking top 5 in goals for and top 3 in goals against.  Not too much room to make improvements, so he took the approach in standing pat and not forcing a bad trade or break up the chemistry.  We will see if that is enough to make it back to back champs.  GM Eric can also spend the next 4 weeks with his cats, not worrying about his team.

Minnesota Wild - 39 - 24 - 4 (3rd in Central) GF: 2.88 (14th) GA: 2.54 (9th)

In - Are you even trying?

Out - 

Here is another Central team doing nothing.  Let's just see where this team is stat-wise...must be doing well...nope.  GM Al "the Banker" is content with his team just making the playoffs.  He neither bought nor sold.  The Wild could have sold Backtrom, Letang, and a few pieces that are expiring next year, if he wasn't going to make an effort to win.  There is zero chance that the Wild win the cup without adding, so he should have sold off.  The banker is happy to be in the middle of the pack year after year.  He will need some guidance on how to tank by the Cordell brothers, if he ever wants to break through.  Another year, more question marks on how the team is run.

Nashville Predators - 38 - 24 - 4 (4th in Central) GF: 2.91 (13th) GA: 2.62 (12th)

In - Ville Husso, Clayton Keller, Cal Clutterbuck, John Carlson, Marcus Foligno, Kyle Clifford, Marco Scandella, Dmitry Kulikov, 2023 MIN 7, 2024 LAK 4, ANA 5

Out - Jake Neighbours, Brett Harrison, Nathan Walker, 2023 NAS 2,3,5, TBL 4, 2024 NAS 1,4,6, MON 4, CLB 1, LAK 4, 2025 1

Look at GM Sheds!  Finally making some moves.  I know he has been in purgatory in the past few years, but now he has made some good deals to move himself up into possible dark horses status.  The Preds acquired the second best player that was moved near deadline in Clayton Keller.  He's a well rounded stud and he's only 23.  I think it was a steal and Rumpy made a horrible trade.  Sheds now has his team creeping up to the top 10 in goals for and goals against, so it looks like he has improved the team in the right areas.  Since the addition of Keller, the Preds have gone 13-3-1 and have gone 10-3-1, since the Carlson addition.  But!  This is a little deceiving as he has only played 4 playoff teams and went 1-2-1.  The 2.5 years of Carlson was a great addition, but was very costly.  He will be very valuable for this year's run, but next year he will need to rest 4 days in between every game, as his DU will be very low.  The third big deal was for Ville Husso.  He was brought in to help the mediocre goalie situation, but he has been underwhelming.  Since being traded to the Preds, he has gone 9-2-1, but has dropped his sv% from .929 to .915.  Elliot may not have as good of a win record, but he has a better .919 sv%.  GM Sheds may be regretting that trade in the future as he had to give up a decent spec in FORWARD Jake Neighbours to acquire the 1 year of Husso.  Either way, he has acquired a stud in Keller, so it was not a lost deadline, even if he loses in the first round.

Dallas Stars - 36 - 26 - 6 (5th in Central) GF: 2.97 (12th) GA: 2.51 (8th)

In - Jeff Skinner

Out - Aleksi Heponiemi, 2023 EDM 3, 2024 DAL 2,3

GM Asian Sensation was not going to make a trade just to make one.  He methodically picked Skinner as he has a great SC and rerate will be very good.  Stars gave up a lot of assets, but quantity doesn't equal quality.  Besides that, they were quiet and weren't able to acquire anyone else.  The lack of assets kept Dallas from making another splash.  We know that they would have loved getting Keller, but was not aware he was even available.  Since the trade, the Stars have gone 11-2-2, so things are coming together in Big D.  We will see if the GM is correct and the existing team is good enough to win a title.  

Winnipeg Jets - 32 - 31 - 5 (6th in Central) GF: 3.03 (10th) GA: 3.0 (22nd)

In - Joseph Woll, Aleksi Heponiemi, Josh Bailey, Arber Xhekaj, John Beecher, 2023 EDM3, 2024 DAL 2,3, BUF 2

Out - Jeff Skinner, Alexandar Georgiev, 2023 DET 3

GM Doc (does he even have a real name?) took advantage of his short term players and got a ton of assets in return.  He opted to trade away Georgiev's great rerate in order to get one of NHL Hab's top dman in alphabet soup, Bailey's slightly overpaid future rates, spec Beecher, and a 2.  He did well to capitalize on a potential 1 year wonder.  If Georgiev can keep up the same rates throughout his new contract, this will be a nice deal for both sides.  The question is, will the Sabres be able to utilize the good rates to actually make it to the cup?  As for Skinner, the Jets got a lot of decent assets for 2.5 years of a very good player.  The Stars will have won this deal, unless if the Doc can be a draft wizard and get a couple decents players from the picks.  The Jets GM did leave a couple tradeable assets in Oshie, Martinez, and Hornqvist on the table.  Seems like make weren't willing to pay the Hansford prices in Winnipeg as well.  Many teams did their dealings well before the trade deadline, so many of the remaining rentals were not dealt.  Oh well, wasted resources.

Chicago Blackhawks - 25 - 36 - 6 (7th in Central) GF: 2.34 (26th) GA: 2.94 (21st)

In - Christian Fischer, Josh Bloom, Kevin Poulin, Gabriel Carlsson, 2023 LAK 2, CAR 3, ANA 3, NYR 3, TBL 4, PIT 6, 2024 CAL 2, PHI 2, COL 2, PIT 4, FLA 4, SJS 5, DET 5, 2025 DET 2,3, $2m Bux

Out - MacKenzie Weegar, Brayden McNabb, Ryan O'Reilly, Phillip Danault, Robin Lehner, Tyler Motte, 2023 CAL 5, MIN 7, 2024 CHI 6

This is different.  It's weird to see GM Dave selling because he has missed the playoffs.  He seems to need more practice, as he was giving away assets for below market value.  Mark Stone was gifted to him for Mac Weegar, who carries more value IRL, and late pick.  He then proceeds to gift Stone to Kevin for a late 2 and 3.  Am I missing something here?  Dave did well with the Ryno deal, what a surprise Sumit makes another bad deal, and then proceeded to flip Ghost along with Danault to get Bloom, two late 2nds, and early 3rd.  Surprisingly, he did not do anything to help himself for next year, but if you look at his roster, he doesn't have much of a team next season either.  Looks like we will see some more selling next offseason for the Hawks.  

Arizona Coyotes - 16 - 49 - 3 (8th in Central) GF: 1.94 (32nd) GA: 3.21 (27th)

In - Mason McTavish, Barrett Hayton, Jacob Bryson, 2023 EDM 1, WIN 4, OTT 4

Out - Patrik Laine, 2023 ARI 1, BUF 3, 2024 SJS 1, OTT 2, $5m Bux

GM Joel didn't have too much to sell, as most of his team is young or has some term.  That didn't stop him from making two BBC sized trades.  First, he traded for McTavish sending away ARI lotto 1st in 2023 and another SJS lotto 1st in 2024 plus a 2 and 3.  We will have to see where those land, but as the once wise AGM Pat said, "WTF!  Sumit is stupid.  He traded away McTavish and he will be hoping to get a player like him with those picks he got".  I understand what he is saying and don't disagree with him at all.  Sumit is the master crap smoosher, trading things for other things that are similar to what he already traded.  Why not just keep what you had?  I digress.  As for the other Mandingo sized trade, GM Joel decided to trade away 24 year old star Patrik Laine.  Maybe the Zona GM thought that he was getting too old for his team, trading away the almost point per game production for Hayton and a late 1st.  He may have sold a little low...ok he got raped in this deal.