I’ve spent the past few weeks doing a team-by-team look at the teams the Oilers will be facing in the Pacific Division. Really, outside of Vancouver, everybody appears good enough to compete for a playoff spot. Things are no easier in the Central Division, which features two legitimate Stanley Cup contenders and multiple other teams who will be duking it out for wild card spots.

The Predators edged out the Winnipeg Jets for the best record in the Central Division but they got edged out by those same Jets in seven games in the second round of the playoffs. Nashville will yet again be Stanley Cup contenders in 2018-19 as they return with virtually the same roster from last season. The only major addition they made in the off-season was signing veteran defenseman Dan Hamhuis, but the Preds will also get internal bonuses from rookie Eeli Tolvanen who was excellent in the KHL as an 18-year-old and a fully-healthy season from Ryan Ellis.

The Jets finally dropped the monkey known as the Atlanta Thrashers from their back last season. They finished with a franchise-record 114 points, won their first-ever playoff game, and made it all the way to the Western Conference Final. That’s impressive given the city doesn’t have an airport. The Jets are a strong bet to continue to contend for a Stanley Cup as their core of good young players is only going to continue to get better. They didn’t make any major additions in the off-season but first-round picks from 2015 and 2017 Jack Roslovic and Kristian Vesalainen will be expected to step in and take on bigger roles on the team.

The Wild eclipsed the 100-point plateau for the second season in a row, but, yet again lost in the first round of the playoffs. The team has dug itself into a salary cap bind with multiple expensive, long-term deals, so they weren’t able to be active in free agency. While Minnesota is a solid team, it’s hard to imagine them being good enough to jump over the Jets or Predators at the top of the division. Still, they’ll certainly be in the mix for a playoff spot yet again given their deep scoring, solid blueline, and good goaltending.

The Avalanche were one of the league’s biggest surprises last season. Had it not have been for the expansion Golden Knights reaching the Stanley Cup Final, they probably would have received a lot more attention, but Colorado made the playoffs in a complete 180 after winning just 22 games the previous season. They dealt Matt Duchene a couple months into the season and went on a tear after that. Nathan MacKinnon had an MVP-calibre season and Semyon Varlamov had a rebound year between the pipes. MacKinnon will need to be just as good this season if the Avs want to make the playoffs again.

A late-season five-game losing streak ultimately cost the Blues a playoff spot last year, ending a streak that had lasted for six seasons. The Blues figured they weren’t good enough to contend for a Stanley Cup and dealt Paul Stastny to the Jets, a division rival, at the trade deadline and the team fell out of a playoff spot soon after. This summer, the Blues made major strides to bring themselves back up to contention status, trading for Ryan O’Reilly and adding Patrick Maroon, Tyler Bozak, and David Perron in free agency. The Blues are a much, much better team on paper than they were last year and should jump Minnesota and Colorado on the Central Division depth chart.

The Stars were a very different team under Ken Hitchcock and they were one of the better teams at keeping the puck out of the net but they were only mediocre at scoring goals. The second Hitchcock era in Dallas ended after one season as the future Hall of Fame coach decided to retire after the team missed the playoffs. New head coach Jim Montgomery will move the team back to more of a high-flying offensive strategy which goes more in line with the Stars’ roster composition. They didn’t make any huge splashes this summer but the Stars have all the pieces necessary to be a good team if utilized properly.

The Blackhawks’ reign of dominance over the Central Division came to an end last season as they failed to make the playoffs for the first time in a decade. Massive contracts rewarded to Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Brent Seabrook, and Duncan Keith for their play helping Chicago to three Stanley Cups has ultimately put the team in cap hell, making it incredibly difficult for them to retain talent and flesh out a deep roster. Chicago made some low-key adds in the summer, but, at this point, it’s hard to imagine them jumping over an extremely competitive division. Their window at this point appears to be closed.