Nashville Predators: Central Division Power Rankings One Month In

We’re a little over the month into the 2019-20 season, and the Central Division is taking shape. Where do the Nashville Predators rank?

You can make arguments for four or five teams to make a strong run at the Central Division crown this year. The Nashville Predators are firmly in that discussion, along with a few others.

In the preseason it was popular to put the Predators as one of the division favorites along with the Colorado Avalanche and the defending Stanley Cup champion St.Louis Blues. All three teams are living up to expectations so far.

Some other teams expected to be solid but initially stumbled out of the gate are the Winnipeg Jets and the Dallas Stars. Both teams have stopped the bleeding somewhat since then. They’ll be in the conversation as well. Let’s rank all of the teams after the first month of the regular season has been completed.

The massive rebuilding project of the Chicago Blackhawks might not be off to as quick of a start as I thought they would be. However, they’re still a fringe wildcard team in my book. They recently got completely dominated by the Predators despite a magnificent performance in net by Robin Lehner.

Lehner makes me think this team is going to hang around. They also still have a very formidable top line with Patrick Kane always leading the way. He’s the team-leader in points with 12, and there’s some nice young pieces that power their depth in Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome.

Defensively they rank in the middle of the pack in goals allowed per game. They’re near the bottom in goals scored per game, which is a bit surprising considering they have some quality offensive players. I think they’re going to start showing improvement in that area.

The Blackhawks sit in sixth in my power rankings of the division because simply put this division is pretty stacked. Also the Blackhawks have played just two division games so far, both ending in losses. This team has the pieces, although either aging or inexperienced, to make a jump forward and maybe find themselves playing for a wildcard spot going into the last week of the regular season.

There’s not a shortage of scoring threats at the top of the Jets roster. They also have a formidable goaltender in Connor Hellebuyck, who has very solid numbers in his first 11 starts of the season.

The Jets are going to be there hunting for a division crown in the end, but I see them coming up a handful of points short in a very competitive division race. I don’t like their bottom six or their defense enough to keep them as one of the top team in the division.

What makes them dangerous every night they play is they have superstar weapons like Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele. Even on off night it’s players like this that can elevate the team and steal a win. I’m just not crazy about their depth until they prove me wrong.

We’ll see if the trend hold, but the Jets have the second-worst penalty kill in the NHL right now at just 67.7 percent. The Jets were in the bottom ten last season in penalty killing as well. They are playing disciplined so far as they’ve taken the least amount of penalties in the NHL.

Horrendous start from the Dallas Stars has made them go into comeback very early. They have plenty of time to dig themselves out of the hole they dug, and they’re already starting to do that.

Dallas’ most recent win came last night over an Avalanche team that’s not at full strength. Either way it’s a big division win. The Stars are now 7-3 over their last ten and won four-straight overall. They’ve made up for the hole they dug themselves in and right back where we thought they would be.

I love Dallas’ full team makeup. They have a nice blend of young stars and veteran stars. Tyler Seguin got off to a slow start, but he’s returning to form with 11 points now. Alexander Radulov is also picking up steam. Once these usual big guns of the roster get back to normal, watch out for this team.

The Stars are still just as good, if not better, than the team that shocked the Predators in the first round of the playoffs and played the Blues very hard in the second round. Wouldn’t be surprised if they eventually take the top spot in the division, but I’m going to reserve going that far for now.

Injuries to the top of their lineup is really starting to cool off the team that started off as one of the hottest in the NHL.  The Avalanche are 3-5-2 in their last ten games, including two losses to the Dallas Stars.

Mikko Rantanen has missed the last five games, and the Avalanche have missed him badly as the offense suddenly looks very pedestrian. Then you have Gabriel Landeskog also out for the long-term future with a lower-body injury. This has decimated Colorado’s top line and forced their depth to really be tested.

This is going to really keep the Avalanche from building what it looked like was going to be a nice cushion in the division. Now that two-thirds of their top line is missing, they look much more ordinary and might even slip even further back in the standings.

The Avalanche are still a solid team and I’m going to leave them in the top-three for now. I want to see how their depth responds in the next month before writing them off. They have a big division game with the Predators up next on Thursday night. That game will tell us a lot.

I have the Predators as the second-best team in the division because they’re finally back to full strength health wise, they’re rock solid in goal with Pekka Rinne and their depth is really starting to come alive.

The problem concern I have with this team is they tend to take periods off and not come out prepared against teams they should run all over. They have to get that part fixed, and be more consistent.

There’s not much to hate about this roster on paper though. I’ll put their top six forwards up against any team’s top six in the NHL and feel pretty good about it. Their special teams still has room for improvement, but other than that this team looks primed to push for a third-straight division title.

The Predators have only played three divisional games so far, and they’re 3-0 in those games. Two wins over the Wild and one dominating win over the Blackhawks. Their first big divisional test comes up next as they travel to Denver to take on the Avalanche. With Colorado’s current injury situation, the Predators should take care of business and win this one.

I didn’t originally have the defending Stanley Cup champs as the top team in the division before the start of the season. However with everything that’s transpired over the first month-plus of the season, I have them at the top. They’re starting to click and methodically take care of business against quality opponents.

The Blues took care of an up-and-coming Canucks team last night in overtime. I love the depth the Blues have, and it’s down right scary for opponents. The Blues also have a stud young goaltender in Jordan Binnington who doesn’t appear to be running into a sophomore slump at all.

The things about the Blues is they can beat you a variety of ways. They have great veterans and role players up and down the roster. The season-ending injury to Vladimire Tarasenko hurts them big time, but luckily they have the depth to offset it and remain a top team in the division.

Until I see the Blues face off with the Predators, my second place team, I’m going to keep them at the top of the division power rankings. Even without Tarasenko, this roster is probably the most balanced in the division. They’re also undefeated against divisional opponents so far with wins over Dallas, Colorado and Minnesota.