Mailbag: Predators, Jets top teams in Central Division

Here is the Aug. 15 edition of Dan Rosen's weekly mailbag, which will run on Wednesdays periodically throughout the offseason. If you have a question, tweet it to @drosennhl and use #OvertheBoards.

How would you rank the teams in the Central Division going into training camp? -- @chm1691
1. Nashville Predators
2. Winnipeg Jets
3. St. Louis Blues
4. Dallas Stars
5. Colorado Avalanche
6. Minnesota Wild
7. Chicago Blackhawks
With depth, scoring, strong defense and superb goaltending, I think the Predators and Jets are the two best teams in the Western Conference. Losing Paul Stastny is a blow for the Jets, but they can make up for it with Bryan Little taking over at No. 2 center behind Mark Scheifele, possibly between Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers. Little is a reliable veteran, but this might be one of those rare situations where the center becomes better because of his wings. It's usually the other way around. The Predators didn't lose anyone of major significance and added Dan Hamhuis to an already elite defense.
I love what the Blues did by adding Ryan O'Reilly and Tyler Bozak to bolster their center depth. O'Reilly and Bozak are two of the best in the NHL at face-offs, so expect the Blues to have the puck a lot. They got bigger in front of the net with the addition of forward Pat Maroon. David Perron gives them another playmaker on the wing. If Jake Allen can be a top 10 goalie, the Blues might be able to challenge for first in the division.
Three players who can make the difference between the Stars being a playoff team or one that just misses are center Jason Spezza, right wing
Valeri Nichushkin
and rookie defenseman
Miro Heiskanen
. Spezza must have a bounce-back season after he had 26 points (eight goals, 28 assists) in 78 games last season. Spezza and Nichushkin, who played the past two seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League, need to make the second power-play unit relevant. Heiskanen should be a top-four defenseman by December, if not earlier.
The key for Colorado is the development of a No. 2 center behind Nathan MacKinnon. Tyson Jost is the favorite. He had 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists) in 65 games last season.
It wouldn't shock me to see the Wild in the playoffs again, but I'm not as much of a believer as some other people. Can defenseman Ryan Suter be the same player after ankle surgery? Can left wing Zach Parise stay healthy? Is center Eric Staal going to be as dominant as he was last season, when he scored 42 goals? Are forwards Jordan Greenway and Luke Kunin ready to be impact players? Are the Wild fast enough? Too many questions.
The Blackhawks' season hinges on the health of goalie Corey Crawford and if forwards Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad can rebound from last season. I also question if they have enough defensemen to compete for a playoff spot.
Now that the Predators have locked up Ryan Ellis, is it good for them to have so much of the cap space in their defense when the general opinion is they need a scoring winger? -- @KevinC60
It's good for now, and here's why:
The Predators this season are paying $19.25 million for the best top-four defense group in the NHL: P.K. Subban ($9.0 million), Roman Josi ($4.0 million), Mattias Ekholm ($3.75 million) and Ellis ($2.5 million). That's 24.2 percent of the salary cap ($79.5 million) for this season. I think that's great value considering the minutes and production they get from those four players. They each had more than 30 points and played more than 23:00 per game last season.
Next season, when Ellis' salary cap charge jumps to $6.25 million because of the
eight-year, $50 million contract extension he signed Tuesday
, the Predators will be paying $23 million for the same group of defensemen. The salary cap, though, could increase another $3 million-4 million (it went up $4.5 million from last season to this season) to cover the increase. Pekka Rinne's contract with its $7 million salary cap charge expires after this season, but I expect Nashville to sign the goalie to a short-term contract with a similar charge. And if the need is a scoring wing, they might have that covered with rookie Eeli Tolvanen, who should get his chance to be in the top-six forward group this season.

How do you think Elias Pettersson's rookie season with the Vancouver Canucks will go? Kid is an elite talent and in the new NHL his lean frame is less of an issue! -- @adrayBC
I've spoken to NHL Network's Mike Johnson and TSN's Craig Button about Pettersson and their reaction was the same: They think his talent will transfer seamlessly to the NHL and he will be an impact top-six forward this season. Pettersson had a terrific season in the Swedish Hockey League for Vaxjo, leading the league in points (56) and plus/minus (plus-27) in 44 games as an 18-year-old. He was second in the league with 24 goals. What's an impact season for Pettersson in Vancouver? Putting up the same numbers he had last season in the SHL (24 goals, 32 assists) but in 82 games instead of 44. I'm not sure how much better that makes the Canucks in the short term, because if Pettersson puts up 56 points, it's essentially a wash from the 55 points (23 goals, 32 assists) they got from Daniel Sedin last season. However, a 56-point season from Pettersson as a rookie would be appropriately viewed as a breakthrough and a sign of big things to come for him in Vancouver.

Has Anaheim's Stanley Cup window closed? -- @Touchback
No. You have to look beyond forwards Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Ryan Kesler, who remain major pieces for the Anahiem Ducks. They are young and deep at key positions. Goalie John Gibson, defensemen Hampus Lindholm, Cam Fowler, Brandon Montour, Josh Manson, Jacob Larsson and Marcus Pettersson, and forwards Rickard Rakell, Ondrej Kase, Nick Ritchie and Troy Terry are 26 or younger. Kase and Ritchie are restricted free agents, but I find it hard to believe they won't be signed soon. The Ducks are set up for the long term with relatively young players and they have Getzlaf, Kesler and Perry.

Any notable individual player/coach milestones to be on the lookout for this season? -- @briandtodd34
I count 17 players who can reach 1,000 NHL games this season: Montreal Canadiens center Tomas Plekanec (998), Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith (995), Suter (991), Spezza (989), Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Ron Hainsey (987), Washington Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik (982), Los Angeles Kings defenseman Dion Phaneuf (981), Detroit Red Wings defenseman Trevor Daley (971), Blackhawks forward Chris Kunitz (966), Red Wings forward Tomas Vanek (965), Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron (963), San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns (961), Perry (957), Ryan Kesler (941), Wild center Mikko Koivu (925), Kings center Anze Kopitar (922) and New York Islanders forward Andrew Ladd (920). Jussi Jokinen (951) can get there but he's an unrestricted free agent.
Sharks center Joe Thornton needs seven games to become the 19th player to skate in 1,500 NHL games, and 73 points to become the 14th player to reach 1,500. He's also three goals shy of 400. Also closing in on 400 goals are Staal (395), Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (370), Kings center Jeff Carter (352) and Lightning center Steven Stamkos (348). Malkin is 70 points shy of 1,000.
If Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin scores 50 goals he'll move ahead of Brendan Shanahan into 12th place on the NHL list. Ovechkin has 607 goals.
Florida Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo needs 29 wins to become the third goalie to hit 500 (Martin Brodeur, 691; Patrick Roy, 551). Luongo is 28 games shy of tying Roy for second; he has 1,001. Brodeur is first with 1,266.
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville needs 16 wins to reach 900. Jets coach Paul Maurice needs 53 games to become the sixth to coach in 1,500 NHL games.