After THREE-STRAIGHT Conference Finals losses, the Dallas Stars NEED a playoff breakthrough

After THREE-STRAIGHT Conference Finals losses, the Dallas Stars NEED a playoff breakthrough

on this special season preview edition of the lockdown NHL podcast. Will the Wild, the ABS, the Stars, and the Jets all find the postseason in 2025 2026, or will somebody be left out in the cold? This is the Locked On Network’s 2025 NHL season preview. Your team every day. And good evening and welcome into a special season preview edition of the locked on NHL podcast. We are your daily podcast on the NHL and we are your team each and every day. We thank you for making these shows your first listen each and every day. Make sure to subscribe on all of your favorite audio platforms and YouTube so you don’t miss out on any new episodes throughout the week. On this preview edition, we are going to take a look at the four teams most likely to contend in the Central Division in 2025 2026. We’re talking big offseason editions, breakout players, and what’s at stake. My name is Seth Topppal, host of Locked on Wild, joined by Chris Melli of Locked On Avalanche, Harrison Lee of Locked On Winnipeg Jets, and Joey Ericson of Locked On Stars, the four teams most likely to make noise in 2025, 2026. As long as Carell Capri off signs on the dotted line, guys, we’re we’ll get into that as the show unfolds, I’m sure. But let’s just start with last year’s division champions, the Winnipeg Jets. And Harrison, we’re we’re going into the season. We’re optimistic about uh things going like they did this past year. Or are you? What are some signs for optimism for the Jets in 2025 2026? Well, uh, I suppose when you’ve ascended the mountain of quality, you know, how can you possibly tumble down, which is basically what every president’s trophy team tells themselves and then they tumble down. Um, that’s not going to be the Jets. Uh, I think Winnipeg will still be a very good team. Um, I think that there’s a lot of excitement. Uh, if you can believe it, a preseason game, and we’re going to pretend Montreal doesn’t exist because the Havs fans are crazy and their prospect showdown was uh, through the roof. But the Jets still drew 14 a half thousand fans last night uh for a preseason game. So the hype around the team is legit. Um tomorrow they’ll have a chance well as of this recording it’ll be you know the Tuesday debut for Jonathan Taves in preeason. Um but that’s kind of where I start to have some questions. Uh the Jets definitely got older. Um and I don’t know that the fan base necessarily sees it that way. Um, yep. They’ve brought in veteran experience in Nyquist. Uh, which if it was Nyquist of like five years ago, I’d be jazzed. I think he was on my trade deadline list for like half a decade. Um, but you know, that version of him, Taves, two years off the ice. Uh, Pearson, who can still shoot but maybe doesn’t have the creativ uh creative flare he used to. Um, to me it just feels like this year, if I can even call it this, is a bit of a gap year. Um, the Jets have this three-year competitive window, but based on what they’re doing so far, I don’t know that they’re nearly as locked in for the season. Uh, we’ll see what they do with the trade deadline, but, you know, I think the regular season will be fine. I think they’ll finish somewhere in the top four of the Central, probably third or fourth. Uh, but once you start getting into the playoffs, that’s probably where I think my optimism tails off. H Chris, the return, the hopeful return of the captain, uh is that a big reason for optimism for the ABS or are there a few other things that have you feeling like the ABS could make a run this year? That’s definitely one. You can’t uh kind of deny that. So, him him having a return uh you got a little bit of a glimpse of it in the playoffs. So, and he seems like he’s as healthy as one can be at his age and coming back from from that injury. So, yeah, definitely because I think, you know, not having he’s been around, right? Like, but he’s not been, you know, he doesn’t travel with the team all the time or he didn’t. Uh, and you’re already seeing like the importance of just having a captain around the team in the locker room. and when it’s uh you know a captain of Gabe Landiskog stature like it go it does go a long way. So yes that is absolutely a big factor. Um and I think for for there’s kind of two sides in the ABS world right now and and because they pretty much just they had a couple uh signings in this off seasonason. They didn’t go crazy. they pretty much held firm and they’re pretty much just saying uh we you know and and you heard it a lot like every going into that that first round match up with the Stars. It was like it’s almost unfair that one of these teams has to be the loser and they’re feeling like okay well if if that’s if that’s the talking point, why blow this whole thing up? We were 11 minutes away from winning that series. They like the team that they had. They added a couple pieces here and there. They bring Brock Nelson back. they that was really their biggest signing uh along with like Brent Burns. So, so they really kind of kept things status quo and feel like change things in those last 11 minutes and we move on. Uh Joey, Peter Dbor talked his way out of Dallas which ushers in a new era of Dallas Stars hockey with a lot of the same roster. Uh what what has you optimistic for the 2025 2026 Stars season? the Stars still have their core pieces there. Um, and general manager Jim Noah has made it clear. Um, and I I think u this is sort of what the season’s going to be defined for for Dallas’s is is which young players are going to step up? Can Maverick Bourke can he enter into your top six and be a guy who you thought he was uh you know when you drafted him? Uh is Sam Steel a guy that can elevate in the lineup? Uh because you lost some some scoring on the left side with Donov and Marchman. Those are two guys that scored 20 goals. So, you’re going to have to find some guys um that that can elevate maybe in the lineup um and step up um and give you big minutes, but the core is still there, right? You have your white Johnson’s, your Jason Robertson’s, and I didn’t get to Miko Rantinon yet. You’re going to get a full 82 games out of Miko Rantin. He’s finally uh settled. Um he’s going to get a full training camp. So, the stars uh I think are in a really good spot. It should be really good. Um again, uh now it’s just about can Gol can Glenn Goldson get them over the top. Um and it’s not fair to to it’s not fair to judge him on that first go round in Dallas Stars were in bankruptcy. Um Louis Ericson, one of my favorite Dallas Stars players ever, but like he was a lead scoreer. Uh that that roster wasn’t very good. They got rid of Brad Richards and all that. So um he’s being given a really good roster. Um and he he’s he’s stated that it’s all about it’s an opportunity for him. Um, and what I think I think a lot of Stars fans are looking forward to, he’s made a a pretty pretty uh pretty obvious statement that he wants to be more physical. So, we’ll see if they can marry those two together. Okay. I can’t wait to re-record everything that I say for this show depending on how the Carroll Capri off situation plays out. Yeah, but I mean for this year it like he’s he’s he’s all set for this year. Yeah. So, honestly, you mean like, you know, honestly, trading? I mean, there’s just there’s just like this prevailing panic in Minnesota. Uh, national media, local media, fans alike are all concerned that this situation has just completely spiraled out of control. You got to trade him. You got to you got to get something back in return because why would he wait to sign? Why would he not sign on the dotted line already? Because you’d be crazy to not take eight years, right? Let’s let’s fact check this a little bit. Let’s let’s just throw some logic in here. So, we know the salary cap’s going up substantially. So, you as one of the premier players in the league are going to lock into an eight-year deal right while that’s going on. No. No, you’re not going to. Conor McDavid is also in the exact same situation. This is a staring contest. This is a standoff between the two. I’m not particularly worried that Carrill is going to to leave because I think that would have already been intimated by now if that’s what he wanted to do. So, I have optimism that we’re going to see more than 41 games from Carell Capri off this year. I have optimism that we’re going to see more than 46 games from Juel Erikson. I have optimism that some of the young players on this roster will take steps, will get opportunities to fill meaningful roles on the roster. And I am of the belief that we saw enough from this team early on to know that there is a working formula there. It’s just a matter of being able to get that formula on the ice more often than it is not. So, I you know, the the Minnesota Wild had the best record in the NHL. They had the most points in the NHL in early December. That’s not a fluke. I’m optimistic about that. And I’m optimistic about the four-year deal that Carroll will sign for 17.5 million. I’m just number as long as your GM’s not Jerry Jones or Nico Harrison, you’re going to be fine. All right. They’ll get the deal done. They don’t have to trade away your young superstar. Well, uh, let’s we’re we’re going to sneak in a break. Uh, when we come back, we’ll take a look at the numbers for all of our teams as far as points go, and we’ll talk about big offseason editions. That’s all coming up as we continue this special season preview edition of Locked on NHL right after this. 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That’s 50% off your first year at monarchmoney.com with code locked on NHL. And welcome back to today’s special season preview edition of Locked on NHL. Once again, we are your team each and every day and we are your first listen each and every day as well. Gentlemen, let’s talk about the season point totals courtesy of FanDuel. I’ve got them on the screen for those watching. on YouTube and uh I will just call out the number and uh give it to the corresponding host to uh to tell me if you think your team goes over or under those numbers. Uh Harrison, we’ll start with you again. 98 a half points for the Winnipeg Jets. Do you think the Jets go over or under? really annoying one because it’s it’s right where I would probably feel pretty comfortable about it. 90 98 and a half is I mean that’s I’m going to say over probably by one or two points. Um I think that they will be closer to 100 than they are uh away from it. So I’ll I’ll go with the over. Okay. Uh Joey 106.5. Are you going over or under for the stars? This feels a a touch high for me. So, I would probably go under, but I would put them in the mix at that 106 number. I feel like they’re going to regress just a touch, but I’d put them around the the 100 point marking in a new coach. I feel like there’s going to be some growing pains and they play a pretty tough schedule right off the hop. Uh they got Winnipeg, they got Minnesota, they got Colorado, all the teams here. Um, and they got a lot of playoff teams like in in the first, you know, 15 to 20 games. So, I I think there may be some growing pains early. So, I don’t see them getting to 106 like they did last year. Um, so I I I would go under there. Uh, Chris, 104.5 for the ABS. What are you thinking? Over or under? All right. So, I want to preface this by saying uh we we did an episode on this for the Central uh a few weeks ago and these numbers have changed because when we did the episode both the Stars and the Avalanche were at 105 and a half. Um and I had picked Dallas to go over that. I picked I thought I thought I do think Dallas is going to have a uh a fantastic season. I I had them at like I put them at like 110. I think they’re going to just Dallas figures it out if you ask me. They always just figure out a way to to win games and be at the top of the standings. I think they’re going to be one of the top teams in the league. I put the ABS at under when it was 105 because I had them at 105. So now that it’s down to 104.5, I gotta go over by half a point and keep what I had said during our episode. So, um I think they’re they’re going to be one two in the division, but I think Dallas, I guess if a five six point lead is a runaway is is as much of a runaway with the division as as it can be. And half of me says that because I’m wrong on so many things when it comes to picking this stuff. So, uh keep that in mind, too. As far as the Wild go, 96 and a half. Um, I am going to go over here again. There’s no possible way that they can be injured as much as they were last year. Right. Right. Right. Right. Um, I guess we’ll find out. But I do think that if the Wild manage to have like 60% of the injuries even that they had last year, I think they can I think they can find 100 points there. Uh, let’s talk off season additions. I’ll start with me. I’ll start with the Wild. Uh, biggest offseason acquisition by each of our teams. There wasn’t a ton that was done by the Minnesota Wild this off seasonason. They went they went chasing. They were in the DMs with Brock Nelson. They were in the DMs with Brock Basser. Uh, didn’t work out. There were a lot of players that just opted to stay where they were at this off season. and the Wilds just did not really they didn’t get much connection on any of those. So, they opted not to try to go crazy with it. So, they bring in Vladimir Terasenko who was on a terrible Detroit team last year. Had some of his lowest numbers as an NHLer in a full season. So, again, common theme here with the Minnesota Wild is he can’t be he can’t perform that poorly again this year, right? And so far he is one of the he’s one of the bright spots of training camp for the Minnesota Wild. He looks the part. He’s been aggressive. And I’m telling you, if he can fill that second line wing spot that has been just a a black hole since Kevin Fiao was traded, if he can fill that spot, even with 20 goals, this offense is going to be the best that it’s been since that 2021 2022 season. It’s been that big of a void. And I’m leaning towards I think he can do it cuz I think he kind of knows where he’s at in his career. If he wants another contractor to keep playing, he’s got to pick it up. So I I think Terasenko can be the guy to fill that void. If he doesn’t, then it’s going to be a oneline team again that’s going to struggle offensively and uh then they’re going to be kind of right back where they were. So common theme, it can’t be as bad as last year, right? We’ll see. Uh Chris, who was the biggest offseason acquisition or retention? Um because I I I think the common theme for many of these teams is we we don’t have oodles of cash to spend. We’re not the Ducks. We’re not the Sharks. We’re not trying to get to the cap floor. Uh so there’s not a ton of money to spend. So what was the biggest addition or retention for the ABS? Can I say in a weird kind of way Gabe Landiskog because he hasn’t played for three years, right? That that’s that’s one we kind of talked about him as to why. Yeah, it was it was a very quiet off seasonason for the Az, but the moves that they did make kind of a a good impact or should have a good impact. Um, I mentioned Brent Burns. It’s weird to say a 40year-old uh third pairing defenseman is uh you know maybe one of their bigger acquisitions, but it’s more than just the position he’s playing. It’s what he brings in the locker room. It’s who he’s paired going to be paired with in Sam Molinsky who is, you know, a younger defenseman who’s going to be asked to take on a little bit more. and you know putting them two together on the ice and you know just giving his knowledge to a younger guy I think is is perfect. Um and then as far as a retention uh Brock Nelson I think was huge because you know the ABS have struggled for years to solidify the 2C position since since Nasam Kadri left it has been a revolving door. Um and I was a little bit surprised that they they they were able to keep him. I thought he was out the door. Thought he was going up north to you guys, Seth, to be totally honest. Um, and word is Zach Paresi of all people was in on keeping him in Colorado. I don’t mean to twist the knife, but that’s that’s so tough, Seth. That’s so tough. Not. So, it was Devont Taves, uh, former Islander, obviously, who who played with him, and Zach Perez, who who kind of convinced Brock Nelson to stay in Colorado. Pretty wild. Good. I don’t like paying him $7 million a year after he’s done playing anyway. Wow. I I did not know that. So, that uh that reaction was real and in real time. That’s why we that’s why we do these. Uh Harrison, biggest offseason addition for the Winnipeg Jets. this year. Well, uh, that’s easy. It’s a guy who hasn’t played in two years and had long co. So, uh, I mean, how do you even expect anything? Jonathan Taves coming back. Um, I have called him our little mystery box. Uh, he I mean, he’s he’s coming back to practice. He’s I’ve heard he’s rusty, which I’m like, yeah, go figure. The guy hasn’t played in two years. Um, it’s just kind of what you expect. Uh the Athletic I think framed that as a good thing and I’m like ordinarily I’d be fine with it but you know they are kind of asking him to be the 2C at the start. Uh so I’m kind of a little perplexed by that. You know I know Adam Lowry’s hurt but maybe you don’t ask the guy who hasn’t been on the ice in two years to immediately be in your top six. It just seems a little risky. Uh, like I know the hands and IQ are certainly there, but man, like this is just for a team that was a president’s trophy team, that’s a really big gamble to take. Uh, so who else did they bring in? Right. Well, surely they brought in young, fervent talent that can help move this team ahead and into um a cup contender status, right? Uh, we’re asking that question a lot in this episode. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so they brought in uh Gus Nyquist uh who you know I alluded to earlier. I I do have a bit of a soft spot many years ago. Um, but I kind of look at him as sort of if anyone watches football overseas. You have those 36 year old strikers who basically don’t run. They just sort of sit by the net and hope something comes to them. That’s kind of what I think Gus is going to do. I think he’s going to poach like 20 25 goals. Um, and that’s probably the most you can expect from him. Uh but he is Swedish and that’s always a winner in my book. Um so you know any time I can yell goose really loudly I think that’s going to be a great chance. Um and I think what he’s had some time with a wild if I recall correctly. Is that is am I is my memory serving me right? Yeah it was a while ago. Yeah he had one he had one very good stint and then he had a stint that uh it’s like when you are marked present during a class. Oh good. That’s the participation award. Wonderful. So he was there. Uh so hopefully, you know, he’s going to be on the second line with Taves, uh with Coletti. That’s going to be probably one of the slowest lines in the league, but you know, there’s hopefully enough skill to compensate. These acquisitions were all signed for one year. I don’t think that there’s a really big expectation that this team is going to be u the best Jets team ever. You know, I don’t feel that from the front office. uh they had to have Mark Shiffley do a an article saying he was happy with the offseason, which doesn’t feel um like the kind of thing you should have to have somebody say. Uh but you know, the Jets, they’ll be good, right? They’ll be good. Um I think this just feels for me, and they won’t frame it this way. They’re not going to say it, and they probably hope it doesn’t happen, but this does kind of feel like the sort of offseason where you’re thinking about this upcoming year as a transition year. What will it be at the end? Lord only knows. Uh, but hopefully, you know, our House of Retirees with the seventh oldest roster, uh, pulls through and actually wins more than six playoff games. That’d be awesome. Uh, Joey, biggest and most impactful offseason edition for the Dallas Stars or 10. Yeah, I’ll probably keep this pretty short. Not a lot of sexy uh here. Um, so really I’m choosing between a couple of fourth liners, but but weirdly enough, I I think in the in the Stars eyes like like these are big moves. So, they went out and added Ratic Foxa again. Why? I don’t know. They have a Ratic Foxa at home. His name’s Oscar back. Uh I just they told us for two years that this guy’s Oscar that that he is Radatic Boxa. Looked pretty decent last year and then we went and added 2.0. So, I guess we got a little Radic Fox Oscar Beck dynamic duo on the fourth line. So, watch out Central Division. But, um I I throw Nathan Bastion in that conversation um as well. Golitin has made a point, this goes back to sort of that physicality speak. He he wants to just increase the Stars physicality by like 1% during the the regular season and he he doesn’t want uh this team to change their identity, right? The Stars are good and as Chris said, for the most part, they seem to figure it out. They don’t need to run around and and and chase after hits. They’re not looking to lead the the league um in hit totals because most of the time that means you don’t have the the puck um on your stick. but they want to be ready come playoff time for some of those hand-to-hand combats as he says. And and why I’m pretty bullish on Goldson is he’s made the statement he wants to play road hockey. That’s kind of how he he he he he finds uh that’s kind of his approach um at all times and that’s on the power play too penalty kill five on five. He wants to sort of increase that sort of play um into some of these you know younger guys like like a Wyatt Johnston and Bourke. They just need to be a little bit tougher to play against because they got bullied around by by uh by McDavid and the Oilers the last couple years. Uh we’re going to finish the show taking a look at what is at stake for all of these teams. I’ll give you a hint. These are all going to be teams that are going for the playoffs. We’ll talk about that and breakout candidates as we finish today’s season preview edition of Lockdown NHL. final segment of today’s preview edition of Locked on NHL. Once again, we are your team each and every day and we are your first listen each and every day as well. Make sure you subscribe on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform so you don’t miss out on any new episodes throughout the week leading up to the start of the season. All right, fellas. What is at stake? I mean, it’s pretty obvious that all of these teams are angling for playoff spots. Playoffs are the goal beyond the playoffs are the goal, but everybody at minimum is uh is pushing for the postseason this year. So, we’re just going to go around and what is at stake if that doesn’t happen? And I’m going to I’m going to go last here. Uh let’s start Joey. Let’s start with you. What is at stake for the Stars this year if they don’t make the postseason? Yeah. Well, it it feels like even bigger changes may have to come. Uh I think there will actually be a a firm changing of the guard because they they retain Jamie Ben for uh another year. It feels like if they’re not able to to get it done or at least make the postseason, then they’re sort of in that Sharks conversation uh like the early kind of late 2000s or 2010s, right? Where they were just like they’re really good. They won a lot of games, but they just were not able to to to seal the deal. Um, and it’s tough to do. We all know it’s the the hardest trophy to to to win in sports, but it feels like with Ben getting another year older, feels like his time may be out. Um, and then the Stars are are really I think they are ushering in a brand new era of stars hockey. Um, and it’s going to have to then you’re really going to have to rely on your Wyatt Johnson of the world. it’s going to be these young guys um that that are are really going to have to step up with some of the older guys, you know, maybe sort of aging out. I just I feel like there if you’re Jim N, you’ve pressed sort of all the buttons you feel like you can press. You’ve put together a really really good roster for uh what six, seven years now. Um you’ve tried a couple different coaches. Um, at some point I I think you’re gonna have to maybe look and be like, “Okay, like we’re gonna have to, you know, we’re gonna have to change something on this roster because we’ve kept it pretty similar for, you know, years on years. Um, and he believes it’s a good roster. He believes it can probably win a Stanley Cup. Why shouldn’t he? He’s been given the GM of the year award three straight years, but but we all know he wants to to win the Stanley Cup.” Uh, Chris, what’s at stake for the ABS this year if they would uh fail to make the playoffs? Oh god. if they I mean if they fail to make the playoffs, yeah, heads are rolling. Um I I I there were people asking, does there need to be a coaching change a after last year after the uh the first round exit to Dallas with Jared Bedar? He’s he’s been there almost a decade at that time. Um and is it just like they just need like a a new voice, a fresh voice? I don’t think he’s hasn’t lost the locker room or anything like that. They they respect him. The players respect him. they play for him. Um, the fan base loves him. The the front office loves him. It was just one of those things. Is is tenure a bad thing when it comes to head coaches? Sometimes the answer to that is yes. They’re not there. They they they came out after they lost that series and Joe Sack and Chris McFarland had their press conference and pretty much shut that down right away. It was like, “No, he he’s our coach.” um they they wouldn’t commit to how long or anything like that, but because I think you do have to kind of take this year by year. Um if they miss the playoffs, I I I don’t I can’t imagine, you know, I think there there would have to be a change there. I would say even another first round exit and we’re having this conversation. We are they they they need to go deep. Uh minimally they need to go Western Conference Finals. they have to. Uh, as far as the Wild go, um, this is going to be a fascinating season on many different fronts because now you have finally gotten out from the shadow of the Perez Sudter dead cap nightmare hits. Uh, they’re still getting paid via their buyouts, but it’s that’s manageable. It’s like $1.8 million between the two of them. That’s manageable. Um, so now you don’t have any excuses. You don’t have any excuses. You can’t turn and say, “Well, we have been dealing with these, you know, massive cap penalties. How do you expect us to feel a truly competitive team by having $15 million that we can’t spend?” Well, now you have $15 million that you can spend. And a lot of that has gone to extensions. A lot of it’s gone to, you know, retaining key players. A lot of it will go to Gorilla Capri off if he uh sticks around. But you have to um you have to now like let’s say Carrill signs year one you got to be you got to be in your window like you you don’t really have the opportunity to be able to say we got to build up to this. What have you been doing the last five years like you just have to you just have to start taking legitimate shots and that means I think if they fail to do so that Bill Garen seed is going to get hotter and hotter. don’t think I’ve maintained all along that if for some reason Carrill doesn’t stay I don’t think Bill Garren keeps his job because I don’t see how you survive that um considering how important Carrill is to this franchise. That being said, if they do keep Carrill and we keep stacking up first round exits, at some point the bill comes due. At some point Bill Garren is going to run out of chances. And I will say this as well, he’s not going to get an opportunity to install another head coach. If this team struggles this year and if it becomes clear that a change needs to be made, Bill Garren is not getting another opportunity to install a coach. That may be when his seat starts to get hot. So, if this team misses the playoffs, all the burners are going to be flipped on. Uh Harrison, what is at stake for the Jets this year? Should they not make the playoffs? Oh joy. Uh I know more. So there is a scenario in my head where the Jets don’t make the playoffs. Um and I don’t think it’s like 5% like you would expect. Uh if Heli has one of his down years, which we haven’t I mean we’re overdue, you know, he’s overdue for a stinker, which I I mean I don’t think is going to happen. Uh if the guy has a bad season, I’m buying a lotto ticket because there’s no way, right? But let’s just say it happens. If he does and this team can’t compensate, which for as stingy as they are, I I mean, everything is built out from the net in terms of team success, uh there’s a very real chance the Jets might be sellers come the trade deadline, and I am not mad at that. Uh I think you’ll see some fan push back. I think people will be pissed about it. I think you’ll see some ticket sales uh decline, but if the Jets start slipping into territory where they’re looking at a top half of the first round pick, uh I would qualify that as an okay result. This year doesn’t feel like the Jets are a very serious playoff team. They’ll absolutely make it, but they are not a contender. Not as is. It would take something which is certainly possible to happen like a big trade, some game ch gamechanging deal for me to have a different assessment. Uh but I’ve I’ve seen this show a ton of times. You know, it’s not really a unique script. So for me, you know, look, there will be some heat, but if the Jets don’t really do that well, I I think they’ve already got the Taves factor to try and keep the shine going for as long as possible. Oh my gosh, it’s Jonathan Taves is going to carry them and sell jerseys for for months who you know, maybe even years. Uh that’s going to be a lot of positive sentiment. So, if things don’t go well, I don’t know that there’s going to be that much pressure. Even if there was, no one in Winnipeg gets fired. Like, come on. Uh like, let’s be real, no one gets fired. For me, there should be heat because last trade deadline was probably one of the biggest disappointments possible. That was your year. And you got Luke Shannon Tanv, which by the way cost them like multiple second round picks and took them out of offer sheet territory. So Winnipeg is as Winnipeg does. They’ll be there in the mix. They’ll be, you know, a team that everyone hates playing against. Uh, everyone will be happy about the white out. Then when the first round exit comes, you know, it’s it’s back to the drawing board. What possibly went wrong? I don’t know. All right, I think that is going to wrap it up for this special season preview edition of Locked On NHL. Listeners, as always, make sure to follow Locked on Wild, Locked On ABS, Locked On Jets, and Locked On Stars for full coverage of all of these contending teams as we get closer to the start of the season. You can find new episodes every Monday through Friday as part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. We are your team every day as part of the Locked On podcast network.

*RECORDED BEFORE KIRILL KAPRIZOV SIGNED THE LARGEST CONTRACT IN NHL HISTORY

Can the Winnipeg Jets repeat as President’s Trophy winners despite major offseason losses? Are the Colorado Avalanche under pressure to make a deep playoff run? Will the Dallas Stars finally make a Stanley Cup Final after three-straight Conference Final exits? And what about the Minnesota Wild, who are finally free from salary cap hell? In a special Central Contenders Round Table season preview, Seth Toupal (Locked On Wild), Chris Micieli (Locked On Avalanche), Joey Erickson (Locked On Stars) and Harrison Lee (Locked On Jets) team up to take stock of the best teams in arguably the NHL’s best division. They run through each team’s over/under projections on FanDuel, take stock of the biggest storylines around each team, discuss breakout candidates and offseason additions, and what’s at stake for all of these teams if they don’t meet expectations.

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