NHL teams
Craig Custance, ESPN Senior Writer 11y

How Central teams are trending

NHL, Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, New York Islanders, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins, Phoenix Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche

Continuing our look at how teams are trending in the new divisions, we move to the new-look Central. How will the defending champs adapt to their new competition?

Central Division

Average team point total last season: 53

2012-13 playoff teams: 3 (Blackhawks, Blues and Wild)

Notable strength: When it comes to allowing shots, this division features some of the stingiest teams in the NHL. Four of the 10 teams that allowed the fewest number of shots per game come from the Central (Blues, Blackhawks, Wild, Predators), with the Blues No. 2 in the NHL at 24.2 shots against per game last season.


Chicago Blackhawks

Points last season: 77

Key additions: Nikolai Khabibulin

Key losses: Ray Emery, Dave Bolland, Viktor Stalberg, Daniel Carcillo

Trending: Down -- But only because it's almost impossible to repeat during the salary-cap era, especially for a team that was playing into late June. This is still a great team. This group knows as well as any that there's a hangover coming, and last time it took nearly the entire next season for the Blackhawks to recover. The major difference is that nearly every major contributor from last year's championship team is returning, although Bolland will be missed. Khabibulin is a capable backup for Crawford, but it'll be interesting to see how long Antti Raanta, signed from Finland, has to wait before getting a shot at NHL playing time.

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