Faceoff Factor

Preseason Divisional Power Rankings: Central

Michael Farkas | National Hockey League

Aug 14, 01:23 AM | Hype this story!

A continuation to our six part series on preseason power rankings, today we’ll hop over to the Western Conference’s Central Division. The Central Division is on the brink of an upheaval, the gears will begin to turn on that transformation this season.

The Central Division is known to be the primary source of Detroit Red Wings’ Presidents Trophies of years past. Divisional doormats such as Columbus, Chicago and St. Louis have been littering the shore of last place in the Western Conference for quite a few years in a row now. However, this is the season where we will start to see a shift in the makeup of the division. The Blackhawks’ young lineup will start coming around, while the aging Red Wings and salary dumping Nashville Predators may start a descent in the next few seasons.

5th: Nashville Predators

The Predators gave it their all in 06-07. Acquiring soon-to-be unrestricted free agents at the deadline, impact players that announce, in no uncertain terms, “Stanley Cup or bust.” Peter Forsberg, at the time, highlighted an already talented list of forwards. Three months after another early playoff disappointment, the Predators began re-tooling, and by “re-tooling” I mean, “having a going out of business sale.”

Peter Forsberg, Scott Hartnell, Paul Kariya, Vitaly Vishnevski, Kimmo Timonen and Tomas Vokoun are all gone. This is a team that could not get over the hump with all those players, I cannot imagine how they’ll fair without them. That’s a high-end center, young second line winger, top line winger, top six defenseman, top pairing defenseman and a starting goalie (in that order). The Predators are an endangered species right now and ownership is trying to cut its losses, hopefully they didn’t cut their fan base as well.

Here’s to the fans rallying around and supporting the Predators to remain in Nashville. Which will be made all the more impressive considering how different (read: significantly diminished) the on-ice product will be.

4th: Columbus Blue Jackets

The Columbus Blue Jackets have never been within 19 points of a playoff spot in their history. As luck would have it, the Blue Jackets don’t look to be getting any closer to that goal of a playoff berth, but you never know when a young lineup snaps into place and takes off. The prospect pool in Columbus is not developing as quickly or as consistently as first thought, which is directly responsible for the Blue Jackets being the only current NHL team never to have qualified for the playoffs.

Rick Nash has not been the instant 50-goal scorer we thought he would be. Nikolai Zherdev has been in a world of his own for years now and this may be one the last times the Blue Jackets attempt to make contact with him. Pascal LeClaire has been riddled with injuries throughout his development and it has had a noticeable effect on his play. All the talent is there for Columbus to make something of themselves, it just needs to all come together correctly and synchronously. The lineup, as in past years, doesn’t change much from season to season. This time Bryan Berard isn’t around, but he’s typically injured anyway, so it makes little impact. Honestly, the Blue Jackets just need to get a little lucky, at any time this team could catch fire and challenge for the playoffs, or they could pick top five for the next three years.

The Blue Jackets are probably the biggest wildcard in the NHL. Based on past history you have to throw them towards the basement at this point however.

3rd: St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues have made some personnel changes over the past couple years and some smart moves are resulting from that. There’s nothing overly exciting on the horizon, save for Erik Johnson, but there’s a lot of talented young players on the way, enough to field a very competitive team for years to come. They stole all of Atlanta’s draft picks essentially by trading them Keith Tkachuk. Acquiring Hannu Toivonen should be a big step in the right direction, especially if Jason Bacashihua or Marek Schwarz struggle. Things are shaping up nicely for a team that has a strong history of qualifying for the playoffs.

The Blues will have a good mix of veterans and youngsters in this year’s lineup. Not a bad a thing for a rebuilding team that wants to remain competitive. Bringing in high-priced winger Paul Kariya will help to put fans in the seats. Fans that will stick around to see exciting young players develop like Erik Johnson, Brad Boyes, Lee Stempniak and Hannu Toivonen. Manny Legace brings in stable, but not spectacular goaltending. Legace got a raw deal in Detroit, which may have tarnished his reputation in hockey circles across North America, but he’s a starting goalie in this league.

One thing is for sure, from management on down, the Blues have a plan in place and they are not wavering from that. It’s an encouraging sign for an organization that is looking to rebound from years of below average finishes.

2nd: Chicago Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks have been stockpiling young players for years now. This is the season they are finally going to turn the corner and make a serious playoff push. Despite penny-pinching ownership, the Blackhawks have invested in Nikolai Khabibulin, Martin Havlat, Robert Lang and Sergei Samsonov among others. Whether those investments turn out to be worthwhile (Lang and Samsonov specifically) will not take anything away from the abundance of young talent they possess. Young talent that believes they could go the way of the Pittsburgh Penguins if they play their cards correctly

Assuming 2007 first overall pick Patrick Kane does not make the squad this year; Jonathan Toews (3rd overall, 2006), Cam Barker (3rd overall, 2004), Tuomo Ruutu (9th overall, 2001), Brent Seabrook (14th overall, 2003) and Duncan Keith (54th overall, 2002) should all make significant impacts as first or second year players (full seasons) this season. If Nikolai Khabibulin can provide goaltending that was even half as good as the performance he put on for the 2004 Lightning, the Blackhawks are in very good shape. Martin Havlat and Tuomo Ruutu have had injury problems, but they have world-class talent when they are on the ice. The ‘Hawks also shipped off $4 million outpatient Adrian Aucoin and have been actively shopping the $2.4 million tied up in Martin Lapointe, which could create some room for some impact free agents down the line (that’s if Lang and Samsonov don’t work out).

All the talent is there or on the way, it’s just a matter of time before Chicago is atop of the Central Division. They’ll make big strides this season.

1st: Detroit Red Wings

A familiar scene in an all-too-familiar movie. The Detroit Red Wings are just too strong of a team to be overtaken this season. Inflated point totals from the aforementioned teams have caused inflated hopes in recent years and this year may be no different. But that doesn’t prevent them from being division champs again. The Red Wings defensive system is probably the league’s strongest (competing with Anaheim) and Dominik Hasek faces about one to one and a half shots per game. Sometimes the names change but the results stay the same for Detroit and that isn’t likely to change unless there’s an anarchical period between Hasek’s regime and Jimmy Howard’s; or the Red Wings just wake up bad one day (like the 06-07 Flyers).

Mathieu Schneider is replaced with Michigan-native Brian Rafalski and that pretty much brings you back to where you were last year. Can Datsyuk and Zetterberg even get any better, if I’m a Western Conference team, I certainly hope not. Jiri Hudler and Valtteri Filppula should see increased ice time. They produced well despite minimal opportunities last year, they are both very talented kids. If Niklas Kronwall and Igor Grigorenko (has to make the jump first) can stay healthy, the Wings could be in even better shape than last year.

It’s hard to go against the Red Wings in this division. Furthermore, the Wings have drafted extremely well for years now; when the Wings lose a veteran to free agency and aren’t able to replace him with another free agent, they still aren’t left reeling.