We are now just under 50 days away from the Utah Hockey Club beginning their first season in the NHL. With all the teams shaping out their rosters and players starting to make their way to their respective cities, we’re starting to see how Utah’s divisional rivals will look for the 2024-25 season, which is important considering they’ll play each of those seven teams at least three times. Let’s check out how the newest team in the NHL stacks up against their Central Division opponents.
Chicago Blackhawks
Last season: 23-53-6, 8th in the Central Division
The Chicago Blackhawks are still in the midst of their rebuild although last season did provide a glimpse into the future for their fans. After being drafted first overall, Connor Bedard scored 61 points in his first NHL season, winning the Calder Trophy. Outside of that, it was another rebuilding year for this team as they finished last in the Central Division again.
This offseason, the Blackhawks did make some big additions, signing Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen to bolster up their forward group while also adding TJ Brodie and Alec Martinez to the blue line. They also added Laurent Brossoit to help out Petr Mrazek in net.
Comparing the two teams and their forward groups, it’s somewhat similar. Both have surrounded their young talent with veterans. On Utah, you have Nick Bjugstad and Alex Kerfoot. Meanwhile, Nick Foligno and Jason Dickinson come to mind on the Blackhawks. However, Utah currently has the better offense. A lot of their youth are already full-time NHLers like Dylan Guenther, Logan Cooley, and Matias Maccelli. Meanwhile, they have established stars like Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, and Lawson Crouse. The Blackhawks did get a lot better though with their offseason additions.
Related: Utah Hockey Club 2024-25 Projected Lineup
Defense-wise, Utah has the better group out of the two teams. The additions of Mikhail Sergachev, John Marino, and Ian Cole have made this team way better defensively. Not to mention, they already had Sean Durzi and Jusso Valimaki as well. The Blackhawks’ defense has a lot of very young talent like Alex Vlasic and Kevin Korchinski but no one as good as Sergachev or perhaps even Durzi.
Between the pipes, there’s no question Utah has the better goaltending. Connor Ingram and Karel Vejmelka could be one of the most underrated tandems in the league. Meanwhile, Mrazek hasn’t recorded more than 20 wins in a season since 2019-20 and Brossoit hasn’t started more than 25 games in his career.
Better team: Utah
Colorado Avalanche
Last season: 50-25-7, 3rd in the Central Division
The Colorado Avalanche are only a couple of years removed from their 2022 Stanley Cup championship and are still in their contention window. Last season, the team made another push for the Cup, taking out the Winnipeg Jets in Round 1 before losing in Game 6 in Round 2 at the hands of the Dallas Stars. Thanks to his incredible season, Nathan MacKinnon won the Hart Trophy.
This offseason, the Avalanche took care of some business, extending Jonathan Drouin and Casey Mittelstadt. They were also able to sign free-agent defensemen Oliver Kylington and Erik Brannstrom. However, they did lose a lot of depth in the offseason like Sean Walker, Andrew Coglinao, and most important of them all: Valeri Nichushkin who was suspended for six months. Questions also are swirling around captain Gabriel Landeskog who hasn’t played since Game 6 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final. He reportedly should be back near the start of this season.
Even though they lost important depth pieces over the summer, the Avalanche still have one of the most potent offenses in the whole league. MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen are two of the best forwards in the Western Conference. The center depth that was a question at the beginning of last season has gone away thanks to the acquisition of Mittelstadt at last year’s trade deadline and Ross Colton who had a decent first season with the team. While the fourth line is questionable, they currently have a better forward group than Utah.
While Utah’s acquisition of Sergachev makes their defense a whole lot more comparable, the Avalanche’s top four is incredible. Makar, Devon Toews, Sam Girard, and Josh Manson are easily a fantastic group on the back end. The team put the cherry on top by signing Kylington and Brannstrom to budget deals. The Avalanche have the better blue line.
Looking at the two goalie tandems, this is maybe the most comparable thing between these two teams. While Alexandar Georgiev racked up a lot of wins, his underlying numbers weren’t good at all. On the flip side, Justus Annunen came out of nowhere last season and put up some great stats. The tandem of Ingram and Vejmelka is arguably more reliable as of right now but if Annunen can continue putting up the numbers he did last season and Georgiev can have a better season, the Avalanche could have the better goaltending duo. As of right now, let’s chalk it up to a tie.
Better team: Avalanche
Dallas Stars
Last season: 52-21-9, 1st in the Central Division
The Stars are coming off a second straight season where they made it to the Western Conference Final. Unfortunately for them, it’s also the second straight time that they have fallen in six games to their opponent in the conference finals.
Over the offseason, the Stars said goodbye to Joe Pavelski who retired along with Chris Tanev whose rights were traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Scott Wedgewood who departed in free agency. Ryan Suter is also gone after the team bought him out along with Radek Faksa and Ty Dellandrea. Coming in are Matt Dumba, Colin Blackwell, Ilya Lyubushkin, Brendan Smith, and Casey DeSmith.
While the defending Central Division champions did lose some key forwards, they still have the edge in that department over Utah. Veterans like Jamie Benn, Matt Duchene, and Tyler Seguin are still hanging around. The younger players like Wyatt Johnston, Maverick Bourque, and Logan Stankoven, who could have a massive first full season in the NHL, are slowly taking over this team. While Utah’s offense continues to get better season after season, the Stars have the better group of forwards right now.
The Stars did get significantly weaker on the blue line over the offseason. Dumba, Smith, and Lyubushkin are all better suited as an extra defenseman at this point in their careers, not taking up half of the defense like they’re projected to do. However, Miro Heiskanen and Thomas Harley are some of the best defensemen in the division. As of right now, the two teams probably have an equally great blue line although the signings the Stars did in the offseason could come back to haunt them.
There’s no debate that the Stars have the better goaltending tandem. Jake Oettinger is a fantastic goaltender and the addition of DeSmith (although a downgrade from Wedgewood) isn’t that bad. The Stars are the better team between the pipes.
Better team: Stars
Minnesota Wild
Last season: 39-34-9, 6th in the Central Division
After a season filled with injuries and disappointments, the Minnesota Wild are hoping for a bounceback year. They didn’t lose a lot of players but they did add Yakov Trenin and Jakob Lauko. The big move was signing rookie sensation Brock Faber to a long-term extension.
Comparing the two forward groups, the Wild do have a couple of really good pieces. Their top six is not too shabby but the bottom six is questionable. Thanks to the emergence of Josh Doan last season, Utah does have some decent depth and is right now better than the Wild’s forward group.
Defensively, though the Wild have Faber and Jonas Brodin, Utah’s offseason acquisitions were enough to make them one of the better blue lines in the division. Jared Spurgeon is a question mark for the Wild as he returns from injury but even then, I’d still take Utah’s defense.
If we were talking about the Wild’s goaltending in 2022-23, then they would have the edge over Utah. However, last season, Marc-Andre Fleury and Filip Gustavsson struggled while Ingram had a career season. Taking 2023-24 into consideration and factoring in that Utah’s defense will be a lot better as well, they have the better goaltending.
Better team: Utah
Nashville Predators
Last season: 47-30-5, 4th in the Central Division
Last season, a planned U2 concert in Las Vegas that was canceled by head coach Andrew Brunette led to the team making the playoffs after missing the season prior. After seeing what this team has the potential to do, general manager Barry Trotz gave the Nashville Predators one historic offseason. He went big game hunting bringing in Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, Brady Skeji, and Scott Wedgewood. He also re-signed Juuse Saros to a massive extension.
Thanks to the addition of Stamkos and Marchessault, the Predators’ top six could be one of the best in franchise history. Ryan O’Reilly, Gustav Nyquist, Filip Forsberg, and the young Tommy Novak help round it out. The team’s depth isn’t too bad as well with Colton Sissons, Luke Evangelista, Cole Smith, and Juuso Parssinen taking up some of the bottom six spots. While Utah does have some really good depth as well, the Predators’ newfound star power is eye-catching, to say the least, which pushes their forward group over Utah.
As has been mentioned, Utah’s offseason moves have made their blue line way better and more deep. However, the Predators have Roman Josi: one of the best defensemen in the league. Now, he’ll be playing with Skeji who might’ve gotten a bit overpaid but is still a very good and reliable defenseman. That duo will torment their opponents and while the rest of the blue line is okay, that tandem will carry this team. That leaves the question of what is better. Star power or depth? For now, we’ll chalk it up to a draw.
The signing of Wedgewood could be one of the most underrated signings during this past offseason. He’s been one of the best backups for a while now and is a significant upgrade from Kevin Lankinen. Not to mention the Predators have Saros as their starter. While the contract he signed could look bad in the future, right now, he’s playing really well and is definitely in the conversation of the best goaltender in the division. The Predators have the better goalie tandem and there’s no question about it.
Better team: Predators
St. Louis Blues
Last season: 43-33-6, 5th in the Central Division
For the first time since the 2010-11 season, the St. Louis Blues have missed the playoffs in two straight seasons. Despite this, the team will run it back this upcoming season with the same core. There are a couple of changes. They made a splash this offseason, signing Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg to offer sheets that weren’t matched by the Edmonton Oilers. They also acquired Suter, Faksa, Alexandre Texier, and Mathieu Joseph. Finally, they named Drew Bannister the full-time head coach.
Looking at the group of forwards these two teams have, they do have a similar layout. Both have a couple of leftovers from previous winning eras. For the Blues, it’s Brayden Schenn from the 2019 Stanley Cup run. For Utah, it’s Keller and Schmaltz from the Arizona Coyotes’ 2020 playoff run. However, these players are surrounded by an abundance of young talent. Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Jake Neighbours, and now Holloway make up the new core for the Blues. On Utah, it’s Cooley, Doan, Maccelli, and Guenther. Both of these groups of forwards are evenly matched and it’s too close to call a winner.
Comparing the two blue lines is interesting as well. Between the two, Utah has the best defenseman in Sergachev. However, Colton Parayko is no slouch himself. The issue for the Blues is that one of their better defensemen, Torey Krug, will not play this season. Subbing in Suter is a downgrade. Due to this, Utah has the better defense this upcoming season.
In net, the Blues will once again look to Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer to keep pucks out of the net. Binnington had his best season in a while in 2023-24 while Hofer had a great first full season in the NHL. While the tandem of Ingram and Vejmelka is good and could be better this season with an upgraded defense, the Blues’ goaltenders proved that they are a solid tandem last season and are the better of the two.
Better team: Even
Winnipeg Jets
Last season: 52-24-6, 2nd in the Central Division
The Jets had one of their best seasons in franchise history last season, reaching 52 wins. However, the winning stopped once they reached the playoffs as they were once again bounced in the first round. They lost a couple of pieces in the offseason including their head coach Rick Bowness. Nate Schmidt, Brendan Dillon, Tyler Toffoli, Sean Monahan, and Brossoit also all departed the organization. The Jets didn’t bring in much to replace them, signing Colin Miller and Kaapo Kahkonen. They also named Scott Arniel as the team’s new head coach.
As mentioned, the Jets lost all of their trade deadline acquisitions over the summer, significantly weakening their forwards. They still have Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Cole Perfetti but Perfetti didn’t have a great 2023-24 season and Ehlers could be leaving as soon as this season due to him refusing to sign an extension. If Gabe Vilardi can stay healthy, which he didn’t last season, it will be a much better top-six. However, the Jets’ bottom six isn’t mind-blowing with their fourth line looking rough. Utah might have a slight edge here.
Defensively, the Jets lost Dillon which could be a bigger departure than most people think. A lot of the defensemen on this team need to have bounce-back years especially Neal Pionk who struggled tremendously last season. While the depth defensively isn’t bad for the Jets, Utah has the better players in Sergachev and Durzi. Utah has the better blue line.
In terms of goaltending, it has to be the Jets’ game to lose here. Connor Hellebuyck is coming off of a Vezina and Jennings Trophy-winning season. He is one of the top goaltenders in the whole league and despite Utah having the better forwards and defensemen, the American-born goaltender is good enough to steal a win for the Jets. While Kahkonen isn’t a great backup, it will be Hellebuyck starting most nights who is better than Ingram and Vejmelka combined.
Better team: Utah
Can Utah Make the Playoffs?
The time has come for this core of players to be in the wildcard race. If it wasn’t for their 14-game losing streak last season, they would’ve arguably made the playoffs. However, this is a brand new season and with the team now in the hands of stable ownership, they can work towards clinching a playoff berth.
The Stars, Avalanche, and Predators are all better teams than Utah and will most likely clinch the top three spots in the division. That leaves the two wildcard spots in the Western Conference as the only way Utah could get into the postseason. The Blues and the Jets should remain in the race until the very end along with the Los Angeles Kings assuming the Oilers, Vancouver Canucks, and Vegas Golden Knights clinch the top three spots in the Pacific Division, which they’re projected to do so.
In the end, Utah has all the weapons to clinch one of the last two spots in the West. On paper, they have the team to contend until the very end of the season which is their goal this year. If they even come a couple of points short, it will be a successful season for Utah and should give fans excitement for the future.
