This week the TLDR team talked about the Discover NHL Central Division, consisting of the Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, and Tampa Bay Lightning. As a reminder, the NHL will be having a shortened, 56-game season with a divisional realignment that has changed the composition of the divisions. The top four teams of each division will make up the 2021 NHL Playoffs. My preview will be in order of how I see the season playing out, just like for the MassMutual NHL Eastern Conference

#1 Tampa Bay Lightning

2019-20 Season – Tampa Bay finished the regular season with a 42-21-6 record, for 92 points in 70 games. The Bolts scored well above league average in goals for and defended better than the league on average as well. They maintained better special team stats as well in both categories. This help excel in the bubble, where they took control of the entire competition series after series, leading them to become the 2020 Stanley Cup Champions. There is not much more to add, when you win the Stanley Cup in a season such as last year, your result speaks for itself. Check out my article on this Covid playoffs and the Lightning win.

Outlook for 2021 - Going back-to-back in the NHL is incredibly difficult, especially during the hard cap era. To make things harder for the Bolts, we just found out before Christmas that they will be without Nikita Kucherov for the regular season. He instead will be replaced with captain Steven Stamkos as he comes off his injury that kept him out nearly the entire postseason, except for the one or two shifts he had in the bubble, where he ended up scoring in the finals. So as far as replacements go, the Lightning can do a lot worse with “Stammer” who puts up over a point a game on average in his career, and nearly breached 100 points in 2019. The team still has incredible depth as we saw in the bubble. Brayden Point has become a huge part of this team and they do have Ondrej Palat and Anthony Cirelli, who is on his way to compete for a Selke trophy in his future. They have the best defenseman on the planet in Victor Hedman who continues to be their go to guy year after year. Finally, they have their elite goaltending in Andrei Vasilevskiy who was the only goalie to play in the entire bubble and the goalie who finished the season with a 2.56 GAA and .917 SV%, a 3rd place rank for the Vezina Trophy, and a fantastic 1.90 GAA and .927 SV% in the bubble.

Players to Watch – Steven Stamkos - All eyes will be on the captain as he makes his way back into the lineup. As mentioned, he's an elite score and playmaker in this league. Though the offense doesn't revolve around Stamkos, he's still a very huge part of this team and how he takes the place of Kucherov this season could determine the Tampa Bay Lightning success at a repeat.

Brayden Point - This third-round pick is slowly becoming one of the best players in the league based solely on his ability to score and bring up his line. I am kicking myself now that I hadn’t considered him in the list of top NHL players, because he has solidified a position in the top 30 if not the top 25. His performances in playoffs is nothing short of amazing and he was a key cog to the machine last year. All eyes was will be on him to improve and lead his line once again to greatness.

My Prediction - This may be the best constructed team in the National Hockey League, they check every single box. They have depth all the way down the line up with each line ranking in the top 10 in their respective lines. They managed to keep most of the team together by putting Kucherov on long-term injured reserve, which was the main concern for this team going into the season. There was a time where we thought the entire team would be dismantled but this injury seems to have some help on the cap side of things. The Tampa Bay Lightning will no doubt win the division in my mind and have a strong chance at a repeat even without Kucherov in the lineup.

#2 Dallas Stars

2019-20 Season – Dallas went 37-24-8 to place 3rd in the Central Division and 4th in the Western Conference, giving them the last "bye" of the bubble. Dallas faced some adversity early on which included dropping many games in the beginning of the season, facing the shocking dismissal of head coach Jim Montgomery in December 2019, and having to face the challenges of transitioning to new bench boss Rick Bowness. Despite all the trials and tribulations, Dallas finished 3rd in the Central and took care of the Flames, Avalanche and Golden Knights in the bubble to make their way to the Stanley Cup Final. They did, however, lose out to the Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning. Last year, the Dallas Stars ranked 2nd in defense with just 2.52 goals against per game which is really where this team shines. Offensively however, only the Columbus Blue Jackets were inferior offensively among the 24 postseason clubs, only posting 2.58 goals per game ranking 26th in the league. Despite all the offensive challenges, they did manage to beat clearly superior teams in the postseason.

Outlook for 2021 - Offensively, there are no major changes that will pose improvement on the goalscoring side. Tyler Seguin will see an extended absence at the start of the season, which is a major problem for the Stars’ offense as he is, bar none, the top offensive player on the team. They do have some depth, but those depth individuals will need to have major contributions and improvements if they are going to offset the loss of production from Seguin. Defensively, I have no major worries as they ranked 11th in terms of scoring chances against. The emergence of John Klingberg and Esa Lindell on the back end have created a top tier pairing along with Jamie Oleksiak on the 2nd pairing with a youngster superstar Miro Heiskanen. This core bodes well for the defensive side of the puck. Goaltending wise, Dallas has seen amazing stats from Ben Bishop and 1B back up Anton Khudobin, as we saw in the postseason. However, we may not see the top two goaltenders suit up for the team as Ben Bishop is still facing injury Anton Khudobin is facing some immigration issues at the moment, though in the case of Dobby, I would expect him to be ready by the first game.

Players to Watch – Jamie Benn - Jamie Benn is very much an elite talent in many respects but offensively he has seen major regressions since huge breakout seasons in 2015 in 2016. He has been publicly criticized by management and ownership of the Dallas Stars, but it's nonetheless been a very good leader for a team that just made it to the Stanley Cup Final. All eyes will be on him to see if he can bring his team up and face those large offensive question marks.

Anton Khudobin - Khudobin will be counted on to continue his strong success from the postseason as Ben Bishop continues to heal from his injuries. He will be playing more games without Ben Bishop taking some of the load and I wonder if that will hurt his ability to perform at this elite level. He is going to need to continue his stellar work if Dallas expects to stay in games.

My Prediction - The Dallas Stars are lucky enough to have a division that is weaker than we've ever seen it, with the likes of Nashville and Chicago shadows of their former selves. They will benefit from this fact, and I don't expect them to place any further down than third place this season although their offensive abilities pose large concerns for me. They have elite goaltending and defense but if you can't put the puck in the net, your ability to win games is very limited. I expect a second-place finish but without breakout seasons I expect a quick elimination in the playoffs unless we see Tyler Seguin return with a fire under his ass.

#3 Carolina Hurricanes

2019-20 Season – Carolina ended 38-25-5 last season, which netted them 4th in the Metro Division and 6th in the Eastern Conference. While they continue to impress season after season and despite disposing the New York Rangers in the qualifying round, they continue to be a team you don't bet on as they faced the powerhouse Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal and lost in 5 games. Interestingly, the team on paper appears to be top heavy with the likes of Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen, and Andrei Svechnikov on the first line. However, the Canes finished 11th in the league and even checked in 8th on the power play, suggesting that their offense isn't too terrible down the lineup. The Hurricanes defense is their calling card and there are very few teams that are stingier than the Hurricanes. They ranked 2nd in shots against and only four teams allowed fewer scoring chances in the Hurricanes. They are definitely one of the better defensive clubs in the game. Goaltending wise, Peter Mrazek and James Reimer split duties last year and both had nice seasons but underwhelm relative to Cup contending peers.

Outlook for 2021 - There were no major changes made to the roster and so expect to see similar offensive numbers that are mostly top heavy from the three-headed monster upfront. Stout defense will keep them within games and beyond the top three offensively, we may have an underrated roster of individuals chipping in as well. Goaltending will be the largest question mark as there is no solid starting goaltender, just a very competent the tandem of backup goaltenders. Rob Brind'amour has put together a more than competent defense but goaltending will be their ceiling here. A resurgence from Vincent Trocheck at the second line center position would be monumental for this franchise.

Players to Watch – Vincent Trocheck - Vincent Trocheck is a very solid center in the National Hockey League and has seen his fair share of production in the past. However, he has seen some regression in later years and that poses concern for the depth scoring of the Hurricanes. He is a player to watch this year as a breakout season would spell wonders for the depth scoring and the ability for the Hurricanes to compete not only in their division but especially in the playoffs.

Andrei Svechnikov – Svech of had a very dominant season last year finding himself on multiple highlight reels for not only attempting, but successfully attempting two different lacrosse style goals last year. He has the ability to score on any given night and is always a joy to watch when he's on the ice. All eyes will be on him to continue to dominate with his other top line mates.

My Prediction - This is another team that will benefit from a relatively weak division. I think this team is clearly the 3rd best in the division, however their contending abilities is where I take pause. I greatly question their goaltending tandem that was average at best, but clearly no starting goaltender has emerged. While the defense is strong, I don't think it's enough to overcome this clear obstacle. I also questioned depth scoring and so I have them getting 3rd in the Central, but don't expect a long stretch in the playoffs.

#4 Columbus Blue Jackets

2019-2020 Season – The Jackets finished 33-22-15 for 6th in the metro and 9th in the Eastern Conference. No one would have blamed you for expecting a huge regression last season from the Columbus Blue Jackets. After all, the team was blown apart last offseason when they lost starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, MVP candidate Artemi Panarin, and productive center Matt Duchene to the open market. Yet even before the bubble playoff picture, the team was in a hunt for a playoff spot. They were given the opportunity to play given the expanded format and their run came to an end in the first round to the hands of the eventual Champion Lightning. Offensively, the team took a dive and were the lowest scoring team to qualify in the playoffs, tying San Jose for 27th leaguewide in goals per game. Coach Tortorella utilizes a defense first structure where the team enjoyed most of his success. The team managed to hold the high-octane Maple Leafs to just ten goals in their five-game qualifying round, a feat in and of itself. They allowed just 2.4 goals per game in those nine postseason games against the Leafs and Lightning, the two top scoring offenses, and finished 14th in scoring chances against for the season. On the goaltending side, Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo took over the tending duties after Bobrovsky left. Merzlikins himself took the league by storm when Korpisalo went down, posting an electric 1.72GAA and near .950 SV% in 10 January starts.

Outlook for 2021 - When you have “take no bullshit” Coach John Tortorella behind the bench you have a fighting chance to win, who already has two Jack Adams awards for coach of the year under his belt. They may have lost Josh Anderson and his grit scoring touch, but they netted a fast talented Max Domi and improved the depth scoring with Mikko Koivu from the Minnesota Wild. Defensively, there have been no major changes so expect another stingy defense led by none other than Seth Jones and Zach Werenski. Elvis Merzlikins will be another interesting part of the puzzle as this team aspires to make the playoffs in regular fashion this time.

Player to Watch – Max Domi - Onto his third team in four seasons, Domi’s offensive touched return to him during his last two years in Montreal. He scored 45 times and recorded 116 points in 153 games with the Habs and will be relied on to keep up the scoring as the team second line center. He's a good puck mover and creator in the offensive zone and could be the answer to what was missing for Columbus down the middle.

Seth Jones - Seth Jones is an absolute revelation on the back end and one of the most underrated defensemen in the National Hockey League. Capable of playing an ungodly number of minutes and as a captain of the team, he not only shows his leadership on the ice but presumably in the locker room as well. I chose Seth Jones as a player to watch because he will strive to be a Norris trophy winner coming off a strong postseason.

My Prediction - As mentioned if you have John Tortorella behind the bench, you're in for success. I believe the emergence of Elvis Merzlikins in net, Seth Jones and Zach Werenski on the back end, and the moves made to the forward lineup including the signing of Pierre Luc Dubois in the offseason, I expect to see this team fight for a 4th position in the division and continue to fight in the playoffs. However, I do not see this team as a contender for the Stanley Cup, as I think they are just a few pieces shy of beating a team like Tampa Bay or the Boston Bruins.

#5 Nashville Predators

2019-20 Season – The Nashville Predators finished the season 35-26-8, 5th in the Central Division, and 7th in the Western Conference. After making a huge investment in Matt Duchene and divestment from PK Subban, the Predators expected a strong season and instead the season had its shares of major pain. The Predators ended the season with a -2 goal differential that was the second worst of seven central teams and nearly the worst in the bubble as the last place Chicago Blackhawks boasted a -6 themselves. Offensively, the Predators finished 16th in goals per game last season hanging around teams like the Jets, Blackhawks, Blues, and Oilers. They improved their power play but still finished 24th. The Preds were once a team built on defense and goaltending, but those units were hit as well last season. The team finished 18th in goals against per game alongside the Canadiens and Canucks. They ranked 17th in terms of scoring chances against. Lastly, goaltending was a major inconsistency as Pekka Rinne and Juuse Saros had rough regular seasons.

Outlook for 2021 - With as much expectations as they had going into the season and failing, you'd expect changes to be made but not very many were made. The depth chart offensively may even look thinner than it did last year as they lost Craig Smith, one of the top scorers on the team last year. While they did gain back Mikael Granlund and netted Erik Haula I don't know that they are going to bring enough spark offensively. Their top two scorers last year were Filip Forsberg and Roman Josi, Roman Josi being a defenseman. Pekka Rinne’s postseason blunders and last season debacle puts large question marks on the goaltending ability of this team as well.

Players to Watch – Matt Duchene - Matt Duchene is a player that we once considered a major elite talent in this National Hockey League but had a relatively dismal season relative to his $8MM cap hit. The Predators are the latest team to make a big investment on Duchene and he hasn't returned what's expected of him. There will be pressure on him to respond to the criticism he's faced in the past couple of seasons.

John Hynes - John Hynes was a mid-season hire as bench boss from the New Jersey Devils and was relatively a quick hire after the dismissal of Peter Laviolette. It seems as if the Predators were in a rush to make this hire which opens up questions marks for me and many others following the league. While it may be unfair to judge a coach taking over a team mid-season, we did see Rick Bowness take Dallas to the Stanley Cup Final and so we will watch John Hynes’ first full season with the Predators unfold.

My Prediction - What once was one of the scariest teams in the National Hockey League, has become a shadow of its former self. The lack of major additions to the squad give me pause and you're in a division of very hungry and young teams that saw major progression last season. Depth scoring is unreliable, the once strong defense score is starting to weaken outside of the likes of Roman Josi, who is one of the best players in the League, and the goaltending is the largest question mark of all. The regression on defense and goaltending will be their undoing, though I hope to see some improvement down the stretch. I don't expect this team to crack a playoff spot.

#6 Florida Panthers

2019-20 Season – The Panthers ended the season 35-26-8; 4th place in the Atlantic Division and 10th in the Eastern Conference. The expectations were high for the Panthers entering the season after hiring Joel Quenneville and adding Sergei Bobrovsky to the lineup. While offensively the team was very good, the lack of strong defense and a terrible season from Bobrovsky left the Panthers in a very similar position, outside of the playoffs before the bubble. While they did make the playoffs due to the extended format, their qualifying round series was lackluster to say the least losing to the New York Islanders in four games. The Panthers offense was always going to take them far and they finished 6th in goals per game while their power play was 10th leaguewide, but that is where all the greatness stops. Only two other teams allowed more goals per game the Panthers those teams included the last place Detroit Red Wings and the Ottawa Senators, the other worst team in the league. On the goaltending side, the Panthers thought they solved their problem when they signed Bobrovsky who ended up finishing with a 3.71 GAA an .873 SV% in the month of October, ending with the season with a 3.23GAA and .900 SV%, dismal.

Outlook for 2021 - The Panthers lost their second greatest scorer on the team in Mike Hoffman to free agency and didn't find an equivalent replacement for this loss of production up front. That's not to say they added nobody though most were depth signings and not the equivalent production as we saw from Hoffman. Anthony Duclair may be the largest signing the Panthers made in the offseason for low amount of money who will put up 20 goals and was on track for 30 last season. However, he falls short on the defensive side of the puck, which is what the Panthers need. They will always have Alexander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau, but the major offensive production stops there. Defensive personnel changes weren't radical and so I would expect improvement defensively unless goaltending can improve. The entire season may be up to Bobrovsky who is inked for six more years at $10MM a year, who just put up one of the worst seasons of his career.

Players to Watch – Sergei Bobrovsky - A $10MM goaltender should be putting up major numbers in the National Hockey League. Coming off the worst of his career, all eyes will be on him to improve on his outing last season and could be the catalyst for this team succeeding or failing in the end. He will be under a microscope this entire season and if he does not turn it around the Panthers will be in major cap trouble as they have $10MM held up in a goaltender that isn't performing.

My Prediction - I have no faith in Bobrovsky as he has not shown me much to rely on. We have seen him succeed in the past, although it seems like last year could be a sign of things to come. I don't have confidence in the defensemen core of this team outside of Aaron Ekblad. While I absolutely love Barkov and Huberdeau, I do not think that they will be enough to overcome the loss of Mike Hoffman and the depth lack of depth scoring that this team has. In the end I expect 6th place finish.

#7 Chicago Blackhawks

2019-20 Season – Blackhawks finished the season 32-30-8; 7th in the Central and 12th in the Western Conference and we are the last team in the Western Conference to qualify for the extended playoffs in the bubble. While they managed to beat the Edmonton Oilers in an upset fashion, the Blackhawks ultimately lost to the Golden Knights in the first round. They were completely outclassed in that series and were lucky enough to even grind out a win. Offensively, the team finished 18th in goals per game on the season but their power play clicked in at just 15.2% for 28th leaguewide. Kane continued his Hall of Fame career as he charged his way to 8th in points, but it wasn't enough to offset the lack of depth. On the defensive side, they tied the Flames for 15th in goals against per game and 8th on the PK, but their shots against per game were the worst in the NHL and ranked 30th in high danger scoring chances against. Their goaltending tandem of last year has been completely changed so any stats on this front would be relatively meaningless.

Outlook for 2021 - The Chicago Blackhawks will be without their long-time captain and fearless leader Jonathan Toews. He is their leader, their best penalty killer, and in elite score in this League. They have made no major additions up front that would net them improvement or replacement for Jonathan Toews. Though I would expect Kane to continue his Hall of Fame career. Defensively, while Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook used to be powerhouses on the back end, they both have and especially in the case of Seabrook regressed considerably and are nearing their last years in the NHL. They do have a skilled young offensively minded defenseman and Adam Boqvist, but he is a couple years from becoming the quintessential top player they will need going forward. And the likes of Lehner and Crawford are done in net and instead replaced with Malcolm Subban and Collin Delia. Malcolm Subban has been a backup in this League since he entered, and Delia has seen modest NHL work appearing in only 18 games in his two seasons. While these individuals have potential upside, I can't find a more bleaker goaltending tandem as neither is close to being a number one goaltender in this league and combined, they have fewer than 100 NHL career appearances. They will also be missing Kirby Dach for potentially the entire season due to injury who was set to be the captain of Team Canada in the World Juniors this year.

Players to Watch – Dylan Strome - With Kirby Dach and Jonathan Toews out this season potentially, the center position for the team looks slim. Dylan Strome will be given first line center privileges this season and has a chance to shine in this roll. This will give him an opportunity to improve and show that he can compete at a high level in this League. Watch for him to fill these shoes.

Collin Delia/Malcolm Subban - This is the goaltending tandem of the Chicago Blackhawks this season and these individuals have little actual experience on their belt. On paper the Blackhawks defense got worse by shipping out Olli Maata so we could see a very ugly season for the goaltending squad, however goaltenders are very unpredictable, and we could see a strong season from both. It will be fascinating nonetheless

My Prediction - The Chicago Blackhawks management has declared this team in rebuild mode and they will be without their captain this season. They will be missing their top two forwards this season and the defensive side of the puck looks bleak along with the goaltending tandem. I expect this to be a rebuild year and do not expect them to crack the playoffs as they will be just not able to overcome the challenges much like any other rebuild team in any other year.

#8 Detroit Red Wings

2019-20 Season – Wings finished 17-49-5; last in the Atlantic Division, Eastern Conference, and entire National Hockey League. They ranked in the basement of the league with just 2 goals per game, 0.53 goals per game below the second worst offensive team in the League the Los Angeles Kings. On the defensive side, the Red Wings allowed 3.73 goals per game which was by far the worst mark in the league behind the Ottawa Senators 3.35 figure. On the goaltending side Jonathan Bernier is coming off a fairly big 2019-2020 season where he posted a 2.95GAA and .907 SV% in 46 games with the Wings and while those aren't big numbers, consider the group that is playing in front of him. Jimmy Howard is gone after posting a 2-23-2 record while turning in a 4.2GAA and .882 SV% across 27 starts. This team was the one of worst in NHL history.

Outlook for 2021 - Despite the terrible season last year, GM and former superstar captain Steve Yzerman wasted no time trying to find improvements in all three aspects of the game. On the front we saw Bobby Ryan and Vladislav Namestnikov enter the fray. The forward lineup still has Dylan Larkin, who's a bona fide number one center at the age of only 24 and the tallest pillar in the organization. Anthony Mantha remains a top tier goal score on Larkin’s flank who's 26-year-old himself and boasts a 40-goal upside on a team that should be scoring more goals going forward. On the defensive side, Yzerman brought in Marc Stall and Troy Stecher to fill in the roles this year and while they aren't game changers it at least is improvement on the back end. Steve Y didn’t leave the gold tender position unchecked as he brought in former Islander Thomas Greiss onto the team who recently worked a 2.74 GAA and .913 SV% last season. Well not his best season, he is becoming a very solid goaltender in this League.

Players to Watch – Dylan Larkin- Dylan Larkin is slowly becoming one of the best centers in the National Hockey League at such a young age and is the face of the organization going forward. He may not produce at breakneck numbers but in an organization as awful currently as this one he is the huge highlight, and I will look to see him improve offensively and defensively as he looks to bring this team up from the dark basement.

All of the Additions – I cheated a little by picking all of the major additions that Yzerman brought in but I believe they will be the key to providing the light at the end of the tunnel. While none of these guys are game breakers in the greatest of senses, they will bring much needed experience to a young core that is just finding their way in this league and expect them to be a part of a step in the right direction.

My Prediction - It's amazing that I have to talk about the bottom feeding Red Wings when just not too long ago they had the playoff run that was older than I was at the time. But nonetheless, this team should finish 8th in the division though I expect to see an improvement on their record and their stats across the board. I commend the GM for the additions he's made and look to see Dylan Larkin take over this team even more. While they will not make the playoffs this year, I expect to see steps in the right direction and look forward to seeing the Red Wings find the playoffs once again in a couple years.

Next week we look at the Honda NHL Western Conference.

NHL Preview - Discover Central Division