No division in hockey is tougher than the Central. The NHL’s Group of Death includes three top Stanley Cup contenders, one of the most intriguing teams on the ice, and a handful of franchises that could honestly go either way this season.
Among the many variables on each squad, at least one player stands out from the rest. For some, it’s the new guy. For others, it’s a star setting out to prove his worth, a breakout candidate, or even a top trade target who can help his team in more ways than one.
With all those possibilities in mind, we’re looking at one player on each Central Division team with a little extra pressure to deliver in the season ahead.
By now, we know what to expect from Colorado’s top dog(g)s — Nathan MacKinnon is going to produce at an MVP level while Martin Necas has proven himself a perfect wingman, and Cale Makar can do it all from the blue line. But while the club’s biggest stars decorate the highlight reels, it’s the secondary scoring corps that steps into the spotlight this season.
Enter Nazem Kadri. Again.
Kadri was a pivotal part of the Avalanche’s 2022 championship run, and his return also comes at a crucial time for an organization that remains all in on winning. The departure of Valeri Nichushkin freed up cap space but also leaves questions about who produces in his place. The signing of Jaden Schwartz is intriguing, as is the flyer the team took on prospect Fabian Lysell, but Kadri is a known commodity. We’ve seen him succeed here before.
He looked right at home this past spring as he returned to his old haunt, contributing immediately. He helped wake up Colorado’s inexplicably lacklustre power play — it ranked 27th in the regular season last season — and he should reprise that role in 2026-27.
Now, with a full off-season of work with the Avalanche, Kadri is well-positioned to play a key role in elevating this already-strong roster.
Over six seasons with the Stars, we’ve seen Jason Robertson break out, bounce back, prove himself in the playoffs (on more than one occasion), and show the Stars why he’s a worthy investment with a statement-making contract year.
But rather than locking him up, the Stars appear to be walking their leading scorer to free agency. After a summer-long saga (which included a vetoed sign-and-trade proposal to stay in Dallas) resulted in a one-year deal, the stakes are now even higher for both the 27-year-old and his club.
For the Stars, 2026-27 brings yet another opportunity — with yet more pressure — to win it all. Dallas has been among the top Stanley Cup contenders for Robertson’s entire career, but they keep coming up short. Robertson’s elite production represents a massive piece of that championship puzzle … right? Feels like we’re about to find out.
As a pending UFA, Robertson is now firmly in control of his future. Another statement season would not only give Dallas the best chance to finally make good on Cup aspirations, but give Robertson a league full of options when considering his next move.
The Minnesota Wild’s search for an elite centreman has been well-documented, but the job posting remains unfilled as a new season nears.
Might the best applicant already be in the arena? After an up-and-down rookie campaign, forward Danila Yurov is primed for a breakout — the Wild are counting on exactly that. With Mats Zuccarello joining the Kings and Vladimir Tarasenko still unsigned as a free agent, they’ll need someone to step up, and there may be no better candidate than the 2022 first-rounder, who developed in the KHL before making the jump to the NHL last year.
There are two scenarios at play here, both intriguing. The first is that Yurov hits his stride early, earns his place in the club’s top six, and proves to Minnesota he can be a key part of their win-now core moving forward. The second is that he shows flashes of that first-round potential — enough to catch the eye of a trade partner — and gives the Wild one heck of a trade chip to work with. Yurov’s name was all over the trade-rumour mill around last season’s deadline, and a strong start to 2026-27 might just represent Minnesota’s best shot at landing a coveted centre better suited to helping the team win now.
Landing Vincent Trocheck, one of the top trade targets of the off-season, was a huge win for Utah this summer — not just for the production he can bring to elevate the team’s top six as it looks to push deeper into the post-season this year, but for the wealth of knowledge he brings to this franchise on the rise.
No single player stands to benefit more from that veteran acquisition than Logan Cooley. Cooley knows Trocheck well — the Pittsburgh natives skate together during summers, and Cooley has spoken about how much he’s looked up to Trocheck. Now having the 33-year-old as his teammate and built-in teacher presents Cooley with a massive growth opportunity at the perfect time.
Cooley has proven himself capable of being a leading centreman on this squad, and was well on his way to a breakout campaign last year before injuries struck. While limited to just 54 games, Cooley tallied 24 goals and 43 points in 2025-26. He got some invaluable playoff experience, too, scoring in his first two post-season games against Vegas. In many ways, Cooley’s trajectory represents that of the Mammoth. If Cooley can hit another gear, so too will the team as a whole.
After struggling through much of the first half of last season, Joel Hofer hit his stride post-Olympic break and almost single-handedly propelled the Blues into a wild-card spot, making for an interesting final month in the Western Conference’s race.
That hot streak couldn’t have come at a better time for the netminder, whose breakout campaign as one half of the Blues’ goalie tandem set the stage for him to take the top job and run with it this year. His future contract hangs in the balance, and so does the team’s trajectory.
No pressure.
The Blues find themselves at a crossroads when it comes to the crease, with both Jordan Binnington (a pending UFA) and Hofer (RFA) on expiring contracts. While a successful start to the season for Binnington ups his trade value for a contender looking for veteran help on the rental market, a strong season for Hofer would give the club the freedom to explore moving Binnington and turn to Hofer as the goalie of the future.
Season 1 of Juuse Saros’ eight-year, $61.92-million deal brought a career-worst 3.16 goals-against average and .894 save percentage. It was a down year for goaltending across the board, but still, it’s hard not to notice the dip for the sure-handed Saros.
New GM Chris MacFarland wasted no time putting his stamp on the Predators in his first off-season at the helm, tapping some former Avalanche players to shore up Nashville’s offensive depth, seizing on Dallas’ cap crunch to bring in Mavrik Bourque, and most recently getting a great return for Luke Evangelista while opening the door for some young guys to land roster spots.
With so much already in flux in Nashville, the Predators cannot afford questions in the crease, too. A bounce-back from Saros would give this club the confidence to grow as a group as it develops its identity under new leadership.
Until Connor Hellebuyck is moved, and we know what kind of return he warrants — and whether that return includes a new starting netminder to share the crease with Stuart Skinner — it’s hard to know what to expect in net this year.
So, let’s address the offence instead. The 2025-26 campaign was a down year for the Jets almost across the board, their failure to make the playoffs a big letdown after the club won the Presidents’ Trophy one season prior.
Cole Perfetti can play a big part in helping the forward core bounce back. After a 50-point breakout season in 2024-25, Perfetti suffered a pre-season setback last fall that saw him chasing those numbers all year but falling short, limited to just 68 games. As a result, the club’s leaderboard saw a steep drop from its top-line guys — Mark Scheifele’s 103 points, Kyle Connor’s 92 and Gabriel Vilardi’s 69 — to its middle six, led by Perfetti’s 32 points. The club’s lack of depth production ultimately proved costly.
Now, with a new six-year contract in hand and a clean bill of health, Perfetti has a full runway to ramp back up and help Winnipeg find its scoring touch again.
Bowen Byram believes he’s capable of being a No. 1 defenceman. GM Kyle Davidson clearly agrees, as evidenced by the cost of acquiring him from Buffalo earlier this summer and the six-year extension signed upon his arrival in Chicago.
While the 25-year-old rearguard’s $12.5-million cap hit doesn’t kick in until next July, the expectations are already here.
After health hindered Byram in his first few seasons in Colorado, the 2019 fourth-overall pick is coming off back-to-back full seasons in Buffalo that saw him hit career highs each year. With the top job already taken on the Sabres’ blue line, it makes sense both player and team would look for a bigger, better opportunity to thrive.
Byram gets that in Chicago, where he is instantly a franchise cornerstone. Building on those healthy seasons in Buffalo, and the valuable Stanley Cup experience in Colorado in 2022 as well as last year’s thrilling playoff run with the Sabres, can Byram hit the ground running in Chicago and help the team take its first meaningful steps post-rebuild?
