There are no sure things in hockey, but picking the Detroit Red Wings to win the Central Division comes pretty close.
Truth is, you really can't bet against the reigning Stanley Cup champions, who have won seven consecutive division titles while rarely facing a serious test of their supremacy. And now Detroit heads into camp with a lineup that is arguably better than the one that ran away from the pack during the regular season and then methodically moved toward its fourth Cup in 11 seasons.
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| Playoff MVP Henrik Zetterberg will lead the Wings in their quest to keep the Cup. (US Presswire) |
Essentially, that means Detroit has all the pieces in place to win another Central crown, although the Red Wings might find it tougher to pile up points against division rivals the way they did in recent seasons. In fact, there were signs of those challenges last season when Detroit won only two games more than it lost against Central teams. In the interim, the division has seen an influx of talent that could make things more competitive.
The Chicago Blackhawks, in particular, are shaping up to be one of the NHL's breakthrough teams after putting together an uplifting season that saw the franchise get back on to the local sports radar following years of near oblivion.
Chicago finally reaped the benefits of picking high in so many drafts last season, icing a talented and exciting young lineup that fell just short of a playoff spot. Now the Blackhawks seem poised to take the next step after a busy summer that saw them make some of the biggest splashes in the free-agent market.
The Blackhawks had two big scores, landing coveted puck-moving defenseman Brian Campbell in a $56 million deal and following up by signing goaltender Cristobal Huet for another $22 million. Both deals seemed a bit extravagant in terms of dollars; the Huet deal raised the most eyebrows because Chicago is still on the hook for nearly $7 million this season to goalie Nikolai Khabibulin and heads into camp needing to shed some dollars to get under the salary cap.
The Columbus Blue Jackets didn't throw around money as liberally as Chicago did, but second-year GM Scott Howson opened the checkbook and improved a team that has yet to make the playoffs.
Howson started the makeover at the draft when he used the sixth overall pick on talented young Russian Nikita Filatov, a player many teams were thought to be shying away from because there is no transfer agreement between his national federation and the NHL. Columbus signed him, and continued the roster overhaul with a series of free-agent signings and trades that landed forwards Kristian Huselius, R.J. Umberger and Raffi Torres and defensemen Mike Commodore, Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman.
The upshot is that coach Ken Hitchcock will begin his second training camp in Columbus with a team that has more scoring punch up front, a deeper blue line and added toughness to boot.
Unfortunately, things weren't quite as encouraging in Nashville, where the scrappy Predators have developed a knack for making themselves a perennial playoff contender despite dealing with problems that are rarely of their own doing.
Last summer, the issue was the controversial sale and potential relocation of the franchise. This time around, the intrigue involved a member of the ownership group who has turned out to be a scam artist. And talented young scorer Alexander Radulov skipped out on his contract to play for a lot more money back home in Russia.
Radulov's case could be headed for the courts, although the player has hinted in recent days that he might like to return of his own volition.
That would be a big boost for the Predators, who tend to have problems putting the puck in the net, although nowhere near the difficulties faced by the rebuilding St. Louis Blues. St. Louis ranked among the bottom five teams in both overall scoring and power-play conversions last season, and did little of note to upgrade over the summer.
The team tried to get forward Steve Bernier, but its only major acquisition was backup goalie Chris Mason, although the Blues did sign first-round pick Alex Pietrangelo and will give him a chance to win a spot along the blue line at training camp. In the meantime, Blues brass is preaching patience, which will be necessary for fans watching the team this season.
