Ranking the Central Division NHL Teams at the All-Star Break
TheHabsFan I love the NHL, and I also love predicting outcomes and ranking teams. As of writing this, it is the all-star break, it's also kind of like the halfway mark (not quite, but almost). So I've decided to rank all four of the divisions, the Atlantic, the Metropolitan, the Pacific, and finally, the Central. From the best to the worst team. Here is my Central division rankings:1. St. Louis Blues
The Stanley Cup champions make it first on this ranking, with no surprise. They're, without a doubt, the best Central team at the moment. They have the second best P% in the league, with the Caps ahead of them. They've got five players with 40+ points, which really shows the diversity of the team. And their goaltending is probably the best in the league; Binnington is proving his talent to be consistent, and Allen seems like quite the sufficient backup. One downside to their stats, is that a few of their top forwards are actual going negative in the +/- stat. But they're winning, which is what counts. I personally really like the Blues, and hope to see their success continue, but that's mostly because they epicly defeated the Bruins in the finals last playoffs. Let's hope if they meet again that they'll win. 🤣
2. Colorado Avalanche
After upsetting the Flames, they've been looking a lot better. And they're quite young too, so we'll only be seeing them improve! Look at the incredibly talented young guys on this team: MacKinnon (who's got 72 points so far this season!), Makar, Rantanen, and even Landeskog. That's a lot of value right their, and with those guys growing older and get better, I wouldn't be surprised to see them win a Cup, or maybe even two. Grubauer hasn't been playing too well, maybe they should put Francouz as their starter, since he's playing so well. There's a ton of potential for this team, especially with MacKinnon playing like on of the top 3 players in the league. Let's see what they can do.
3. Dallas Stars
It was really hard to rank the Stars, Preds, Hawks, and Jets, they're all so close in the standings and their talent seems pretty even. But I chose the Stars out of those four teams. Mostly based on the fact that they were a goal away from defeating the Stanley Cup champions in the playoffs last season. Now, if you look at their team stats, not including Seguin, they look like an extremely average team, even with Seguin it doesn't look that good. Their goaltending has been pretty great so far, maybe that's how they'll make the playoffs. To me they're quite an average team, but that's what I though last season, will they prove me wrong again? We'll have to wait and see.
4. Nashville Predators
The Predators motivation majorly sunk after being upset by the Stars. And it hasn't seemed to have picked up since. I personally think their Cup contending days are over, for the moment. But who knows, maybe they'll rebound, I believe they do have the skill to do that. They definitely have some high end value on the team; Rinne is a top class goalkeeper, who is playing great, and Josi is one of the best Defensemen in the league. Josi has 48 points in 47 games, and he's got +23 on +/-, which is top notch stats for the team he's playing for. They could get a ton of draft pick value in return for him. But do they think it's rebuild time? I don't think so.
5. Chicago Blackhawks
There's no doubt they have the talent to make the playoffs. If Lehner can keep up the great goaltending, then we could be looking at another playoff appearance for the Hawks. Crawford isn't playing that well, but he'd be a great backup to Lehner. They've got some greatly experienced veteran players, and also some great young talent. Mix the two, and you have a good chance to do some great stuff. I believe the Blackhawks are basically out of rebuild phase, let's see if they can make the playoffs, this year or the next. Their future is looking very bright.
6. Winnipeg Jets
O Jets, what has happened to you? I truly don't understand why they're doing so lame. Yes, they aren't that far out of a playoff spot, but they aren't getting any better either. With the talent they have, they should be easily making the playoffs. Hellebuyck playing great as well, what are they missing? It's quite frustrating, I was so happy to see them become Cup contenders, but is it seriously going to be as short as this? I'm hoping this is a temporary hump, but it is more than halfway through the season, so I'm getting quite scared. Please Jets, get yourself back together!
7. Minnesota Wild
Putting Wild last was an easy decision for me. They're super close to a few of the other Central teams, in fact, they're ahead of the Preds, but that doesn't change my opinion on them. Even when the wild had a playoff team, they couldn't do anything. But now that Dubnyk isn't playing well, let alone at Vezina level, and that their skaters are mostly "meh", I feel a rebuild is just around the corner. But who knows, as I constantly keep saying. I've been proving wrong many times, maybe they'll just add another wrong prediction to the list.
That concludes my Central division rankings. My favourite Central team is easily the Jets, the Cup belongs in Canada! I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any questions or just want to say something, feel free to comment whatever you wish. Thanks for reading, and have a great day.