The Central Division might be the best team-for-team division in the NHL right now. With the seven teams separated by 38 points there might by questions about the parity of the Central, but it is the only division where every team finished the season with a winning record.

The Colorado Avalanche was the surprise division winner, overtaking Chicago and St. Louis in the final week of the season. The young Avs and their rookie coach Patrick Roy defied the odds all season long before pouncing on the injury-riddled Blues and Hawks for the division crown.

With five teams reaching the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Central was well represented in the postseason. The Dallas Stars finished fifth in the division and eighth overall, gave the top-seeded Anaheim Ducks all they could handle. The new playoff format is cannibalistic with regard to division strength and it saw the Central literally rip itself apart as the Blackhawks limped into the conference finals after escaping the divisional rounds.

The 2014-15 season will be no different as all seven clubs return the core of their rosters for the next campaign. Obviously the bottom half of the division would like to close the gap and contend for the playoffs, but there are a few teams on the rise while others are headed in the wrong direction.

Winnipeg Jets

The Jets made no major moves this offseason and probably should have. They are a good, but not great team that needed to significantly upgrade themselves in goal. Granted the market was weak, but the Jets balked at every opportunity to upgrade the team. The silver lining is that the Jets have a solid enough roster to trade away Dustin Byfuglien or Evander Kane without suffering. Unfortunately it may take an act of God to convince GM Kevin Cheveldayoff to make that move. Predicted finish: Seventh

Nashville Predators

It was probably for the best that Barry Trotz and the Preds parted ways this summer. While Trotz was unemployed for approximately 10 minutes before Washington picked him up, the style had gotten stale in Music City. Enter Peter Laviolette a fiery, vocal coach that promises to bring a more offensive and up-tempo style to a franchise that had sustained itself with a heavy diet of dump-and-chase. A trade were made for James Neal and the Predators signed several “offense-first” players, namely Mike Ribeiro, Derek Roy and Olli Jokinen. To be fair, Jokinen does play defense too, but he’s an upgrade at center over almost everyone Nashville had in the middle last year. The Preds will be more fun to watch, but they have some growing pains in a tough division. Predicted finish: Sixth

Minnesota Wild

Eventually the Wild will start to want to finish higher than fourth in their own division and it may be next summer or as soon as February 2015. I like this roster, but the Wild need more depth on defense and consistency with goaltending. Josh Harding was sensational last year, but is better suited to be a backup because of his health issues. The Wild were good enough in the playoffs to get past the Avalanche in the first round, but they’ll struggle to make the playoffs this year. Signing Thomas Vanek was a mistake, particularly since they already had the exact same player in Jason Pominville. Zach Parise and Ryan Suter will continue to be amazing, but the Wild will struggle to make the playoffs. Predicted finish: Fifth

St. Louis Blues

The Blues are a super talented team, but will take a step back this season in the standings. They will still be in the playoff picture, but will not figure in the President’s Trophy race or for that matter the division title. The goaltending burden in St. Louis will fall on Brian Elliott and Jake Allen. The Blues stole Carl Gunnarsson from Toronto and signed Finnish star Jori Lehtera to help on offense. With all the promise and expectations that St. Louis had over the past few seasons, they’ll be content to fly under the radar. If their goaltending holds up, they’ll finish higher, and if Elliott turns into the player he was in Ottawa or Colorado, the Blues season could tank. Predicted finish: Fourth

Colorado Avalanche

So many things went right for Colorado last year, that everyone expected the rug to get pulled out at some point in the season. Unfortunately the rug was yanked in the playoffs, where the Avs were bounced in the first round by Minnesota. Colorado is a year older, a year wiser and ultimately a year better. This will serve them well in the playoffs more than it will affect their regular season. Another division title isn’t in the cards for Roy and company this year, but I expect them to hit their stride in the postseason. Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Ryan O’Reilly are bonafide stars and will be contenders in the conference for the next decade. Predicted finish: Third

Dallas Stars

The Stars are on the rise. Sorry, that’s the last time I’ll do that. Seriously though, this is a team that is one or two pieces from becoming a serious contender in the west. Jamie Benn is one of the more underrated players in the league. Consider him an angry badger with really good hands. Tyler Seguin had a signature year last season and while it will be hard to duplicate, that is the type of production that was expected from him when he was drafted. Valeri Nichushkin is a 6’3 Russian freight train that is poised for a Seguin-esque break out season of his own. Kari Lehtonen is still a top level goaltender, and the up and coming defensive unit will keep the Stars in games as they match up against the toughest division in the NHL. Predicted finish: Second

Chicago Blackhawks

The big shots on the block are the Blackhawks. Injuries down the stretch knocked Chicago out of contention for the division title but certainly not the Stanley Cup. As the defending champs, it took a huge overtime Game 7 effort from Los Angeles to finally put them away. The Hawks are loaded again with the usual suspects Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Brandon Saad, Andrew Shaw and I’ll stop there. The bad news for everyone else is that the core of the team, minus Hossa is all in their prime. Corey Crawford keeps proving everyone wrong that he isn’t a big game goaltender, but more often than not, the team bails Crawford out versus the other way around. Predicted finish: First