2015-16 Central Division Thoughts / Discussion

[Roman Yoshi]

If I had to guess, I am thinking the final divisional standings will be something like this:

Chicago
Nashville
St. Louis
Minnesota
Dallas
Winnipeg
Colorado

I know people will disagree, but I actually really like Chicago's moves this off-season. The addition of Marko Dano is extremely underrated. I think he easily surpasses 40 points this year if he gets on one of Chicago's top lines or gets PP time. Anisimov will get more than 37 points. Garbutt adds some grit on their bottom line. As long as Kane is playing, Chicago is still the cream of the crop as far as I am concerned.

Nashville has a lot of good depth and young talent that is maturing in front of our eyes. I think we will beat out St. Louis this year. We are all familiar with Nashville's strengths and weaknesses, so no need to explore further.

Uncertainty with Backes and their ability to preform under pressure will finally capsize the team. Goal tending continues to be a question mark and they have a lot of players who could be gone next year. I just don't see them on Nashville or Chicago's level.

Minnesota is Dubs and Dubs is Minnesota's playoff chances. Minnesota has the weapons upfront, but they never seem able to put it together for the whole year. If Dubs remains hot, they leapfrog St. Louis.

Dallas will score more goals than any team in the league not named Pittsburgh but will give up enough goals to rank in the bottom third of the league. Not a recipe for success. Adding Sharp is good, but you have to wonder who is going to step up for the Stars on the blueline. I also question the wisdom of over paying two mediocre goalies.

Winnipeg takes a big step back this year. I just don't see it. They just don't have the firepower to compete with some of the bigger teams in the west, something that became evident in the playoffs last year.

Colorado will continue to struggle. Not because they are a bad team, but because they are in the toughest division in hockey.

 

[Byrddog]

I have refrained form predicting the the division for a while but we are gettin close.

1. St Louis (That leaves a bad taste in my mouth just typing it)
2. Chicago (Even with the players that moved out and the Kane saga. If Kane plays they may win the division.)
3 Minn (Like the Blues I hate even admitting it but they are a loaded team. Yes Duby is a question but the guy has never had a D to work with and now he does. He could fail but I think he will be good enough.
4 Dallas there weakness in the backend is the only thing holding them back.
5 Nashville the things that deflate us this year goaltending, special teams and this vaunted defense does not take a step forward. I do not expect Rinne to be as sharp as last year start combined with his of ice personal struggle over the summer he will be good but not great.
6 Colorado really could be anywhere 3 to last. Its just like any team full of youngsters if they catch fire or plod along like last year.
7 Winnipeg could be 4th thu last while they are not the most talented team thy do have one of the best coaches in the league.


Gonna be a bloodbath all season long but that's nothing we have not known.

 

[Drake744]

I'm going

St. Louis
Chicago
Nashville
Minnesota
Winnipeg
Dallas
Colorado

edit: I just realized I already posted this. Oh well.

 

[Armourboy]

I have refrained form predicting the the division for a while but we are gettin close.

1. St Louis (That leaves a bad taste in my mouth just typing it)
2. Chicago (Even with the players that moved out and the Kane saga. If Kane plays they may win the division.)
3 Minn (Like the Blues I hate even admitting it but they are a loaded team. Yes Duby is a question but the guy has never had a D to work with and now he does. He could fail but I think he will be good enough.
4 Dallas there weakness in the backend is the only thing holding them back.
5 Nashville the things that deflate us this year goaltending, special teams and this vaunted defense does not take a step forward. I do not expect Rinne to be as sharp as last year start combined with his of ice personal struggle over the summer he will be good but not great.
6 Colorado really could be anywhere 3 to last. Its just like any team full of youngsters if they catch fire or plod along like last year.
7 Winnipeg could be 4th thu last while they are not the most talented team thy do have one of the best coaches in the league.


Gonna be a bloodbath all season long but that's nothing we have not known.

I'm not convinced that the off ice issues will bother Pekka, really depends on the person. Absolutely it could, but it also focuses some people. Guess we will have to wait and see.

 

[Drake744]

I'm not convinced that the off ice issues will bother Pekka, really depends on the person. Absolutely it could, but it also focuses some people. Guess we will have to wait and see.

Ironic, given the fact that our #1 center fell apart because of off ice issues.

 

[jwhouk]

Realistically, there are only two teams that aren't possible division champion contenders: Winnipeg and Colorado. The other five (including us) have a shot.

 

[Cashville]

Nice! So glad this thread was bumped. I love HFBoards to a certain extent, but I really wish it had a divisional forum. I really enjoy the intra-divisional play and discussing match-ups. Even if NSH isn't playing, I will generally try to clear my schedule for any good intradivisional game. As such, prognosticating on divisional outcomes is also sweet.

Wpg fan here. Not surprised to see outsiders selling us short having lost Frolic (substantial loss indeed), but the biggest drawback is still our goaltending (hold your nose & hope on Pavs). [CLIPPED]

You are correct friend; if you landed in a time machine from the year 2018 and told me WPG would lose in the SCF next season, I would be pensive, but not incredibly surprised. I said in another thread on the main forums that, when reviewing trends over prior seasons in the post-cap era, any prediction for the next should generally include one intra-divisional surprise. It's not always true, but just in the Central:

2014-15: No one had NSH at #2 in the Central; literally none of the semi-reputable pundits
2013-14: COL winning the division may have been the biggest surprise I've had since the Avs won the Stanley Cup in their first year of their existence post-Quebec

DAL is my surprise this year (and failed choice in the last two), but WPG or even COL could just as easily supplant them. Or maybe no surprise this year at all. Who knows; I just love rolling the dice and going on record with something.

 

[Cashville]

Cooper just posted the 2015-16 NSH preview on Puck Daddy:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-p...y-s-2015-16-nhl-season-preview-175512525.html

Generally agree with most of his comments, though not sure about WCF. Spare me the "Cooper sucks" comments please.

 

[Drake744]

Cooper just posted the 2015-16 NSH preview on Puck Daddy:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-p...y-s-2015-16-nhl-season-preview-175512525.html

Generally agree with most of his comments, though not sure about WCF. Spare me the "Cooper sucks" comments please.

Not a bad one. Agree with a lot of it.

PS I don't think Cooper "sucks", I just think sometimes he tries too hard to be in the next wave of sports-writing style like Deadspin where he's very informal and tries to be funny and laid back about his stuff. Articles like this are fine, he just doesn't write them very often, and honestly Yahoo may not ask him too very often either.

 

[Cashville]

Not a bad one. Agree with a lot of it.

PS I don't think Cooper "sucks", I just think sometimes he tries too hard to be in the next wave of sports-writing style like Deadspin where he's very informal and tries to be funny and laid back about his stuff. Articles like this are fine, he just doesn't write them very often, and honestly Yahoo may not ask him too very often either.

Generally agree. Though his "Why Trading Shea Weber Finally Makes Sense for Nashville" article was a head scratcher.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-p...ally-makes-sense-for-nashville-175501590.html

I'm fine with well-reasoned critiques of virtually anything, just hate the "lolcoopersucks" type comments.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

Cooper just posted the 2015-16 NSH preview on Puck Daddy:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-p...y-s-2015-16-nhl-season-preview-175512525.html

Generally agree with most of his comments, though not sure about WCF. Spare me the "Cooper sucks" comments please.

Why wouldn't you be sure about the WCF? At this point we should all know that advancing in the playoffs generally involves a lot of luck.

Last year, we probably advance if Weber doesn't get hurt and we elevate the puck a couple of inches against Darling in game 1. After that we would face Minnesota who we would have home ice against and we were better than.

You need good players but you also need things to go your way at the right time.

 

[Drake744]

Why wouldn't you be sure about the WCF? At this point we should all know that advancing in the playoffs generally involves a lot of luck.

Last year, we probably advance if Weber doesn't get hurt and we elevate the puck a couple of inches against Darling in game 1. After that we would face Minnesota who we would have home ice against and we were better than.

You need good players but you also need things to go your way at the right time.

We do know, and we've also never gotten any of that luck. It's a little hard to believe in it when it's always escaped us.

 

[Cashville]

We do know, and we've also never gotten any of that luck. It's a little hard to believe in it when it's always escaped us.

Pretty much. Also, as I mentioned in my original post, I think we regress slightly. Emotional high with a new fast-tempo coach for the first time ever, Forsberg had an epic campaign, Ribeiro played great, Rinne was a wall for 60% of the season, etc.; a lot of things that needed to pan out, did pan out. I still think we're floating around 1st/2nd round territory, but could be wrong of course.

 

[Armourboy]

Pretty much. Also, as I mentioned in my original post, I think we regress slightly. Emotional high with a new fast-tempo coach for the first time ever, Forsberg had an epic campaign, Ribeiro played great, Rinne was a wall for 60% of the season, etc.; a lot of things that needed to pan out, did pan out. I still think we're floating around 1st/2nd round territory, but could be wrong of course.

That's kind of where I think we will be depending on first round match up and as said how the luck goes.

 

[MNRube]

Wild fan here, great work OP. Wild & Preds are the two teams getting slept on In the Central; Preds were best team in NHL over first half of the the year and gave the Hawks hell in the playoffs. Wild were NHL's best in the second half, had West's 2nd best GF/Ga differential and lost nobody of consequence. The Dubynk factor is a big one but keep in mind before he came we had the league's worst goaltending so I think even an average year by Dubynk will be enough. Both teams lack superstar names up,front but instead rely on depth and two-way 45-60 pt players. The real comparison, however, is in the backend. Both teams are loaded and have young guys ready to keep growing. I also expect both Suter (I know y'all hate him so I'll be nice) and Weber to have improved seasons, especially Suter who dealt with several crazy issues (mumps, workload, dad's death etc).

I think it ends up like this:

Blues - still a top 2 or 3 roster in the NHL. Blueline overrated but up front they are disgustingly deep.
Hawks - color me skeptical that they fall off too much. Added some sneaky good talents.

Preds - Pekka and te emergence of Jones as a 1c to Weber and Josi will be key.
Wild - Brodin, Dumba, Spurgeon, Scandella all keep improving. Very deep and structured style.

Avs - Duchene and MacKinnon have big bounce back years and they make playoffs as WC
Jets - like Wild they are deep but not quite as good. Keep an eye on Ehlers
Stars - They still aren't that impressive to me. Sharp/Spezza overrated. Blueline is still a mess.

 

[TK 421]

Great thread OP, really enjoy checking back in for new responses.

Really not confident ranking the order of finish in the Central this year, but I would like to leave some thoughts on the Blues here.

First thing I'd like to address is the mistaken assumption that Brouwer is Oshie's direct replacement. I've seen quite a few prognostications about the Blues forward group that are looking at it that way and completely ignoring that Oshie was moved in large part to make room for Fabbri in the top 6. Brouwer is a depth guy here and more of an insurance policy.

Most of the Blues forward group are known commodities, however there are a few question marks for me in terms of conditioning for a few players. Lehtera really hit that conditioning wall hard last year so it will be interesting to see if he made the necessary adjustments. Early reports on Jaskin indicate his skating has improved quite a bit, but he's a guy who needed to learn to pace himself a bit better from shift to shift. Obviously as a 1st year player Fabbri is also a question mark conditioning wise.

Reefense, Bouwmeester was hobbled virtually all of last season with a groin injury and really should have been shutdown for an extended amount of time to heal. Early reports are that he looks back to normal in his skating. Gunnarsson as well was in and out of the lineup with injuries all year. Between those two guys the Blues LD was a hot mess all of last year. If those two are healthy, the D as a whole should be much better.

 

[Cashville]

Great thread OP, really enjoy checking back in for new responses.

Really not confident ranking the order of finish in the Central this year, but I would like to leave some thoughts on the Blues here.

First thing I'd like to address is the mistaken assumption that Brouwer is Oshie's direct replacement. I've seen quite a few prognostications about the Blues forward group that are looking at it that way and completely ignoring that Oshie was moved in large part to make room for Fabbri in the top 6. Brouwer is a depth guy here and more of an insurance policy.

Most of the Blues forward group are known commodities, however there are a few question marks for me in terms of conditioning for a few players. Lehtera really hit that conditioning wall hard last year so it will be interesting to see if he made the necessary adjustments. Early reports on Jaskin indicate his skating has improved quite a bit, but he's a guy who needed to learn to pace himself a bit better from shift to shift. Obviously as a 1st year player Fabbri is also a question mark conditioning wise.

Reefense, Bouwmeester was hobbled virtually all of last season with a groin injury and really should have been shutdown for an extended amount of time to heal. Early reports are that he looks back to normal in his skating. Gunnarsson as well was in and out of the lineup with injuries all year. Between those two guys the Blues LD was a hot mess all of last year. If those two are healthy, the D as a whole should be much better.

I agree; I was approaching it more from a "what did you gain and what did you lose" perspective from the trade. I am actually a pretty big Oshie fan, but he reminds me of Colin Wilson to a certain extent: great skillset but has really never put it all together (other than the Olympic shootout against RUS). Long story short, I don't think this trade hurt the Blues; it may actually be a good move in the long run. I also don't think STL is any worse than last year. They may have trouble in the playoffs, but they've been a regular season machine and this thread is for regular season predictions generally.

 

[TK 421]

I agree; I was approaching it more from a "what did you gain and what did you lose" perspective from the trade. I am actually a pretty big Oshie fan, but he reminds me of Colin Wilson to a certain extent: great skillset but has really never put it all together (other than the Olympic shootout against RUS). Long story short, I don't think this trade hurt the Blues; it may actually be a good move in the long run. I also don't think STL is any worse than last year. They may have trouble in the playoffs, but they've been a regular season machine and this thread is for regular season predictions generally.

Fabbri in and Oshie out has a lot of potential upside but certainly could go the other way if Fabbri takes longer than what I'm thinking to start producing. When I posted my reply I wasn't thinking about your analysis which I find very good regarding the Blues btw. The people I see ignoring the Fabbri element are mostly Eastern conference fans who posted in other threads.

 

[drwpreds]

I have been a sports fan for a LONG time, and I really believe this may be the hardest division to predict I have ever seen in any sport. You can literally make a case for any team to win the division. Two years ago no one saw Colorado winning it, and last year no one in their right mind had the Preds leading the division for most of the year.

It is almost like throwing darts, but here are my picks. I am keeping St Louis at 1, but I do think if they get off to a slow start they could have a freefall. I think Dallas is finally going to make the leap forward despite their defense, and Chicago will have somewhat of a Cup hangover. You can almost make a case for any team in any position- crazy.

1) St Louis
2) Nashville
3) Dallas
4) Chicago
5) Minnesota
6) Winnipeg
7) Colorado

 

[Cashville]

Last chance to get predictions in before the season starts. Much excite for hockey!

 

[preds1]

St. Louis
Chicago
Dallas
Preds
Minny
Winnipeg
Colorado

 

[wadesworld]

1) Chicago
2) Nashville
3) St. Louis
4) Dallas
5) Minnesota
6) Winnipeg
7) Colorado

I'm a bit hesitant about ranking the Wild that low. If Dubnyk puts in another stellar year, they could easily be at the top of the division. However, I just have a gut feeling that he's going to return to pedestrian form and things are going to unravel as a result.

 

[Paranoid Android]

I'll go boldish on my prediction this year

Minnesota
Nashville
St Louis
Chicago
Winnipeg
Colorado
Dallas

 

[Byrddog]

I'll go boldish on my prediction this year

Minnesota
Nashville
St Louis
Chicago
Winnipeg
Colorado
Dallas

wow

Blues and Hawks drop that far? Also theres one of the Hockey central guys that has Dallas winning the cup.

One things for sure just as we have varied opinions the central is a coin toss now.

 

[drwpreds]

It is interesting to see reactions when anyone has the Hawks 4th or lower. I agree it sounds ridiculous on the surface. But its easy to forget that they finished 3rd last year and were just 2 points away from 4th and 3 points from finishing 5th.