After spending their first few years in the geographically-challenging but not-so-competitive Southeast Division, the Winnipeg Jets switched over to the NHL’s Central Division when the league realigned in 2013-14.
The Central doesn’t provide anyone in the division an easy schedule – Colorado finished last in the division and still had 90 points. Ahead of the season firing up, here’s a check of how the Jets division rivals are looking coming into this season.
St. Louis Blues (last season 51-24-7, 109 pts.)
The Blues biggest change on their roster from last season came courtesy of a trade with the Washington Capitals. St. Louis added Troy Brouwer in exchange for T.J. Oshie, a trade Blues fans, uhh, have a look for yourself.
St. Louis still possesses a dangerous team. Even though they haven’t had much playoff success lately, the Blues are deep up front, on the back-end, and in goal. St. Louis and Winnipeg split four games last season.
Nashville Predators (last season 47-25-10, 104 pts.)
A successful first year under Peter Laviolette fizzled out with a first round exit from the playoffs. The Predators boast a strong defence and added a veteran presence in Barrett Jackman. The former Blue, Jackman will give the Preds some steady minutes behind Shea Weber, Seth Jones, Roman Josi, and Ryan Ellis and might mitigate the team losing Cody Franson to free agency.
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They also took a chance on Cody Hodgson with a one year free agent contract. Hodgson, if he can find whatever potential he had as a rookie, could maybe be a weapon for the Preds. If not, the team didn’t do enough in the off-season to beef up offensively, something that could come back to hurt them in a tough division where any minor deficiency could come back to hurt you.
Chicago Blackhawks (last season 48-28-6, 102 pts.)
The subtractions heavily outweigh the additions to the defending Stanley Cup champions this year. Brandon Saad and Patrick Sharp have been traded. Johnny Oduya, Antoine Vermette, and Brad Richards have all left as free agents.
But the Hawks are dangerous until proven otherwise. They’ve reloaded after Cups before and all the key players are still at the table. Johnathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, and any potential legal troubles notwithstanding, Patrick Kane. Artem Anisimov, acquired from Columbus in the Saad trade, could pick up his offensive production in Chicago and Teuvo Teravainen looks poised to replace whatever lost offensive production.
Check back tomorrow as we run down the offseasons for the other three teams in the Central Division.
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