Connor Bedard is READY to become a SUPERSTAR; are the Chicago Blackhawks ready to join him?

Connor Bedard is READY to become a SUPERSTAR; are the Chicago Blackhawks ready to join him?

Which Central Division hopeful has what it takes to take the next step forward this season? We’ll debate and discuss on today’s special 2025 Locked on NHL Central Division hopefuls crossover. [Music] You are Locked On NHL Crossover, part of the Locked On Network. Your team every day. Welcome to this special Locked On NHL Central Division Crossover episode. Thanks so much for making us your first listen of the day. We are of course a part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. I’m Ann Kimmel. I am a co-host of Locked On Predators. Today I am joined by Haley Taylor Simon. She is the host of Locked On Blues. Tom Callahan is joining us from Locked on Mammoth and Jack Bushman is here from Locked on Blackhawks. We are here for a frenemies division of the hopefuls. But we have to kick it off and be honest because one of these things is not like the other. Haley, you had the experience of some amazing playoff hockey last year while the other three of us sat at home and popped popcorn and watched it all go down. So, how amazing was that postseason run by the Blues? I mean, it was awesome for the games played at home. Uh, we were able to make it. So, Connor Hela had to get pulled out of net, which is fantastic in my opinion. Um, but this team had an opportunity to advance and 1.6 seconds will always haunt me. It’s still painful to talk about. Before we began recording, Jack kind of rubbed it in my face. Um, so it was great that the Blues made it. However, at the end of the day, you want to get past the first round and you want to strive to go to the finals and then eventually win the Stanley Cup. So, it’s a good step in uh the Blues. I don’t want to say it’s a rebuild, but definitely kind of like a restart to something that they’re building. So, that’s something we’re all looking forward to that first round playoff series getting a little bit closer to the Stanley Cup. So, we’re going to kick this off. We’re going to be very hockey optimistic out of the gate. I call it optimism. So Jack, let’s start with you. What is making you feel optimistic about your team improving this season? Maybe making a push for the postseason. How realistic is that for the Blackhawks? Yeah, I think it’s going to be tough to do for the Blackhawks this season considering they have so many young players on this roster. At the start of last year, you know, they made some veteran additions. They brought in Pat Maroon, St. Louis Blues legend. Of course, they brought in Alec Martinez on the back end. and bring in those veterans. It it honestly just didn’t wind up working. It kind of led to Luke Richardson getting fired pretty early on in the season. But now it’s quite honestly a complete opposite of what the Blackhawks were starting with going into last year. They’re going to be one of the youngest teams in the entire NHL. There’s the potential that five of their six defensemen on the opening night lineup are 24 years old or younger. So they’re going to be a very young group. Connor Bedard’s going to be in that 1C spot. Frank Nazar, another youngster. entering his first full NHL season is going to be the second line center. So, it’s going to be tough for such a young team as well as a new head coach coming in is in Jeff Blill. With a young group, it’s going to be really hard for some of those new systems and tendencies and everything that he’s implementing to click in. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Blackhawks just get off to a little bit of a sluggish start out of the gate. However, they are definitely more talented and have a lot more speed than they’ve had in years past. I’ve already mentioned Baddard. He’s gotten a lot faster here this off seasonason. Definitely looks like he’s made a noticeable stride in his top speed so far in camp and during the Blackhawks preseason opener. And then on the back end too, all of the young guys that I alluded to, most of them have real quality skating abilities. Sam Renzel can absolutely fly. Wyatt Kaiser, Ardum Levinov. So it is definitely going to be a more intriguing season for the Blackhawks. And I do think as well Jeff Blasio coming in actually having a head coaching tenure under his belt. The last four coaches in the head coaching role for the Hawks were all firsttime head coaches. Two uh were interims, but there just hasn’t been a lot of experience in that position. So I definitely think this is a more capable and a more exciting Blackhawks group. As far as making a run for the playoffs, though, I think that’s still going to be a little far-fetched. All right, here’s the team that I think is going to be the most interesting in the NHL. And Tom, that is the mammoth. This team is, I think, under the radar, but I personally think they could be one of the hidden gems of this season. Am I Am I right in this? What do you think is going to be happening for the Mammoth this season? We’ve already labeled this year playoffs or bust for this Mammoth team. They’ve been they’ve been they’ve had coming soon on the marquee for a very long time, all the way back to Arizona. And you know, after a while that banner starts to fade. it doesn’t look as good. Coming soon is only something you can sell people on for so long. Well, the move helped because it really broke it up and introduced them to a new fan base of coming soon. So, this is the year they have to take the step forward this year. We’ve we have absolutely labeled it playoffs or bust. On paper, they have taken some giant strides forward. They look a lot better lineupwise. Of course, if this team could just simply stay healthy, that would be absolutely huge. But as I tell you that Monday night’s preseason game uh against Anaheim, all three starting centers, top three centers were out. So great. Uh yeah, let’s start off that way. But no, I think the Mammoth should take, not might, should take a step forward this year. They have the talent. They have the depth. But the question to me is, do they have the coach? And I’ve been saying this for the last year and a half. It was weird to me to see Andre Torney’s name on some coach of the year favorite nominations because to me the guy’s seat is pretty darn hot coming into this year because if they have all of this done now, they’ve gone to all these great lengths to improve everything, but if they still don’t put it together, it’s got to be the coach. Let me give you a cautionary tale of what it means to look at hockey on paper and then see it unfold like a train wreck for 82 games, friend. Because that was Smashville on paper. On paper. I was rolling in that catnip. I was all over it. I thought that was absolutely what was going to happen. They were going to dominate and Yeah. No, on paper’s real nice until you play the game on ice. Yeah. I remember that’s a whole different thing. My bad. I remember being on the show last year. We were all singing the Nashville Predators tunes from the offseason that they had. I believe we all like expected them to go over their point totals and whatnot. It’s why you got to play the games. Yeah, it it was we we always say that we aged like two-term presidents over the course of those 82 games covering that team because it was it was so brutal. It was brutal. We do hope for a little better this season only because can’t things can’t possibly get worse. The hockey gods cannot hate Nashville this much. So, I think they brought in a couple of new pieces defensively that they’re hopeful are going to turn the tide for the Nashville Predators. Obviously, we’re hoping the veterans get back to at least their season averages. Um, and and you know, Jussi Sorrowos getting back to the performances we’re used to and that will make a big difference for Nashville. Haley, do you think that the Blues are going to be able to pick up right where they left off at the end of the season and keep rolling? What do you anticipate for them? Yeah. No, I expect the Blues to actually be better than they were the end of last season. And talking postseason, uh, just because of Dylan Holloway’s return, he was out due to injury. He actually had he had it’s so disgusting, but his oblique just kind of came right off. So, he had to get that fixed it. Yeah, very disgusting. Uh, warning, by the way. I should have said that before. But, um, so when you have one of your best forwards out, obviously that’s an issue. So, just the addition of Dylan Holloway back in the lineup, that’s going to make this team significantly improve. And besides that, this is coach Jim Montgomery’s first full season as head coach of the Blues, don’t forget, we had Drew Banister as head coach uh last season before he got fired. So, with Monty taking over and having his own training camp and really being able to set the tone, and on top of that, it’s Doug Armstrong’s last year as GM entering his 15th season. So, there’s a lot of changes that are about to happen. However, this season, it’s kind of like a go big for the guy that truly does care about this team, and that’s Doug Armstrong. Yeah. Let’s see what FanDuel has to say about how they anticipate these teams are going to do. FanDuel has the Blues 92.5 points, the Mammoth right behind at 91 a half, Nashville at 82 and a half, and the Blackhawks at 69 and a half. So, let’s talk about how accurate those numbers really are. Um, all right, Tom. Where do you think the Mammoth are going to fall in those numbers? Do you think over under on those numbers? I think if everybody hits exactly those projections, no one makes the playoffs. Uh, that’s that’s the problem is I think it it’s going to take 95 points to make the playoffs in the Central. Even as the fifth team, I think it’ll be 95 points. So that’s where I’m pegging the mammoth to come in. And one of the problems for Utah last year was there was a lot of wasted opportunity past regulation. A lot. And even the unfortunate fact that they had to go past regulation. They blew a lot of late leads. They gave up some goals that they shouldn’t have and then they just couldn’t finish the deal in OT or a shootout especially. So I would anticipate this year adding a guy like a Purka another year of getting a little bit better, a little bit deeper. Their shootout should be better. Should get them a couple extra points. They should be a little more deadly in overtime. Yeah. I But 95 points to me is the bar for all of us. If anyone wants into the playoffs, we have to be there. Yeah. The Central Division is not the division you want to be in right now. I mean, it’s great hockey, but it’s really tough if you’re a team that’s trying to just sneak your way into the postseason. Haley, how close do you think FanDuel is for what the Blues are going to be able to do? Yeah, I’m offended actually looking at that graphic because the Blues were able to put up 96 points last season, able to get wild card, too, and that was a battle. Don’t forget the Calgary Flames were right behind the Blues. So, Tom is 100% correct. You cannot expect to go into the playoffs if you’re going to be under 95 points. That’s not a possibility. Um, I’m surprised actually. I thought maybe, just maybe, hear me out, with the additions of the players that we acquired and just how well the Blues did last season, especially the second half of the season, that they would have the Blues higher in points. I mean, none of the players on the Blues, and I just want to take you inside the locker room, were happy in any way with 96 points. They all thought they could have gotten at least 100. So, I I disagree. I If I’m a betting person, which I am, I would take the over. I think that’s ridiculous to have it that it was what 92 and a half like just way too low. Yeah. Jack, what do you think about where they have the Blackhawks here? Yeah, I think it’s a fair assessment of where the Blackhawks are at. Obviously, they only had 61 points last year. This is a team that hasn’t won 30 games or tallied 70 points in a season since 201920. It’s been a long time. However, uh I do think the Blackhawks are going to go over this year. I don’t know if any of you remember last year I was the only person on the Central Division hopeful shows that actually said under their point totals which they ended up cashing last year. I do think the Blackhawks are going to go over this year though because they only finished nine points shy of the 70 point marker last year. And I just do think with the insertion of all the talent and the the biggest thing is the speed as well. I just think this Blackhawks team is going to have a lot more offensive upside than they did last year. And we kind of saw that at the end of last year when Lav Shenov came on the NHL scene. Same with Renzel. Frank Nazar really got comfortable and solidified his role. Connor Baddard was able to pick up his play and finish the year on a much better note than he started. So I think there is more upside certainly for this Blackhawks offense. I think the power play is going to be improved as well with those young players kind of establishing more chemistry with one another and really being at the forefront of the man advantage. I do think it’s it’s going to be a close one though. I think they probably wind up somewhere between 68 and 73 points if I had to guess. But I I do think if this young group sometimes what happens with the young group is you’re almost just too ignorant to even know what what you’re what’s happening out there. I don’t expect the Blackhawks, like I said, to make a playoff run or anything, but I do think they could be a sneaky harder team to play against than people are expecting. And that’ll probably lead to not only more wins, but I think additional overtime losses that’ll help them reach that 70 point plateau for the first time since 2019 20. You know, we’re supposed to be picking up these points. Where are we getting them from? That is true. The Pacific, right? The Pacific. Yeah, maybe the Sharks. The question. Oh, God bless the Sharks. That’s about all Nashville had to look down on last season. I hate San Jose. So, I’ll I’ll say Oh, I love them. They’re so fun. I do. I love them. Why are they fun and we’re not? Why are they fun and we’re not? Because you want to cop three times in five years. That’s why. Sorry. It’s your turn on the carousel. You’re on the down horsey right now. You’ll get back to the up horsey, but you’re on the down horsey. I’m never going to enjoy Blackhawks hockey as a Blues fan, by the way. I’m just putting that out there. Happens. Jack, winter classic winners. It’s getting a little spicy in here, friends. One thing we know is that oftent times what makes for a good season is a great off season. Coming up, we’re going to talk about what our respective teams did and didn’t do to improve their odds for success. Today’s episode is brought to you by our great friends at Monarch Money. Most people can’t name all of their financial accounts or even what they’re worth, whether it is 401ks, properties, or investments. And when you don’t have the full picture, you can end up leaving money on the table. That’s why there is Monarch Money. It is an all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, easy to use interface on your laptop or your phone. Monarch is built for people with busy lives. If you have put off organizing your finances, Monarch is for you. Monarch does the heavy lifting for you. You can link all of your accounts in minutes. See clear data visuals. Get smart categorization of your spending. And finally, feel in control of your money without ever touching a spreadsheet. Don’t let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use our code locked on NHL at monarchmoney.com in your browser for half off your first year. That is 50% off at monarchmoney.com with our code locked on NHL. All right, friends. We all know that the key to a good season is oftentimes a really great off season. So, let’s talk about the best thing that happened for your team in the off seasonason. Was it an acquisition? Quite frankly, was it dumping somebody? Was it doing nothing? So, Tom, let’s start with you. What was the best decision that the Mammoth made this off season? Oh, there’s uh everybody wants me to go for the lowhanging fruit, right JJ Purka? Um and that is the bad one. That’s not a bad No, it’s not because it gives them another threat on the power play. It gives them a guy who if he continues to take those steps forward, Haley, get comfy. Get comfy. Uh settle in. Uh as we as we look at it, yeah, absolutely. Uh, that’s a huge ad for this team. But something interesting that they did, and actually I’m going to split this into a 1A and 1B. I’m not going to go for Purka, although he’ll be a huge impact between bringing in Nate Schmidt and bringing in VTEC Vanichek. Uh, they both come in off of Florida, which is great, but already number one, Nate Schmidt brings a completely different attitude, a different viewpoint, and I think is going to help this team keep it a little looser, which will help them. I really feel like they have a tendency to really just scrunch up and just it gets to them and I think that’s why they blow late leads. I think that’s why they give pucks away. I think that’s why they need him and he’s going to bring in a different perspective and he’s got a great attitude. Love the guy. I never see him not laugh answering a question which is fantastic. And then Vanichek it it is it’s great. It’s so good for the mood of the room. And then Vanichek coming in is a guy who I mean I love Connor Ingram. I’m sorry for the way things turned out with Ingram, but they needed to solidify behind uh Carell Veg Melka. And the thing is, you don’t even 100% know that Veggie, even though he’s getting paid like a starter, can handle once again the starter workload. I thought they burned him out down the stretch yet again coaching. Uh and he he needs to be able to prove that he can consistently be the man for Utah. If they don’t, they have a VTEC Vanichek there who they really believe and listening to Bill Armstrong talk about at the GM they can get him back to his New Jersey form which was huge starting winning leading that team. If he can get back to anywhere near what he was with the Devils and to have that as a 1A 1B tandem I think that those are going to be two acquisitions no one’s really talking about because they focus on Purka but those are going to push them a lot further this year. Yeah, that goalending tandem is going to be really, really interesting to watch for Utah and how they utilize them. I think you’re right, is going to be interesting. Jack, when you look at your off season in Chicago, what stands out to you? What was the best decision the front office made? Yeah, they didn’t really do a whole lot in terms of player acquisitions. They swapped Joe Valeno, who was a buyout care uh buyout candidate for Andre Burkovski from Seattle, who’s kind of struggled ever since leaving the Colorado Avalanche organization. looks like he’s going to be getting a topline opportunity right out of the gate along with Connor Baddard. They also brought in Sam Laferdy for the third time, funny enough. Uh he’ll be down there on the fourth line, but other than that, they really didn’t make much player additions and that’s just simply because there are so many young core pieces that are going to be jumping onto the NHL scene and they didn’t want to cause any like roadblocks for guys who looked like they were ready in training camp or during the preseason. But undoubtedly to me the most noteworthy addition this summer was Jeff Blashill who quite honestly throughout the process of the Blackhawks going through their hires and interviewing people. He wasn’t really one of my favorite candidates. Obviously only had one previous stint as a head coach with the Detroit Red Wings seven years there. Didn’t really do a whole lot of winning which to be fair probably is more on Steve Eerman than it was on Blill during that tenure. But I’ve been really really impressed with how he’s run training camp right from day one. The intensity that he provides in addition to just the experience and I really do believe the last three years that he spent as an assistant coach with John Cooper in the Tampa Bay Lightning, the longest tenure head coach in the NHL, arguably the best. I just think that experience after coming out of Detroit gave him an opportunity to really be around that group and understand how a practice needs to be run, how a team needs to be organized, how the locker room looks in a winning culture. And I think Jeff Blashill, again, it’s only been, you know, a week and two days of training camp and whatnot, but I really do think he’s gotten off to an impressive start with just the work ethic and what he’s instilled already in these Blackhawks players at camp, working hard from day one. It just it really does feel different than what they had with Luke Richardson or Jeremy Colatin. It really the Blackhawks just haven’t had a qualified NHL head coach since they fired Joel Quenville in 2018. So, I think that’s just another reason why I’m confident this team is going to hit 70 points for the first time in five to six years because they have a legitimate NHL head coach who’s been around success before and I’ve been really happy with what he’s done in the first week of his tenure as the new head coach. Jack, I know this was a trade deadline thing, but what are your thoughts on what clearing out Seth Jones has meant to the defense for the Blackhawks? Has that opened the door for anybody else to come through? Yeah, most certainly. It opened the door for Sam Renzel to come out from Minnesota wrapping up his sophomore year in the spring and then played in nine NHL games with the Blackhawks last year and averaged 22 minutes per game and looked really comfortable on the top pairing along with Alex Blic. he’s actually going to be the one who’s stepping in and taking the Seth Jones role as the top power play quarterback that he had during his time here. So, I really do think that’s just kind of ushering in the next era of defenseman in addition to we obviously got Seth Jones off the books and we’re able to acquire Spencer Knight, our number one goalender of the future now in the process. I think that was a win for all sides. Obviously, Seth goes on and joins Florida, has a pretty good postseason run to help them win the Stanley Cup. the Blackhawks. He was clearly frustrated at the end of his tenure there. And even when he got traded to the Blackhawks, you know, he didn’t sign up for a full-scale rebuild. That was still when Stan Bowman was the GM and they acquired Mark Andre Flurry. So, he was clearly frustrated. It was starting to have some lingering effects a little bit in the locker room. So, I think for all parties involved, that that was the best move possible and it creates a new opening for some of the future defensemen that are now stepping on the seat. I love the Spencer Knight edition because so much of it is really about peing at the right time and that seems like such a great fit for Chicago for where they’re at, where they want to go, especially when it comes to just solidifying goalending. Haley, who is a player on the Blues roster this season that you think is going to surprise everybody? Is there a standout player, somebody whose performance maybe we’re not talking enough about, but we should be? Jimmy Snugarude. I mean, this is a player. Like, Snuggy’s awesome. He played seven seven games in the regular season and then obviously the full seven games in the postseason. Um, he is such a talented player. I mean, there is a chance for him to make the first line. Uh, which is actually insane. He has so much talent, but also I feel like we don’t talk enough about Robert Thomas, Jordan, Kyu. like there are so many other players that have so much talent and I feel like the whole Blues team sometimes gets overlooked a little bit in terms of the depth. I mean you have players like a Texier that’s going to be playing for team France in the Olympics which again is a huge accomplishment but defensively too. I mean Cam Fowler, how can you not talk about Cam Fowler who in my opinion played some of his best hockey with his time with the Blues which is crazy since he spent all of his career except up until now in Anaheim. Um, but Ann, I wanted to answer your question about moves this off season. Yeah. You said players that, not maybe players that you acquired, but players that your team got rid of. I am so, so thankful that the St. Louis Blues put Nick Lety on waiverss. Thank you, Doug Armstrong. Thank you, management. I could not be more happy about that. Now, I also wanted them to put Justin Folk on waivers, too. However, that did not happen. That wouldn’t be a possibility. um losing him is going to make the team a lot better defensively. And I’m I I hate saying that, but sometimes it’s just true. Sometimes it’s just true. I mean, when you have a player that’s just standing and watching the net, like what are you doing on the ice? You’re wasting honestly some of the younger guys from the AHL that could have come up. But um that was probably the best addition that the Blues made this off season. That was a glorious day. That honestly was my highlight. Addition by subtraction is actual hockey math when it comes to rosters. It is an actual actual math because you can really change up a team. Like I was thinking about it with Dylan Holloway and Philip Erberg not being on the Oilers and I was watching the finals and I thought you know Edmonton could have really benefited to having both of those guys and I’m not going to rub it in Edmonton’s face because at the end of the day I’m sure that their whole fan base is upset about it too. But sometimes when you get rid of players, you’re either making your team worse or better, which is inevitable. But for the Blues, you want to get younger and having a defenseman because a lot of your defenseman are older. And let’s be honest, younger is the new it thing in hockey these days. So, um, getting rid of that, just for me at least, makes me excited for some of the new guys to really step up and to try to make this team. Okay. So, talking about young guys, Jack, let’s talk about one that everybody knows about. I’m very curious your take on how much heat Connor Baddard got last season and expectations for him going forward. How do you feel like he’s going to perform this year? I’m super excited for Connor Baddard this year. I still unfortunately feel like the Blackhawks didn’t do him enough favors in free agency. Like I said, the only real moves they made were Andre Burikovsky and Sam Lafery. Looks like his linemates to start the year are going to be Ryan Donado and Burikovski. It’s just not good enough. But I do think Baddar just with all that ex two years of experience now under his belt. Plus, as I referenced earlier in the show, he he definitely worked on his skating hard over the summer. He was outspoken about how that was really one part of his game that he wanted to elevate to the next level. In addition to he’s gained like 12, 13 pounds of muscle. He looks absolutely shredded out there. And I mean, the kid’s been the leading scoreer for the Blackhawks, leading goal scorer, 60point guy in each of his first two seasons while playing for one of the worst, arguably the worst team in hockey for that two-year stretch and not having a lot of help alongside him. I really do think for that situation in an original six franchise in a market like Chicago with all the expectations and the media pressure that comes with it, like it couldn’t just be more clear that Conor Bard is a a really darn good kid and b a really hard worker who just loves hockey. He doesn’t really care about anything else. And I think when you’re talking about a superstar of your team, that’s how you want them to be. You don’t want them worrying about the extracurriculars or maybe not having the best work ethic. We have no concerns about that with Connor Badard. And I think sometimes people still forget he just turned 20 years old this summer. He can’t even still have a legal drink in Chicago, right? Like and finally he’s going to start having some more quality players alongside him. I don’t know necessarily if they’re going to be his linemates because Frank Nazar is probably going to be the second line center, but he’ll be on the top power play unit. I already mentioned Sam Renzel. Tavo Terrainan’s back along with Tyler Bertusi. That’s another year of chemistry along with those players. So, I think this is going to be Connor Baddard’s first 80 point season in the NHL. I I think he’s gonna score 30 for the first time as well. And I just think the power play and again having a head coach who is going to put him in positions to succeed. The offense last year under Richardson who was a 1500 game defensive defenseman, right? Like he wanted to play a defensive style. Bard had like 17 points in the first 33 games of last year. It was a struggle, but really found his footing once the offense kind of got opened up. And it feels like that’s going to be the same under Jeff Blasill this year where he’s really going to be prioritizing the team speed. And I think all of that is just going to benefit Connor Bard. I’m really excited for what he has in store for year three. Yeah, he took a lot of heat last season and I’m I’ll be very curious to see what he does this season. I feel like people are going to be holding their tongues a little bit. this year. You know what I love about Conor Bard, though? He just doesn’t care. He doesn’t care. Just does not care, man. Just does not care. He’s not into the media and all that stuff. He’s going to do him. And I I know his work ethic. I know his demeanor. He’s going to be just fine. Yeah. It must be so nice looking ahead and saying like, “What is this young player going to do?” Because here in Nashville, all we want to know is what are you all people going to do? Because last season, the veterans just want wand the entire season. So, I think for Nashville, there’s a couple young players we’re really excited about. Matthew Wood, we’re really excited about Brady Martin’s been fabulous in training camp, but honestly, this team just needs the veterans to veteran. And uh we didn’t see any of that last season. So, that’s what we’re holding on for here. It’s like I don’t even need a standout performance from Steven Stamos. Just give me like regular Steven Stamos here in Nashville and let’s see what happens. It would be so nice. Well, and that’s kind of the the question like you didn’t get rid of Andrew Brunette, which I mean I like Andrew Brunette as a coach. I liked him in Florida a lot. I know Trosy loves him, but talk about that because that is significant that you did not change the coach. This is what happens when the general manager is a former head coach. Barry Trotz has been Andrew brunette. He has been the guy who lost the job because the buck stops here. And Trotz believes in Andrew Brunette. What I think is so interesting about Bruno is that he was hired for a very specific job. He was hired to take a team that was going to have this youth movement and he was going to coach them up into a competitor. And then all of the sudden last offseason happened and it became all about these veterans. And yes, as a head coach in the NHL, you coach the team you have, not the team you wish you had. But I think it was a big ask to coach two veterans that didn’t want to be where they were. They wanted to be where they had been and make that adjustment. So it was a tough year for Bruno and there was a lot of heat and I think a lot of people including myself were surprised that he survived the season, but Barry Trotz has not wavered on Andrew Brunette. And I don’t think his seat is as hot as everyone thinks it is because I think Trotz feels like this is a year to make or break. If these veterans can’t get it done, if this team does not get a hot hot start, they’re probably going to jettison some of these veteran UFAs at the trade deadline at the end of the season, bring in young kids, and it’s going to go right back to being what Bruno was hired for. It’s going to be something to watch. I just don’t think his seat is as hot as everybody nationally thinks it is because Barry Trotz knows exactly what that feels like. It’s a really interesting dynamic to watch here. Barry Trotz as former head coach now GM. Very interesting dynamic. Coming up, we’re going to talk about the rest of the Central Division. We’re going to make some predictions for our own team and then we’re going to talk about the contenders as well. All right, you all wrapping up our discussion from the quote hopefuls minus Haley who lived the dream lived the first round playoff dream you all. So when we look at the central division as a whole, we talked about this earlier. This division is ridiculous. So I’m just curious. We’re going to talk about the people who aren’t in the room because that’s what’s most fun. Anyway, who is going to win the division? Haley, Dallas. Dallas is going to win. No doubt about it. Yeah, I agree. I think I think they just they are so complete. I would agree. Tom, what do you think? Once again, I’m going to be the only one, as I was last year, who went to bat for what I’ve had to now embrace is my Winnipeg Jets. They are my Winnipeg Jets. No one else loves. Did defend them last year. They are the ugly dog at the pound that nobody wants, but they are worthy of a good home for two years in a row now. Two years in a row, they have been the best defensive team in the NHL regular season. They’re going to be the best team in the NHL again defensively in the regular season. I don’t care that they don’t go far in the playoffs. That’s not what we’re talking about. Winnipeg wins a division. It’s so funny. Last year I was with the contenders. That those were the good old days. And Harrison Lee from Locked on Jets was like, “Oh, Shucksen his way through like what last season was going to be. Oh, golly gee, I don’t know. We’re just going to be glad to be there.” And I’m like, “Were you glad to be there? Were was it great being the best team?” You know, I think the Jets really are another one of those complete teams. The question comes back to again, can they shake off that playoff rust and dust? What do you guys think about Minnesota? Oh, since they’re not here, we can talk about them. Haley, what do you think about Minnesota? I I like Seth, right? Seth, who does locked on while we I like Seth, right? I feel about coming. But we did an episode and you know I was like oh the Blues have a potential to be wild card one wild you know wild card two a wild card team. Seth says you know Hail the Wild are going to finish third in the central and no who who is not like who who but here’s where my mindset changed. Why not? They have a lot of talent on that team and I think that’s a possibility. Now, I’m a Winnipeg hater, right? I don’t think the Jets are going to be a wild card team. Like I sometimes I’ll say that just for, you know, clicks and, you know, have conversation. I think the Avalanche might finish as a wild card one. Really? Mhm. Okay. That’s a bold take. That’s a bold take. I feel like the ABS are are just under Dallas. like, you know, it’s like the pretty girl that you know is going to be on the homecoming court. Will she wear the crown? We don’t know. But she’s going to be there. Well, it’s going to all be by a couple points. I don’t expect this to be like a far off race at all. I think it’s all going to be within one or two points and I think it’s just going to be the way that it lines up. But I do expect five teams from the Central to make it to the playoffs. Yeah, it is a good division. Okay, so let’s pivot here. Which of our four teams are going to make the playoffs? Go ahead, Jack. I’m going with Utah. I I love that young group. I I think St. Well, I like I like Utah more than St. Louis. I do ultimately think both can make it, though. I really do think Minnesota just has some bad vibes around them. I I don’t love how they handle the Marco Rossy situation this summer. Obviously, there’s the news about Carell Capri off, and offensively, besides Baldi and Capri off, they just don’t have a ton of offensive firepower. I could see that being a team that regresses if Philip Gustoson doesn’t get go as strongly as he has the last couple of years. Uh I’ve been kind of singing the tunes of the Utah Mammoth on my show all summer. I love the combination of Logan Culie and Dylan Gunther especially. He’s one of my favorite going to be a sneaky monster player in this league. I just think it it feels like that young uh the young team with, you know, the older guys like Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz. It’s It’s all starting to come together and I think they’re going to be a lot of fun to watch this year. So, honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Utah winds up finishing at number three in this division this year. I I I think very highly of them. All right, Tom, do you receive that? Oh, absolutely. I’ll take that. I’ll take that all the way to the bank. Um, did you guys know that Clayton Keller had 90 points last year? Yeah. Nobody talks about Nobody knew. Nobody knew. Nobody talks about him. I love Clayton Keller. He’s so good. Yeah, no, nobody talked about it. And and again, as we talked about earlier, on paper, yes, I agree with you. And I think St. Louis also makes the playoffs this year. Minnesota, you’re right. I ag 100%. You got your finger on the pulse here, buddy. Because here’s the thing. When a player turns down eight years and $16 million, the most money ever thrown at an NHL player. Guess what? It’s not about the money. Yeah, something’s going on. He does not want to be tied to Minnesota for eight years. He obviously h does not have the faith in what Bill Garren’s doing. And look, it’s going to be a distraction, a distraction all year long. That’s all they’re going to talk about. And at the end of the day, of course, a lot of teams are going to have to deal with this because there’s some pretty big names hanging out there for next summer. But I really think that Capri off is either going to have to take a really short term, and if he does, or he’s going to want a short term, I should say, and if he does, that’s going to be a conversation that’s distracting. And if he’s not going to sign, that’s hanging over him all season. So what the Wild are going to turn into is a team that tries to please Carrill Capri off and in the process they please no one. They get worse. They fall out. So I think our top three are going to be some combination of the familiar suspects. Dallas, Winnipeg, Colorado, and then St. Louis and Utah. Yeah. Great. Haley, where do you think St. Louis is going to fall? Are you going to shock us all again? Um I I said on my podcast, Wild Card One, I think that they do improve from last year. Um, listen, I think Utah’s going to be a challenge and I don’t think that it’s going to be one of those teams that you can just look at and say, “Oh, well, this is a team that we could easily beat.” No, they’re not. The Blues have struggled against Utah and even when Utah was Arizona. I am so jealous that hometown kid Clayton Keller is on the mammoth. This guy is a star and any team honestly would succeed with him. He is that good of a player. Now, what I will say, and he cranks it up against St. Louis. Haley, he really does. Trust me, he does. It’s uh not fun. Uh for me at least, but it’s good seeing him succeed. Um it’s hard for me with the Wild because I think I’m a little bit biased in a sense that the Blues really struggle against Minnesota and it’s been like that for a couple years now and I still feel like there’s a lot of talent now. the offseason drama. I didn’t even touch on that because I think these athletes are all very professional and they’re going to not even at least bring that onto the ice. But again, I I really think Dallas is going to win the division. I think it’s going to be followed by Winnipeg. Unfortunately, I hate the Jets. Uh 1.6 seconds. Hate them. And I do think it’s going to all be within one or two points. I do think still, and I’m going to stand on this, it’s going to be the Wild, the Blues, and then the Avalanche or vice versa. But I do think that it’s all it’s going to be weird, right? Because it’s going to be like, “Oh, well, this team should have, you know, been in the top three.” It’s going to be all within a point. Yeah, it’s going to be a tight division. I think I agree with everything you all are saying about Utah. Nobody is talking about them like I think that they should. And it’s like the Clayton Keller thing because Clayton Keller is like the guy you see on the street that’s walking to the plant to work second shift. Like you would not look at him and think this is a superstar. So nobody talks about him, but he is a superstar, you know, and I think they have so much talent with young kids. There is a perfect combination that is coming together for the mammoth and I think it’s going to be what so many other teams in the central are trying to do but haven’t. And you know why that is? Utah is gonna be interesting. You know why that is? Because last year everybody was on the bandwagon early and they’re like Utah playoffs, Utah playoffs. While Robin and I are sitting back on our show going, no, they’re not a playoff team. Slow your roll. But national media did not slow their role. And so I think it’s once bitt and twice shy. That’s why everybody’s hesitant this year, which now we are sitting here going, “Okay, last year if they overachieved, they were in the playoffs. They didn’t overachieve.” This year, regular achievement should put them right at that playoff cut line. Agreed. It’s interesting when you talked about Clayton Keller and him not getting the recognition that he deserves. I mean, a 90point season is something that everyone should be talking about, especially with his age being so young. And I found it interesting because this is a topic I have unlocked on Blues all the time about Robert Thomas who in my opinion is one of the best players on the Blues by you know if we’re listen I think Jordan Bennington is phenomenal in net but again outside of the net and the national media doesn’t talk about Robert Thomas and this happens all the time and I can’t help but think is it because of the market that some of our teams are in that the national media just doesn’t draw attention to them because if you have a Clayton Keller right on a team like the Rangers who have a big market in New York, he would be talked about all the time if he was on Toronto. Definitely. Yep. It bothers me a lot because I feel like one thing that we can at least all agree on is that we all have players on our respective teams that deserve recognition nationally and don’t get that and it’s always like the Austin Matthews and the Conor McDavids. And I understand, you know, McDavid in a sense, but at the same time, when a player has a 90point season, how come that’s not a big talking point? I I don’t understand it. According to national media, there are two teams in the Western Conference, Edmonton and Vegas. Those are the only two teams in the Western Conference and Vegas. I’m sorry, but after putting Mark Stone on LTI and then all like I can’t stand the Golden Knights. I can’t stand them. And that’s something that we can all agree on. Wait till Petrangelo says he says he’s going to try to come back this year. Yeah, right. They’re hosing. And I love him. I love Alex. I mean, once our captain that raised the cup for us, but I hate the Golden Knights. The Golden Frauds. I swear they have No, they’re so corrupt. I could go on and on about this. This is why I don’t do collabs with Locked on Nights. I love the guys that do Locked on Golden Nights, Tony and all them. Yeah, I can’t do it. I I can’t Haley, I would watch that episode though. I would 100%. Haley, get a crossover going. I want to watch that episode. But they did to Mark Andre Flurry. One of I actually have a Golden Knight sweater of Mark Andre Flurry. Not because I wear it because I’m not a Knights fan, but because I couldn’t get one of him as a Penguin. And I was like, “Oh, well, this is one of the best goalies I’m going to watch in my lifetime.” And then he finds out through a tweet. Jack, can you hook her up with a Blackhawks flurry jersey? No. Oh my gosh. So, I have a buddy. I No, no, no, no. Funny story about that though. One of my dumb friends was had thought it would be a good idea to buy a Mark Andre Flurry Blackhawks. He got traded two days later. Hilarious. Hilarious. Oh, are you kidding me? That’s like having a Brod Blues jersey. I would want that jersey. I guess that’s true. It’s a collector’s item. Jack knows a guy. Jack knows a guy. Imagine price for a sweater and then two days later it’s on markdown for 75% off. Whole wall in the Nashville locker room store. We have a whole wall, friends, of 75% off in Philly. We have Ryan Ellis jerseys still. Like we love him. I know. But we didn’t get to see him like much really. It was like a couple. He was great. Just so you know. I know him, but he was amazing. I was excited. Well, if you win a Flyers Ryan Ellis jersey for like $10. We may We may need to talk off camera because Ryan Ellis, that’s a guy. It’s a human rocket ship scoring goals on the moon. Love that guy. Look that one up. I wonder do better though. I do. And and Ann, it’s not just because I like you, because I do. But I thank goodness see Stamco not turning it up this upcoming season. And that’s something I wanted to tell you on this crossover episode is that last season was a fluke. And I think a lot of people were counting out Nashville. And I think they’re wrong to do so because there’s still a lot of talent. However, I think that at the end of the day, um, you can’t have high expectations of them, obviously, but I mean, there’s no way that what we saw last season is who they are. That wouldn’t make sense. You know, it’s one of those things where this is the season that’s going to tell you everything you need to know about Nashville. And you’re probably going to know everything you need to know in the first 25 games. I don’t think you’ll need 82 games, but that’s the question. Was the 2023 24 team that overperformed the fluke or was last team that underperformed the fluke? We don’t know who this team is in Nashville. We have no new information after last season on what Nashville is capable of. Uh expectations are low here because I think we are just all beaten and battered. Like I’m telling you, we aged like two term presidents watching that unfold. It was a nightmare. It was a nightmare. So yeah, we’ll see if the Predators can even get close to sniffing a wild card. That’s our hope. We just we have lowered our hopes, friends. We just want to sniff the backside of a wild card team this year. It would be really really nice for us. That’s that’s quite the turn of phrase. It really sums up how we feel sadly. It really does. Before we wrap up this crossover division, uh, Haley, let everyone know where they can find the podcast on social media and online. Yep. So, I have daily episodes of Locked on Blues on YouTube if you search up Locked On Blues. We do shorts, we do videos, player exclusive interviews, and so much more. Also, check us out on Twitter at Locked OnB Blues where we live tweet different games and uh, have a little bit of an insight information about what goes on in Bluesand. Love that. Tom, where can everybody find Locked on Mammoth? So, you can find us at Locked On Mammoth. Certainly follow us on YouTube and like, follow, and subscribe for everybody here because we’re all fantastic at what we do. Uh, and also Lockdown Mammoth. You want to talk to me on Twitter, Callahan on air. I’m also on Blue Sky quite a bit, TomTalks. So, check it out. All right, Jack, where can we follow the Blackhawks this year? Yeah, you can find Locked On Blackhawks for free wherever you may be listening to your podcast. Check us out on YouTube as well on X. The account is capital L capital O Blackhawks. As for my personal, you can check me out, Jack Bushman, too. You can follow the Nashville Predators at Lockdown Predators. Get us wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Of course, we are on YouTube Monday through Friday as well. You can find us on social media, lore predators. That’s going to do it for this special spicy crossover edition of Locked on NHL Central Division. Thanks for so much for making us your first listen of the day. Make sure you follow our shows to keep up with these teams and uh we’re going to regroup sometime during the season and see how this all pans out, friends. Take care. Looking forward to it.

Can Connor Bedard break out and help pull the Chicago Blackhawks rebuild out of the muck? Are the Utah Mammoth primed to make a serious leap? Can the Nashville Predators shake off a shockingly miserable season? And are the St. Louis Blues really as good as they were down the stretch last year? In a special Central Division Hopefuls Round Table preview, Ann Kimmel (Locked On Predators), Haley Taylor Simon (Locked On Blues), Tom Callahan (Locked On Mammoth) and Jack Bushman (Locked On Blackhawks) talk about life in the bottom half of the NHL’s toughest division.

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOBlackhawks?sid=YouTube

Locked On NHL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Prospects & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNHL

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
Monarch Money

Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNHL at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnhl for 50% off your first year.

FanDuel
Download the FanDuel app now by visiting FanDuel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

#Blackhawks #NHLHockey #ChicagoBlackhawks