The Nashville Predators played in the toughest division in all of hockey last season. The Central may not be quite as tough this season.
The Nashville Predators were 13th in the entire NHL but only 4th in the Central. Three of the top five teams in the league by points were in the Central. The Preds lost to San Jose which lost in the finals of the Stanley Cup and St Louis fell to them in the Conference Finals.
That and the Chicago Blackhawks were the defending Stanley Cup Champs and have retained their core of players. All-in-all, there aren’t too many bad things you can say about the Central. Even the two teams who didn’t make the playoffs, Arizona and Winnipeg weren’t far out of the playoffs.
The Central Division may fall back just a bit this season though. There are some Salary Cap problems and aging players. Some of the teams may have played a bit over their heads last year. We are going to look at the entire division right now, before the Draft and Free Agency and see how it looks.
Next: Winnipeg Jets