NHL Preview: Central Division

By: Ben Malley

1. Detroit (2)

The Wings get older every year, but they are always a Stanley Cup contender. The over 34 brigade are Kris Draper, Kirk Maltby, Chris Chelios, Nick Lidstrom, Tomas Holmstrom and Dominik Hasek. With a backup in Chris Osgood it seems the Wings may be one groin pull away from not having a legitimate number one goalie, but Hasek was able to make it through all of last season injury free. If he can do that two years in a row it will be a minor miracle.

There are some younger players coming through the system. Valtteri Filppula looked great in the playoffs last season and of course Datsyuk and Zetterberg are both in their 20s. Brian Rafalski was added to make up for the loss of Matthieu Schneider and he should be good for about 10 more points a year now that he is out of New Jersey’s defense first system. The Wings are a cup contender, but it will depend on Hasek’s health. You get the feeling that one of these days the 42-year-old just isn’t going to be an elite NHL goaltender anymore. But that day hasn’t yet arrived.

2. Chicago

The Blackhawks haven’t been very good recently. Chicago’s success or lack thereof will hinge on Mark Prior and Kerry Wood (or Martin Havlat, Sergei Samsonov and Tuomo Ruutu). Even new acquisition Robert Lang has an injury history. Highly touted prospects Patrick Kane and Jonathan Towes are both expected to be major contributors to the team and their upside may be enough to get the Hawks into the playoffs. There is actually quite a bit of talent here and we may see it gel into a pretty effective team this season.

Remember Nikolai Khabibulin is being paid $6.75 million for a reason, he is quite good. The Blackhawks have the 34-year-old for three more years and he has the ability to take them back to the playoffs with the right group of guys around him. This team is probably the most exciting story of the season and the team I will have my eye on for the first month and a half. They could make the playoffs if things go right. And playing in probably the weakest division in the league, they just might get to the estimated 95 points needed to do it.

3. Nashville

The Predators better hope they don’t draw the Sharks in the first round of the playoffs again this year. In fact, they might do better just hoping to make the playoffs at all. Tomas Vokoun is in Florida and Chris Mason, who has performed competently, will be the starter. But Mason is the kind of goaltender that can backstop a good team, not the game stealer that Vokoun has the capability of being, and the Predators aren’t exactly a good team anymore.

Paul Kariya is gone and so is Peter Forsberg, who wasn’t much effective anyway. Steve Sullivan, who is always hurt, is hurt again. This time it's his back and he will be out for months. Things are completely up in the air and he may not be Steve Sullivan ever again if and when he comes back. Scott Hartnell took the money and ran to Philadelphia and so did Kimmo Timmonen. To make up for this Alexander Radulov in his second season should see a huge boost in ice time. Marek Zidlicky will hope to see a resurgence this season alongside young blueliners Shea Weber and Ryan Suter. Playing in a weaker division will help this team, but it’s hard to see them making the playoffs with the amount of talent they have lost.

4. St. Louis

Everyone loves GM John Davidson and Coach Andy Murray and want to see them succeed. They seem to be on their way. Signing Paul Kariya will be a big help, but alongside him are old people like Keith Tkachuk and Doug Weight. Unfortunately, these players probably won’t be effective in two or three years when this team will challenge for the playoffs and actually need them.

The 19-year-old Erik Johnson is the top rated prospect defenseman in the game and will see a lot of ice time right away. Questions abound in goal with 23-year-old Hannu Toivonen, who had one good year in Boston and looked like the latest in a large crop of star Finish goaltenders. He still has quite a bit of upside. And then there is Manny Legace, who had one good season behind a great Detroit team two years ago and proceeded to fail in the playoffs when it mattered. St. Louis is a ways away from success, but if Toivonen finds his past form they could have found themselves a goalie for many years. However, that’s a big if.

5. Columbus

This is the team where your career goes to die. Remember Sergei Fedorov and Adam Foote? They didn’t retire, they just play for the Blue Jackets. There is some young talent here, as there should be for a team that hasn’t made the playoffs once in their five seasons of existence. Gilbert Brule hasn’t proven anything yet, but Nikolai Zherdev scored 54 points two years ago, before having a disappointing 2006/2007 season. And then there is always Rick Nash, who looked every bit as good as Ilya Kovalchuk in their rookie seasons, a year before the lockout. However, Nash hasn’t been able to turn himself into one of the game’s elite players as of yet.

Pascal Leclaire is the goalie of the future and he did as well as could be expected last season on such a poor team. I’d look for Zherdev to rebound and get back to 50+ points, but there aren’t a lot of good things to say about this team. For a team that is so well attended by the city of Columbus, it’s too bad that after five years they still haven’t been able to get it together.