Outside of the Colorado Avalanche being atop and the Arizona Coyotes being astern, the NHL’s Central Division has been somewhat surprising halfway through the 2021-22 season.
Let’s go through each of the division’s teams, reviewing how they look at midseason with an eye toward how they’ve fared against their preseason NHL betting lines:
Colorado Avalanche
There isn’t much else to say about the Avalanche that isn’t already reflected in their record, statistics or how profitable they’ve been to the bettors. Colorado is on pace to exceed 120 points and has the lowest odds (+550) to win the Stanley Cup on the BetUS Sportsbook. They were expected to be really good, as in -250 to win the Central Division, +225 to win the Western Conference and the +220 to win the President’s Trophy. The Avalanche have managed to eclipse those lofty heights, at least through half a season.
It has been a full-team affair, from solid goaltending to ridiculously-deep scoring (Nazem Kadri is having a career year) to sharp defensive play led by Norris Trophy candidate Cale Makar. Colorado is dominant in every aspect of the game, and is on the verge of running away with a solid division.
Grade: A+
St. Louis Blues
The Blues started the season pegged as a fringe playoff team. Their preseason points over/under total was 94.5, usually sufficient to get into the postseason. They were +1400 longshots to win the division., but a better-than-expected offense and solid goaltending from both Jordan Binnington and Ville Husso has St. Louis just six points in back of the Avalanche and down to +850 to win the division.
Jordan Kyrou’s emergence has been big for the Blues and the resurgence of Vladimir Tarasenko-who’s been on the trade block for awhile now-has given St. Louis the type of dynamic offensive presence it lacked when he was sidelined due to injury. The Blues just are not as good as Colorado and probably won’t stay close in the second half, but they’re firmly in the playoff mix while surprising a lot of people.
Grade: A-
Nashville Predators
Nashville might be considered the biggest surprise in the entire division, considering how bad the Predators were expected to be. John Hynes’ team had the second-highest divisional odds (+4000) before the season and a preseason points over/under of 84.5. Right now, Nashville is firmly in a playoff spot, and will blow past the 85-point threshold.
Much negativity around the Predators was due to how veteran-laden the roster is, coupled with how disappointing they’ve been in recent playoffs. A retreat seemed probable and with it, a potential rebuild and/or teardown. However, the Predators have not missed a step, as players including Roman Josi and Matt Duchene keep producing. Juuse Saros has shown he is a bona fide No. 1 goalie who can compete for the Vezina Trophy.
Grade: A
Minnesota Wild
The only reason the Wild didn’t earn an A+ is because Minnesota is ight as its projected level. The Wild were +700 to win this division before the season, they’re at +750 as of now. An over/under total of 97.5 means they’re on pace for just eclipse that figure. The Wild have a few games in hand on the division rivals ahead of them.
How Minnesota has reached this point is interesting, though. It’s not a surprise that Kirill Kaprizov (49 points) is by far the Wild’s leading scorer, or that Kevin Fiala and Marcus Foligno keep producing. It is surprising that Mats Zuccarello and Ryan Hartman are playing at point-per-game paces, while the goalie tandem of Cam Talbot and Kaapo Kahkonen has a combined 2.79 goals-against average and .914 save percentage.
Grade: A
Dallas Stars
It hasn’t been a disaster of a season by any means for the Stars, currently sitting in a wild-card spot. However, considering that they had the third-lowest preseason odds to win the division (+850) and are currently +6000, the first half of the 2021-22 campaign has definitely been a disappointing one,
Dallas needs a huge second half to reach its preseason point over/under total (95.5), and while it’s great that 37-year-old Joe Pavelski is having such a strong year, it’s at least a little concerning that he’s the Stars’ leading scorer (19 goals, 29 assists, 48 points). Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz are developing into stars, but Tyler Seguin’s production has fallen off a cliff and John Klingberg has reportedly asked for a trade. So, things might not be getting much better for Dallas in the second half.
Grade: C+
Winnipeg Jets
As was the case with Minnesota, Winnipeg, has ben another team that’s played right to its preseason expectations. Unfortunately, the Jets have done so in a less-positive way. There was a coaching change after Paul Maurice unexpectedly resigned, but Winnipeg seemingly remains stuck in no-man’s land. There’s some really strong top-liners-Kyle Connor and Pierre-Luc DuBois are as good as it gets-and an elite goalie in Connor Hellebuyck, but that hasn’t translated into the requisite record.
It will be tough for the Jets to reach their preseason over/under of 92.5 points, and their already-high divisional odds (+1600) have ballooned to +6600. That isn’t too surprising, but it’s definitely a letdown for a franchise that has so many top-tier players, but just hasn’t added sufficient depth to be counted among the contenders.
Grade: C+
Chicago Blackhawks
A terrible start to the season-both on and off the ice-‘led’ by an 0-9-1 getaway to the season. While the Blackhawks’ play has stabilized a bit since head coach Jeremy Colliton was fired, they’re still very far out of things in the division and a playoff berth would border on the miraculous. If you’re betting online on the Blackhawks, don’t expect much the rest of the season.
There wasn’t much expected of the ‘Hawks this season, sitting at +2000 to win the division at the outset. They’re a crisp +100000 to do so now. Chicago’s preseason over/under point total was a low-but-manageable 91.5, seemingly far-fetched right about now. The Seth Jones acquisition hasn’t worked out as well as expected, and, outside of Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat, Chicago just hasn’t received the offense to get by.
Grade: D+
Arizona Coyotes
A teardown as transparent as the one undergone by the Coyotes has made it tough to assign an accurate letter grade. Arizona’s goal has been to strip its roster down to the studs in a full-throated tank the franchise has done reasonably well. There’s no chance of reaching a very low (second-lowest in the NHL) preseason projected point total of 69.5, and the Coyotes’ astronomically-high division odds are now at +200000, too absurd to type.
The Coyotes do have some interesting young players-goalie Karel Vejmelka has played well lately-but things in Arizona are probably getting much worse before (if?) the club finally turns it around..
