With not much news on the Winnipeg Jets lately, other than a crazy rumoured trade offer for Martin Necas, I turn once again to looking ahead to the 2024-25 NHL season. The NHL’s Central Division has a chance to be quite competitive next season. Taking a look at each of the 8 teams, I’ll go over some notable off-season moves, as well as their results from last season. I wanted to make an early prediction on where each team will sit in the standings at the end of the year.

As a refresher, the Dallas Stars won the Central Division last season with 113 points. The Jets finished not too far behind, at 110 points. The Colorado Avalanche reached 107 points, and the Nashville Predators were the 4th team in the division to make the playoffs, with 99 points. The 4 teams that missed the playoffs were the St. Louis Blues, the Minnesota Wild, and followed by a large gap in points, disappointing seasons from both the Arizona Coyotes and the Chicago Blackhawks.

I have the Dallas Stars repeating as division champions in 2024-25. Although their off-season wasn’t comprised of many impactful or game-breaking moves, they still appear the team to beat in the Central Division. The Stars will be without Ryan Suter (contract buyout) and Joe Pavelski (retiring) next season, which opens up more opportunities for their younger players. This Stars team is still full of depth, and their upcoming key players such as Wyatt Johnston and Logan Stankoven gained some very valuable experience in the playoffs. This a team built to win, and I see them doing a lot of that next season with how their current roster is constructed.

The team who should be the most improved in the Central Division is the Nashville Predators. Easily the winners of free agency, the Predators will have Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei as their new key contributors. Last season the Predators had some surprisingly good seasons from the likes of Ryan O’Reilly and Gustav Nyquist, to name a few. You also can’t forget the impact of a top 5 defenceman in Roman Josi, plus a very good netminder in Juuse Saros. It’s a bit difficult to tell if the Predators will be able to piece everything together right away, but regardless they will be competing for the top seed in the Central Division.

I had a tough time not putting the Jets in the 3rd spot here, but I have to give the slight edge to the Avalanche here. Similar to the Stars, the Avalanche didn’t make any major game changing moves in the off-season so far. The depth of the Avalanche is my main concern, as there were times last year where it seemed like Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Cale Makar did most of the scoring. Another big question mark is the goaltending, and whether Georgiev can be consistent enough to be their guy. The Avalanche do have some quality new additions such as Casey Mittelstadt, but as a whole I expect them to take a slight fall in wins and points.

I really wanted to be optimistic and place the Jets higher in these predictions, but I have the Jets finishing in a wild card spot at the middle of the Central Division. I’ve talked before how the off-season moves made by the Jets seem to be aimed at adding depth pieces. The core of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Josh Morrissey and Nikolaj Ehlers will look to build on what was a successful season in 2023-24. Of course you can’t forget Connor Hellebuyck, an easily top 3 goalie in the league, who is poised to continue to help lead the Jets to victory. The Jets depth has improved, but it’s going to be tough to compete with the other 3 teams listed ahead of them in this division.

The Blues had some mixed results last season. They’re currently in that stage where they aren’t bad enough to enter a full rebuild, but they aren’t good enough to compete for a playoff spot. Looking at the Blues roster, they have some very quality players such as Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou. I expect a similar season for the Blues this year, as it will be a chance for their younger players to continue to develop while they look to improve in the near future.

The former Arizona Coyotes, now in Utah, will begin to see some improvements this season. The new ownership appears to be taking things seriously, and really seem to be making an effort to improve on the roster they were given. The likes of Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz and Matias Maccelli are the young core that the team is currently building around. Logan Cooley will take another step forward this season, and overall I would expect Utah to have a decent 1st season as the NHL’s newest franchise.

It may seem shocking to have the Wild listed this low in the standings, but that’s where I felt they will be next season. The Wild do have some star power from players such as Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek, but the rest of the team isn’t built to compete for a playoff spot. Marco Rossi and Brock Faber are already emerging as valuable new members of the roster, and Jesper Wallstedt may get his chance as the backup goalie in the NHL next season. There’s question marks for the overall depth of the Wild, and I expect them to take a step back in the standings as a result.

The Blachawks made some good moves this off-season, but I still expect them to finish last in this ultra-competitive Central Division. Connor Bedard had an overall terrific rookie season, and now the Blackhawks have added help on the blue line with the 2nd overall pick in the 2024 draft: Artyom Levshunov. Phillip Kurashev is another name to watch for next season, who broke out with 54 points last season. Apart from some new additions that will help with some scoring depth, the Blackhawks still aren’t yet built to compete for a playoff spot. Let’s see what year #2 for Connor Bedard looks like with the teammates he is given.

There you have it, my predictions for the Central Division. I had a lot of back and forth on ranking these 8 teams, especially in the top 4. I also could have gone much more in depth on my reasonings for each team, but I didn’t want to make this a 2000+ word article. I still think the Stars are the team to beat, but the Predators, Avalanche and Jets could all make a run for 2nd place. The Blues, Wild, and Utah could all be interchangeable as well, depending on the direction some of their key players take this upcoming season. Overall, it’s going to be exciting to watch these divisional matchups throughout the season, and by mid-April 2025 we’ll be able to crown the next Central Division champion.