Aside from the one-off in 2009-10, the Detroit Red Wings have been running things in the Central Division. As NHL future odds are already being released, they once again are the favorites in the Central Division.
Detroit has won their division
19 times in the history of the franchise but a lot of that damage has been done
recently. The Red Wings have captured the division title 15 times since 1991, and in 2012, they’ll likely be the pace-setter and NHL odds favorite once again.
The Chicago Blackhawks will likely be their main competitor, the Nashville
Predators are perennially a step behind, the St. Louis are in rebuilding mode
and the Columbus Blue Jackets are simply lost at sea.
5. Columbus Blue
Jackets
The definition of insanity is to repeat the same exercise
over and over, hoping for a different result. By definition, the Blue Jackets
are insane.
It seems like we’ve been pointing out the same flaws for
the Blue Jackets over the last decade: they desperately need help along the
blue line and they need to pair Rick Nash with a playmaking center. No, Antoine
Vermette is not the answer.
Few teams could present a worse corps of blue liners than
Columbus, but the good news for them is that only Fedor Tyutin, Kris Russell
and Grant Clitsome are under contract for next season. They are free to do major
renovations once the NHL trading begins.
Really, this is a team with little offense aside from
Nash and even less on defense. Steve Mason is a quality goaltender but outside
of him and Nash, this team really doesn’t have much.
4. St. Louis Blues
It’s hard to believe that the Blues actually set a
franchise record for their best start through 12 games (9-1-2) last season and
were actually 20-12-5 at one point. They finished the season with just 18 wins
in their last 45 games and completely tanked.
The Blues are employing a youth movement and while some
players like David Backes are already shining, the team will be waiting on a
number of others to start blossoming. Kevin Shattenkirk (22) and Alex
Pietrangelo (21) will anchor the blue line of the future, but they aren’t ready
to be primetime right now.
The other concern is in net and whether goaltender
Jaroslav Halak is in fact a No. 1 goalie. The jury is still out.
3. Nashville
Predators
It just feels like the Nashville Predators are the NHL’s
version of Extreme Couponing. They
are just always on the lookout for deals and they rarely just go out and buy
that one missing piece that can put them over the top.
Head coach Barry Trotz milks more out of this team than
any other coach in the league, but every single year, they are a few bricks
short of a load when they face-off with an elite team in the playoffs.
The Predators will again be competitive in 2012 as they
have a Vezina Trophy candidate in goaltender Pekka Rinne, and a very good blue
line led by Ryan Suter and Shea Webber, although the latter is a restricted
free agent.
The Preds simply don’t have any talented scorers up
front. Joel Ward, who had only 29 points in the regular season, led the team in
scoring in the playoffs. David Legwand, J.P. Dumont, Steve Sullivan, Mike
Fisher and Sergei Kostitsyn are decent veterans – most of them over the hill –
but they are all better suited for the third line. There is no one standout
playmaker that gives opposing defenses nightmares or elevates the play of the
other forwards.
Until Nashville has that – and maybe multiple threats of
that caliber – without sacrificing in other areas, they will always play second
or third fiddle in the Central.
2. Chicago
Blackhawks
The Blackhawks have the best shot of unseating the Red
Wings as Central Division champs in 2012, but the key will be the goaltending
of Corey Crawford and the overall health of the team.
It seemed like the Blackhawks simply couldn’t get into
rhythm this past season as every other week, another one of their stars was banged
up. That’s likely the sign of playing too much hockey over the last couple of
seasons, mostly in part to two deep playoff runs.
With a longer offseason to recover, the Blackhawks are
going to be in much better shape – literally – for the coming season.
Next, they have to make sure that Crawford continues to
progress in net. He appears to be a potential No. 1 netminder but he was
inconsistent at times between the pipes. The Blackhawks need him to be steady
if they are to be a real power player once again.
1. Detroit Red
Wings
Why bet against what works?
The Detroit Red Wings are steady as it goes, and there’s little
reason to think that won’t be the case in 2012. They have a deep crop of
forwards with studs like Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg right in their
prime. On defense, they’ll get another season out of Nicklas Lidstrom, who has
opted to return for one more year.
It’s also hard to bet against the Red Wings because they
are always making moves to improve the team. As their team stands now, they could
very likely win the division but they won’t stand pat. They are already rumored
to be eyeing Jaromir Jagr, if he decides to return to the NHL, and they will
eye a number of defensemen to shore up that end of the ice.
With the team virtually intact, they are the top NHL betting option to win
the Central – again – in 2012.