Written by Scott on Friday, October 4th, 2024
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I covered the Pacific Division in yesterdays post.
You can see that one by clicking here.
Today I will cover the Central Division.
Saturday through Monday, Graeme will cover the other divisions, and then on Tuesday we will return with our NHL Betting Tips.
Can’t wait.
Central Division Betting Odds
All the teams in the Division are listed below and also listed are the odds for them to win the division. The odds will change but this is a list of what we find on average.
- Dallas Stars – 2.90
- Colorado Avalanche – 3.20
- Nashville Predators – 4.33
- Winnipeg Jets – 7.00
- Minnesota Wild – 13.00
- St. Louis Blues – 17.00
- Utah Hockey Club – 21.00
- Chicago Blackhawks – 91.00
We advise the following sportsbooks:
Ontario: Sports Interaction and Bet365 (Americans: We recommend http://www.bovada.lv
Rest of Canada: Sports Interaction, Bovada and Bet365 (Americans: We recommend http://www.bovada.lv
USA: Bovada and BetOnline.
Everyone Else: Bet365 (Americans: We recommend http://www.bovada.lv, Bet365 (Americans: We recommend http://www.bovada.lv and 888 Sports.
Central Division Winners Betting Tips
I could see this division coming down to teams. The Avalanche and the Stars.
The Avalanche have the skilled players to get them there. MacKinnon, Rantanen, Drouin, Wood, Mittelstadt and Lehkonen form a strong offensive group.
On defense is where this team can really do damage. Makar is always going to be in thr Norris conversation and Toews is a great complementary piece. They added depth with Kylington, Brannstrom and de Haan
In goal it’s Georgiev and he is backed up by Annunen.
The Dallas Stars are the other team who win the Central. They have a nice mix of skill and veterans.
Robertson, Hintz and Johnston can do the heavy lifting and bringing up the AHL rookie of the year in Stankoven will help.
Benn, Seguin, Marchment and Duchene provide them with skill and leadership.
On defense they are set with Heiskanen, Lindell, Harley, Dumba, Lybushkin and Smith are a great top 6.
One area where the Stars are much better is in goal. Oettinger is one of the best in the league and any game he plays the Stars have a chance. The brought in DeSmith to back up.
So yes I could see either team winning the Central if I had to pick one it’s the Stars and their goaltending.
Central Division Betting Analysis
Nashville Predators
The Predators will look much different this season than they did last.
The brought in Stamkos and Marchessault who join Forsberg, O’Reilly, Nyquist and Evangelista.
On defense they’re led by Josi who is joined now by Skjei, Carrier, Schenn and Fabbro to have a decent top 6.
In goal it’s Saros and Wedgewood. It’s only a matter of time until Askarov assumes one of the 2 goalie roles. Will be fun to watch this team this year.
Winnipeg Jets
As a Canadian I hope I’m wrong but the Jets didn’t really add any help and are a team I don’t see having a very good shot at getting anywhere near the division lead.
Connor, Scheifele, Vilardi, Ehlers and Pefetti are their offensive guys.
On Defense Morrissey is great and he’s joined by DeMelo, Pionk and Samberg for a solid top 4.
Hellebuyck is still one of the better goalies in the game and they need to add some pieces to give him another shot at a cup
Minnesota Wild
This is another team who didn’t make any significant moves to help the team.
They do have a decent offensive group with Kaprizov, Boldy, Eriksson-Ek, Rossi and Zuccarello and so decent depth with Hartman and Foligno but could use another point producing forward.
On Defense they are led by Faber who had a great rookie season. If this group can stay healthy then they will be good with Spurgeon, Brodin, and Middleton.
They brought back Fleury and he’s now 39 years old. They are going to need Wallstedt to be ready should they call his number.
St Louis Blues
A team that did little to make themselves better.
The Blues added Faksa, Texier and Joseph to join Kyrou, Buchnevich, Schenn and Thomas. They didn’t accomplish much last season and the “help” they brought in isn’t enough to push them to the next level.
I see this team have similar results as last season.
Utah Hockey Club
It will be nice for them to play in front of a decent sized crowd.
I do think they will be a better team this year than when they were in Arizona.
They have some decent offensive players with Keller, Schmaltz, Bjugstad, Guenther, Crouse and Cooley.
They added some much need defensive help brining in Sergachev, Marino and Cole who join Durzi, Valimaki and Kesserling. Will need som goaltending help but they are headed in the right direction.
Chicago Blackhawks
The Hawks should be a a basement team again, and I don’t see a problem with it.
They brought in some help for Bedard with Teravainen, Bertuzzi, Mikheyev and defensemen Martinez and Brodie.
A full season from Taylor Hall will go long way too.
The improvements of their young players plus Bedard getting better with some better players and the Hawks seem on the right path
