2015-16 NHL season preview: Central Division

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This is the first of four parts previewing the 2015-16 NHL season:

Western Conference

Central Division
Capsules may not include latest injury or roster updates.

Chicago Blackhawks
Back-to-back seasons the NHL has seen its reigning Cup champs rocked with offseason arrests of star players. Patrick Kane’s alleged sexual assault allegations in Buffalo severely tarnishes the 'Hawks and the league’s image and is likely going to cost him millions in lost endorsements. There’s little doubt this franchise under Stan Bowman is a legit dynasty with three Cups in six seasons despite a revolving door of salary cap-induced turnover. The victims this time were Brandon Saad and Patrick Sharp, saving the 'Hawks an estimated $12 million. Losing Johnny Oduya on the blue line is bigger than it seems on a team that screams offense, yet is overlooked for only yielding 189 goals last season. Incredibly, the 'Hawks were in the bottom third on the power play for a Cup winner. Kane (27 goals) and Jonathan Toews (28) were among 11 players with double-digits goals. Corey Crawford has proven himself and more in goal. Another Cup coming? Look for rookie Artemi Panarin on the roster.

St. Louis Blues
While there was talk of a major shakeup in the Midwest, the Blues limited themselves to one major move –- trading T.J. Oshie -– and losing longtime defenseman Barret Jackman to division rival Nashville. GM Doug Armstrong invested heavily in winger Vladimir Tarasenko, re-signing him for eight years at $60 million. In four years under Ken Hitchcock, the club may have more points (389) than anyone else but only one playoff series win, and points don’t get you Cups in postseason. This figures to be a make or break year for Hitchcock under Armstrong. Tough to say whether there’s a lot of difference in goal between re-signed Jake Allen and Brian Elliott. Part of Oshie’s charm was his knack for shootout goals but with three-on-three overtime now, it’s a moot point. Finnish rookie D-man Petteri Lindbohm could make the roster. Patrik Berglund (shoulder surgery) done until midseason.

Nashville Predators
Nice to see a young player grab the horns of leadership and run with it the way Filip Forsberg did, leading the Predators in goals (26) and points (63) last season. Peter Laviolette’s press the attack style has not changed and 232 goals scored is a testament to that. Mike Ribeiro’s off-ice problems with a former nanny cast an embarrassing shadow on the franchise and the issue remains unsettled. GM David Poile added some depth at forward with Cody Hodgson but lost Matt Cullen in free agency. For all the years this team had multiple franchise defensemen and still do (Shea Weber and Seth Jones), the Preds have neither won or come close to touching a Cup. Jackman is not a franchise guy, but adds valuable experience to the youth on the blue line. Pekka Rinne (2.18 GAA) may be a three-time finalist for the Vezina, but he is easily the Preds' most important element.

Minnesota Wild
The biggest news involving the Wild made this summer was when assistant coach Darryl Sydor was arrested for DUI and child endangerment. Smart move to re-sign goalie Devan Dubnyk (2.07 GAA) to a six-year, $26 million contract, who has unseated oft-injured Niklas Backstorm in net and has greatly impacted this team. The Wild's biggest issue is that they’ve been knocked out of the playoffs three straight years by the reigning Cup champs (Chicago). Get past the 'Hawks and maybe this team goes very deep into postseason. Cap constraints kept the roster pretty much where it was last season. No reason why centerman Mikael Granlund shouldn't score double-digit goals on a line with Zach Parise and Granlund has a two-year, $6 million new deal, as well. Defense has always been a staple of Wild clubs (No. 1 penalty kill), but a power play of 15 percent ain’t gonna cut it.

Colorado Avalanche
The Avs had so much promise last season and it all went for naught in what has become the toughest division in the league. The Avs’ gap between the making the playoffs and missing as the last place club was just 10 points –- smallest of any division. GM Joe Sakic promised to upgrade in size while improving his defense and did just that with the signings of blue liners Nikita Zadorov and Francois Beauchemin. Colorado gave up 40 shots or more 16 times last season and goalie Semyon Varlamov still produced impressive numbers -– 2.56 GAA and .921 save percentage. The salary-cap induced trade of Ryan O’Reilly hurt the club but the acquisition of Carl Soderberg offsets some of it. The Avs need bigger seasons from Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Duchene. The club did have six 50-point scorers last season.

Dallas Stars
Chicago’s cap crisis benefited several teams, including, most notably, Dallas, which was able to secure Sharp in a trade and then sign free agent defenseman Oduya. That’s five Cups between them, a rather sterling example for their young corps of players, especially on defense, to emulate. Stars GM Jim Nill also picked up ex-Hawk goalie Antti Niemi from the Sharks at the draft and he could very well unseat Kari Lehtonen as the starter. The Fin posted a gruesome 2.94 goals-against average last season, something he did several times in Atlanta earlier in his career. How some of the Stars’ younger blue liners develop will go miles toward making life easier in net for their goalies. Dallas' 261 goals led the division last season and saw Jamie Benn (35 goals) win the Art Ross Trophy with 87 points. Rare to see a scoring champ from a team that didn’t make the playoffs. Benn’s health (hip surgery) bears watching.

Winnipeg Jets
At least the Jets broke their eight-year playoff drought, dating back to when the team was still in Atlanta, but fans have to wonder what management was thinking this offseason. Instead of taking that next step forward, the Jets did nothing this summer other than re-signing Drew Stafford. Michael Frolik (19 goals, 42 points) left for Calgary and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff did nothing to fill his vacancy. Amazing that Andrew Ladd (62 points) played every game but one despite having a hernia most of the way last season. He’s one of several key players that needs to be re-signed after this year. The Jets took the most penalties in the NHL (428) last season, yet their overworked penalty-kill units were still 13th overall (81.8 percent). Winger Alexander Burmistrov is back from the KHL but whether Nikolaj Ehlers makes the roster could say much about the club’s playoff prospects this year.

Next up: Pacific Division

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