Central Division 2024-25 Season Preview

The penthouse will likely get a new resident in the Predators as Stamkos & Marchesseault join the division.

Welcome back to our series of division previews for the 2024-25 season. After previewing the Atlantic and Metropolitan Divisions, we move over to the Western Conference and the top-heavy Central Division that sees Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault join from the Tampa Bay Lightning and Vegas Golden Knights. There will also be a new team in the Utah Hockey Club, who could surprise with their additions of Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino.

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Dallas Stars

Notable Additions: Ilya Lyubushkin, Brendan Smith, Matt Dumba
Notable Subtractions: Scott Wedgewood, Joe Pavelski, Ty Dellandrea

Offense

The Dallas Stars were the top team in the Western Conference last season and almost made it to the Stanley Cup Final, falling in six games to the Edmonton Oilers. As a result, general manager Jim Nill didn’t make many changes to his roster in the offseason. In fact, the only additions were on defense, as the forward group will return the same core faces that brought them 52 wins in the regular season and one point shy of tying their franchise-best 114 points set in 1998-99. They will be missing the seemingly ageless Joe Pavelski, though, who doesn’t intend to play this season.

Leading the charge without the grizzled veteran will be 20-year-old Wyatt Johnston, who broke out last season with a team-leading 32 goals. He has been a revelation for the Stars since entering the league in 2022-23 and already has 56 career goals in only 164 games. Alongside Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz on the top line, the 2021 23rd overall pick has proven to be a legitimate sniper and might already be the steal of his draft class.

Further down the lineup, Logan Stankoven has joined Johnston in the “steal” category after a terrific rookie season and playoffs where he notched six goals and 14 points in the regular season and another three goals and eight points in the Stars’ march to the Western Conference Final. He has successfully transferred his tenacious, in-your-face game from junior to the American Hockey League and now the NHL. He has never allowed his 5-foot-8 stature to limit his potential and will be one of the favorites to win the Calder Trophy this season.

Defense

The Stars’ defensive unit will once again be led by Miro Heiskanen and 2023-24 breakout star Thomas Harley. Harley, in particular, made headlines last season with a surprising 15 goals and 47 points after only ever producing four points in 34 games in 2021-22. He established himself as a legit top-pairing defenseman logging 21:01 a night and finishing second on the team in blocked shots with 135.

Beyond that dynamic duo will be a few new additions in Lyubushkin, Dumba, and Smith along with the return of Nils Lundkvist on a one-year deal. They all played depth roles last season, so it will be interesting to see who steps up and takes the big minutes alongside Esa Lindell on the second pairing or overtakes him entirely and pushes him down the depth chart.

Goaltending

Jake Oettinger will be the primary starter again this season after his worst campaign statistically in 2023-24. His numbers were down across the board, from a career-worst 2.72 goals-against average (GAA) and .905 save percentage (SV%) to his worst quality start percentage (.547) since 2020-21. He also had 10 really bad starts (RBS), which are starts where he posted a SV% of under .850. Despite that, the Stars still finished atop the Western Conference, so what could they have accomplished if Oettinger had been closer to last season’s form?

The Stars also moved on from Wedgewood - who signed with the Nashville Predators - and added Casey DeSmith in free agency to likely play a similar role. Wedgewood started 28 games last season and posted a 2.85 GAA and .899 SV%, while DeSmith countered with a similar 2.89 GAA and .895 SV% in 27 starts. Looking at the stats, it was a lateral move that probably won’t impact the tandem too much. Oettinger will grab the bulk of the starts, with the hope that he can return to his 2022-23 self.

Projected Line Combinations, Defense Pairings & Goaltenders

Robertson - Hintz - Johnston
Marchment - Duchene - Seguin
Benn - Bourque - Stankoven
Dadonov - Steel - Blackwell

Harley - Heiskanen
Lindell - Lyubushkin
Smith - Dumba
Lundkvist

Oettinger
DeSmith

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More Stars Season Preview Content…

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Winnipeg Jets

Notable Additions: Kaapo Kahkonen
Notable Subtractions: Sean Monahan, Brendan Dillon, Laurent Brossoit

Offense

The Winnipeg Jets didn’t add any players to their forward group in the offseason and only lost Sean Monahan. He was a productive piece of the roster after he was acquired from the Montreal Canadiens, scoring 13 goals and 24 points in 34 games, but he jetted off to the Columbus Blue Jackets in free agency. So that means new head coach Scott Arniel will have the same personnel leading the offense in Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Gabriel Vilardi. They will be hoping that Vilardi can stay healthy this season, though, as he only played 47 games in his first season in a Jets uniform.

Vilardi was on pace for 38 goals over an 82-game season and came just one goal short of matching his career-high from 2022-23 when he scored 23 goals. He has never played a full season in the NHL in his career yet, with his highest coming in 2022-23 as well when he suited up for 63 games. The Jets were a middle-of-the-pack team in terms of goal-scoring last season, so adding another 30-goal scorer would make a huge difference.

As for question marks heading into training camp, Cole Perfetti has yet to sign a new contract, so that could throw a wrench into things if he continues to hold out through the preseason. Also, there’s the uncertainty of the second-line center spot with Vladislav Namestnikov not being a legitimate top-six center. Monahan brought that at the end of last season, and the Jets did not replace him in the offseason.

Defense

The Jets’ blue line will again be led by Josh Morrissey, who has quickly become a star in the NHL. He paced the defense by a wide margin when it came to offense with 10 goals and 69 points. While he didn’t match the career-high 76 that he put up in 2022-23, he was still a machine logging 24:11 in ice time and hitting double digits in blocked shots for the third season in a row. He also got votes for the Norris Trophy for the second straight year, too.