2026–27 NHL Central Division Preview & Predictions
Updated September 24, 2026
Updated September 24, 2026
The Central Division could once again produce several legitimate Stanley Cup contenders in 2026–27.
Colorado remains the team to beat after winning the Presidents' Trophy with 121 points, but Dallas is right there and might have the most complete roster in the division. Minnesota also has enough elite talent to challenge at the top, although there are some depth concerns.
After those three, Utah continues to trend upward, while St. Louis and Winnipeg should remain in the wild-card conversation.
Division Winner: Colorado Avalanche
Best Value: Utah Mammoth
Surprise Team: Chicago Blackhawks
Biggest Concern: Nashville Predators
Here is how I see the Central Division playing out in 2026–27.
| Rank | Team | 2025–26 Points | Our Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colorado Avalanche | 121 | Division winner |
| 2 | Dallas Stars | 112 | Playoff team |
| 3 | Minnesota Wild | 104 | Playoff team |
| 4 | Utah Mammoth | 92 | Wild-card contender |
| 5 | St. Louis Blues | 86 | Wild-card contender |
| 6 | Winnipeg Jets | 82 | Wild-card contender |
| 7 | Chicago Blackhawks | 72 | Outside looking in |
| 8 | Nashville Predators | 86 | Outside looking in |
2025–26: 55-16-11, 121 points — Western Conference Final
Colorado was the NHL's best regular-season team last year, and there isn't much reason to move the Avalanche from the top.
Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar remain two of the best players in hockey, while Martin Necas, Artturi Lehkonen and Brock Nelson give Colorado plenty of talent around them.
The defense remains one of the NHL's strongest, and the Mackenzie Blackwood-Scott Wedgewood tandem returns after Colorado allowed the fewest goals in the league last season.
The bigger question isn't whether Colorado is good enough.
It's whether the Avalanche can reproduce an incredible 121-point regular season.
I doubt they need to.
Colorado's season ultimately ended in the Western Conference Final, with Makar battling injuries at the worst possible time. Another Presidents' Trophy would be nice, but this roster is built to win the Stanley Cup.
Dallas could absolutely take the top spot during the regular season, but until somebody knocks Colorado off, the Avalanche remain my pick to win the Central.
Prediction: 1st in Central Division
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2025–26: 50-20-12, 112 points — First Round
Dallas might be my favorite team to challenge Colorado.
The Stars have been knocking on the door for years, reaching three consecutive Western Conference Finals from 2023 through 2025 before last season's disappointing first-round exit.
Don't let that early playoff elimination obscure how good this team still is.
Jason Robertson is coming off a 96-point season, while Mikko Rantanen, Wyatt Johnston and Roope Hintz give Dallas one of the deepest collections of high-end forwards in hockey.
Miro Heiskanen anchors the defense, and Jake Oettinger remains a legitimate No. 1 goalie.
Injuries didn't help Dallas last season, and this is a roster that looks capable of beating teams in several different ways when healthy. The Stars have elite scorers, depth, defense and goaltending.
There isn't much missing.
Colorado gets the No. 1 spot because of what it accomplished last season, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if Dallas wins the Central.
More importantly, this is one of the teams I expect to be around when the Stanley Cup is decided.
Prediction: 2nd in Central Division
2025–26: 46-24-12, 104 points — Second Round
Minnesota has some of the best top-end talent in the NHL.
Kirill Kaprizov is an elite offensive player, Matt Boldy continues to develop into a star, and Quinn Hughes completely changed the Wild's blue line after arriving last season.
Hughes produced 53 points in only 48 regular-season games with Minnesota before adding 15 points in 11 playoff games. Combine that with a strong defensive group and quality goaltending, and the Wild have the foundation of a contender.
My concern is everything underneath it.
Minnesota lost several experienced forwards during the offseason, including Mats Zuccarello. That's a significant amount of experience and secondary scoring leaving the lineup at once.
Blake Coleman helps and brings championship experience, but he doesn't solve the depth question by himself.
That's why I'm slightly lower on Minnesota than I might otherwise be.
The defense and goaltending should keep the Wild competitive even when the offense isn't clicking, and Kaprizov, Boldy and Hughes give them enough star power to win plenty of games.
But if the secondary scoring dries up, Minnesota could be more vulnerable than its top-end talent suggests.
I still see a playoff team. I'm less convinced that I see a division winner.
Prediction: 3rd in Central Division
2025–26: 43-33-6, 92 points — First Round
Utah might be one of the most underrated teams entering the season.
The Mammoth took an important step last year, making the playoffs and beginning to establish an identity around a young core led by Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther.
Now they're adding more experience around it.
Vincent Trocheck and Anders Lee bring veteran leadership and playoff experience to the forward group, while MacKenzie Weegar gives Utah another proven defenseman alongside Mikhail Sergachev.
Weegar actually arrived before last season's trade deadline, so he isn't technically a new addition for 2026–27, but having him for a full season makes this a deeper and more experienced blue line.
More importantly, this feels like a team beginning to learn how to win.
There is momentum here.
Guenther scored 40 goals last season, Cooley continues to develop, and Keller remains the centerpiece of an offense that should become increasingly difficult to contain.
The Central's top three are difficult to crack, but Utah isn't far away.
I expect the Mammoth to spend most of the season in the playoff picture and wouldn't be surprised if they push Minnesota for third.
Prediction: 4th in Central Division
2025–26: 37-33-12, 86 points — Missed Playoffs
St. Louis is the team I have the hardest time predicting.
There is a version of this season where the Blues push for a wild-card spot. There is also a version where they finish near the bottom of the Central.
Robert Thomas remains the centerpiece, while Dylan Holloway and Jimmy Snuggerud give St. Louis two interesting young scoring options. Snuggerud is particularly intriguing after producing 51 points as a rookie, including 40 over his final 44 games.
I think he could be one of the breakout players in the Central this season.
The Blues also added Mason McTavish and Connor McMichael, giving them more depth behind the Thomas line. Pavel Buchnevich and Jake Neighbours remain useful pieces, while Dalibor Dvorsky gives St. Louis another young player with upside.
There has been a clear shift toward a younger core.
The question is whether all of those pieces come together quickly enough.
Goaltending is another variable. Joel Hofer outplayed Jordan Binnington last season and could establish himself as the clear No. 1, while the Blues also need significant improvement from their special teams.
I don't dislike this roster.
I just don't trust it yet.
If Snuggerud takes another step, McTavish and McMichael fit quickly and Hofer establishes himself in goal, St. Louis could absolutely make the playoffs.
But there are enough unknowns that fifth still feels like the right starting point in a deep Central Division.
Prediction: 5th in Central Division
2025–26: 35-35-12, 82 points — Missed Playoffs
Winnipeg is one of the most fascinating teams in the division.
Only two seasons ago, the Jets won the Presidents' Trophy with 116 points. Last season they dropped to 82 and missed the playoffs.
Now they enter 2026–27 without Connor Hellebuyck available.
For this prediction, I'm assuming Winnipeg has to move forward without its longtime No. 1 and with Stuart Skinner taking on a much larger role.
That's an enormous loss.
But I'm not ready to write off the Jets completely.
Skinner is not a bad goalie, and he's still young enough that his best hockey might not necessarily be behind him. His career trajectory has gone in the wrong direction recently, but he has also shown that he can handle meaningful games.
Mark Scheifele is coming off a career-high 103-point season, Kyle Connor had 92 points, and Gabriel Vilardi, Cole Perfetti and Josh Morrissey remain part of a core that knows it can play much better than it did last season.
There could also be something powerful about being written off.
Winnipeg has gone from Presidents' Trophy winner to one of the biggest question marks in the Western Conference in less than two years. I expect a proud veteran core to respond.
Then there is Viggo Bjorck.
The 18-year-old Swedish center was selected No. 8 in the 2026 NHL Draft and has a legitimate opportunity to make the team immediately. He isn't going to replace the loss of Hellebuyck, but a young player arriving with energy and excitement could be exactly what this team and city need after a difficult offseason.
His size will inevitably be discussed, but the NHL has changed and there have been plenty of successful players with a similar frame. How that translates to more physical playoff hockey could be a different question.
Without Hellebuyck, I can't put Winnipeg higher.
But I wouldn't dismiss them either.
The Jets should remain in the wild-card conversation, and they might enjoy proving a lot of people wrong along the way.
Prediction: 6th in Central Division
2025–26: 29-39-14, 72 points — Missed Playoffs
Chicago isn't ready to contend yet.
But I think the Blackhawks finally take a noticeable step forward.
Patrick Kane is back, and although he isn't the superstar who dominated the league during Chicago's championship years, he can still create offense and provide something this young roster has badly needed: experience.
Bowen Byram should also make the defense better immediately.
The biggest question is Connor Bedard.
Bedard underwent shoulder surgery during the offseason and is expected to miss the beginning of the season. Chicago's ceiling changes dramatically depending on how quickly he returns and whether he stays healthy afterward.
In that sense, there is a little bit of the same problem we discussed with Jack Hughes in New Jersey.
The difference is depth.
New Jersey has a much stronger roster around Hughes. Chicago is still several years behind in that regard, which means losing Bedard hurts even more.
But this doesn't need to be a playoff season for the Blackhawks to take a successful step.
If Bedard returns healthy, Kane still has something left and Chicago's young players continue progressing, this team should be more competitive.
I'm predicting improvement rather than contention.
Prediction: 7th in Central Division
2025–26: 38-34-10, 86 points — Missed Playoffs
Nashville isn't necessarily the worst team in this division on paper.
That's what makes the Predators my biggest concern.
This is still a veteran-heavy roster with recognizable names. Filip Forsberg can score. Roman Josi remains an important defenseman. Juuse Saros has been one of the NHL's better goalies for much of his career, while Steven Stamkos and Ryan O'Reilly bring enormous experience.
But where is the improvement coming from?
Nashville has missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons, and much of the core is getting older rather than better.
Stamkos is now 36, and I'm concerned that another decline is coming. Asking an aging veteran group to suddenly find another level over an 84-game season is difficult.
The Luke Evangelista trade doesn't help.
Evangelista was one of Nashville's younger offensive pieces and produced 56 points last season before being traded to New Jersey. Moving a 24-year-old forward for future assets might make sense long term, but it doesn't make Nashville deeper today.
That's the problem with this roster.
The top-end names still look respectable. The depth underneath them doesn't.
Nashville could remain competitive if Saros rebounds and the veterans stay healthy, but I don't see enough upside to move them ahead of the younger teams around them.
The Predators don't need to be terrible to finish last in this Central Division.
Chances are they will stand still while everyone else moves forward. Will we see some interesting trades by the deadline come March? O'Reilly is on his last year while Stamkos got one more season under contract.
Prediction: 8th in Central Division
Colorado remains the standard.
The Avalanche won the Presidents' Trophy last season and still have MacKinnon, Makar and one of the deepest rosters in hockey. I don't expect another 121-point season, but they don't need one.
Dallas is the biggest threat.
The Stars are deep at every position, and if they stay healthier than they did last season, I could easily see them overtaking Colorado during the regular season. Both teams belong in the Stanley Cup conversation.
Minnesota rounds out my top three, although I'm slightly cautious about the Wild after losing some veteran depth. Their defense and goaltending are excellent, but secondary scoring could determine whether they challenge Colorado and Dallas or simply settle into third.
Utah is the team I'm most interested in outside the top three. The Mammoth have momentum, an improving young core and more veteran experience around it. I think they're closer to the Central's best teams than many people realize.
St. Louis and Winnipeg are much harder to predict.
The Blues could finish fifth or last without surprising me, although Snuggerud and the younger core give them considerable upside. Winnipeg still has plenty of high-end talent but faces an enormous challenge without Hellebuyck.
Chicago should finally take another step forward, although Bedard's health will determine how large that step becomes.
That leaves Nashville.
The Predators still have enough veteran talent to win games, but in a division filled with teams either contending or improving, standing still might effectively mean moving backward.
