Puck Drop Preview: 2014-15 Central Division

Welcome to Puck Drop Preview 2014-15, where our hockey department gives you a detailed look at each team from around the NHL leading to the start of this hockey season and offers our insight and analysis. Makes sure to stick around until the end of the series, where we’ll offer our full predictions for the standings in each division, and eventually our collective LWOS 2014-15 Stanley Cup pick. You can check out all our articles on our Puck Drop Page.  Today is the 2014-15 Central Division.

Five of the seven Central Division teams made the 2013-14 Stanley Cup Playoffs, with only the Winnipeg Jets and Nashville Predators sitting on the outside looking in. The Predators were left without star goaltender Pekka Rinne for the majority of the season while the Jets were faced with toughing out a grueling schedule that had them travelling more than any other team in the league.

The Colorado Avalanche shocked the hockey world when they topped their division, finishing 2nd in the Western Conference with a record of 52-22-8, good for 112 points. The St. Louis Blues posted a record of 52-23-7, ending their season with 111 points while the Chicago Blackhawks trailed the Blues by four points. The Minnesota Wild landed in the first wildcard spot, while the Dallas Stars became the Cinderalla story of the regular season by edging out the Phoenix Coyotes for the final spot in the Western Conference.

Some of the finest from Last Word On Sports’ hockey department will be discussing the Metropolitan Division: Ben Kerr, Shawn Wilken, Dom Simonetta, Cristiano Simonetta, Nick Di Giovanni, Matt Ricks, Ken Hill and John Carroll. The results are in and here’s where our panel stands when it comes to how the division will pan out.

1. Chicago Blackhawks (average rating – 1.38)

John, Ben, Ken, Matt & Dom – 1st

Nick, Cristiano & Shawn – 2nd

THOUGHTS by John Carroll : It’s tough to bet against the Blackhawks, who had a down regular season last year (granting that a “down season” for them only involves 107 points!) but then went back to the Western Conference Final and was one goal away from going back to the Stanley Cup Final as well (and, with all due respect to the Rangers, likely winning the Cup).

The Hawks were a fantastic team last year and only got better in the offseason, replacing Michael Handzus (who was awful) with Brad Richards (who was pretty good for much of the year, though he did run out of steam in a big way during the Rangers’ playoff run). The Hawks still boast a deep lineup at every position. In goal, Corey Crawford is prone to the occasional slump more than most goalies being paid as well as he is, but considering he’s playing behind perhaps the best team in the NHL, he’s more than capable.

The Hawks simply do not have any obvious weaknesses and, in their final season before the massive matching contract extensions of Jonathan Toews & Patrick Kane kick in, have to be considered front-runners for the Cup once again. They’re in a very tough division, but there’s really no reason why they shouldn’t come out on top.

2. St. Louis Blues (average rating – 1.75)

Cristiano, Nick & Shawn – 1st

John, Ben, Matt & Dom – 2nd

Ken – 3rd

THOUGHTS by Dom Simonetta : Adding a top-line point producer was the utmost priority for Blues general manager Doug Armstrong this offseason. Ultimately, he succeeded in doing so with the signing of hometown boy Paul Stastny. While Stastny should indeed improve the team’s offensive ability on a nightly basis, there’s still one question on the other side of the puck as St. Louis gets ready to kick off their 2015 campaign: is Brian Elliott finally ready to become a go-to No. 1 net minder or will he struggle to find the consistency he’s been criticized for lacking over the course of his career?

The entire hockey universe knows this team will make the playoffs come April, but unless they prove their ability to win in the postseason, they will remain yet another regular-season powerhouse that doesn’t have what it takes.

3. Dallas Stars (average rating – 3.63)

Ken – 2nd

John & Matt – 3rd

Ben, Nick, Cristiano & Shawn – 4th

Dom – 5th

THOUGHTS by Cristiano Simonetta: You can’t deny that the Dallas Stars top-six forward group is flat-out dangerous. Captain Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and newly-acquired Jason Spezza headline a squad filled with dynamic speed and tenacity. 19-year-old Valeri Nichushkin will only improve playing with #14 and #91 regularly, and trust me, you do not want to stand in the way of the 6’3″ Russian winger.

However, one of the main reasons why the Stars won’t finish higher in the Western Conference standings is due to their lack-luster defensive core. Although Alex Goligoski is a stable blueliner, Brenden Dillon and Jordie Benn are simply not up to par with the top defenseman other Central Division foes boast.

Kari Lehtonen always possesses the ability to steal games, and has done so in the past. Riding off a season with a .918 save percentage, he still needs to elevate his play to make up for the weaknesses on defense. The Dallas Stars are going to score goals on a consistent basis this season, but the question is how many do they give up?

4. Minnesota Wild (average rating – 4.25)

Ben – 3rd

John, Ken, Matt & Dom – 4th

Cristiano, Nick & Shawn – 5th

THOUGHTS by Matt Ricks : With Niklas Backstrom on the decline of his career and another netminder, namely Josh Harding, recently being a victim of a self inflected injury that will take him out of play for months, the Wild are already going to have an awfully hard start to the season relying on sophomore Darcy Kuemper. They made a big splash in the summer, signing winger Thomas Vanek to help the Wild have one of the most solid lineups of forwards in the division. However, if the Wild can’t catch up on keeping the puck out of their net from inconsistent goaltending, Minnesota will be in the middle of the pack.

5. Colorado Avalanche (average rating – 4.50)

Nick, Cristiano & Dom – 3rd

Ben, Ken & Matt – 5th

John & Shawn – 6th

THOUGHTS by Ben Kerr : The Avalanche finished first in the division last year, but I really don’t think that they can repeat that feat.  Semyon Varlamov is a good goalie, and should have won the Vezina last year, but if he slips even a little from the heroic .927 save percentage he had last season, the Avs are in trouble.  I also don’t expect the team’s shooting percentage to be 10.12% again as this is a very hard number to sustain even with their good forward group.  Overall, they overperformed last season,

This is a team where the defence isn’t that good.  Erik Johnson is okay, but behind him there is a real lack of quality and depth.  Up front, Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene, Ryan O’Reilly, Gabriel Landeskog are studs, Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguay are quality depth, and the bottom six isn’t bad. Overall, its enough to keep the Avalanche as a playoff bubble team, fighting for wild card spots, but its not going to take them back to the lofty point totals they had last year.

6. Nashville Predators  (average rating – 5.50)

Shawn – 3rd

John – 5th

Ben, Nick, Ken, Cristiano, Matt & Dom – 6th

THOUGHTS by Ken Hill : The Preds are certainly a tough team to figure out heading into 2014-15. With a new coach for the first time in franchise history in Peter Laviolette, it’s hard to say how the team will respond to his aggressive, offensive style.

Certainly the team will again be solid in their own end, with Shea Weber continuing to be one of the best is the business and Seth Jones, Ryan Ellis, and Roman Josi will all take the next step in their development. A healthy Pekka Rinne doesn’t hurt either. Still, the team will struggle to score, even with some additions up front, and the team just won’t be able to compete with the rest of the division. Another 6th place finish seems to be in the cards.

HOWEVER, Shawn Wilken thinks : A hard team to predict, indeed. I think the only two teams the Predators won’t be on par with this year are the Chicago Blackhawks and the St. Louis Blues. After that, it’s fair game. The Predators have struggled to score goals for the majority of the last five seasons but three significant changes from last season are; changes made on offense in the top-6, Laviolette as coach and  Weber/Jones working two powerplay waves.

Something else to note is that they’ll be getting the services of Mike Fisher back a little later into the season, making their offense that much more potent. As long as they can stay healthy and the Mike Ribeiro/James Neal duo contributes like I think they will, the Predators will surprise many of their critics the way Colorado did last season.

7. Winnipeg Jets (average rating – 7.0)

John, Ben, Nick, Cristiano, Ken, Matt, Dom & Shawn – 7th

THOUGHTS by Ben Kerr : Don’t get me wrong, I like this team; and going through the division is a good way of seeing just how tough the Western Conference can be.  The first line of Brian Little, Andrew Ladd, and Blake Wheeler is one of the better ones in the league.  Mark Schiefele is becoming a center worthy of his lofty draft position, and say what you want about Evander Kane, but the kid can score.  Overall they are set up front. On defence, I love Jacob Trouba, and overall the group isn’t bad.  They have a lot of depth and can really move the puck. The achilles heel is in goal.

Ondrej Pavelec is JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH, and I really don’t understand why the organization keeps coming back to him time and time again.  In my mind, he’s the worst starting goalie in the NHL, and when you don’t have solid goaltending it doesn’t matter how good the rest of your team is, it won’t be enough.

Nick Di Giovanni adds : Winnipeg has some of the best fans in the league but is the worst team in the division. From playing in the former Southeast Division to this division last year, the Jets didn’t adjust well. Inherited from a weak Atlanta Thrashers team in 2011 the Jets never found their niche in order to make the playoffs.

A coaching change last year from Claude Noel to Paul Maurice added an extra distraction to the already annoying banter of Kane wanting to leave. The kid would rather be in Las Vegas then in the ‘Peg (maybe that’s why the NHL is exploring expansion options to Nevada). Kevin Cheveldayoff and management will hopefully look to this year as a year solely for rebuilding, as the former Atlanta squad will fail to make the playoffs- for a eighth straight season.

Central Individual Preview By Ben Kerr: