Central

Nashville Predators

LAST SEASON 49-25-8, fourth in West; lost in first round to San Jose
KEY ADDITIONS C Jason Arnott, RW J.P. Dumont, C Josef Vasicek
KEY LOSSES D Mark Eaton, D Danny Markov, D Brendan Witt

AFTER OWNER Craig Leipold opened his checkbook this summer and increased the Predators' payroll by about 30% over last season's, Nashville is finally poised to pass Detroit and lay claim to being the strongboy in the NHL's weakest division. "A couple of years ago we had one offensive line and two or three defensive lines," says general manager David Poile. "This year I think we can roll out three lines that can really crank it up offensively. All nine of our top forwards are capable of scoring at least 20 goals."

Poile had a busy off-season, signing free-agent forwards Jason Arnott (five years, $22.5 million) and J.P. Dumont (two years, $4.5 million) and bringing back defenseman Marek Zidlicky (four years, $13.4 million). Then he gave 30-year-old goalie Tomas Vokoun the richest contract in franchise history: a four-year extension worth $22.8 million that runs through 2010--11. Left wing Paul Kariya (31 goals, 54 assists last season) is still the Predators' best offensive player, and the team may get some offensive pop from 20-year-old Alexander Radulov, their 2004 first-round pick who led the Quebec Major Junior League with 152 points in 62 games in 2005--06.

Though Nashville does have some uncertainty on the blue line--31-year-old Kimmo Timonen is the only defenseman with more than two seasons of NHL experience--Vokoun (36-18-0 record, .919 save percentage last season) thrives when facing a lot of shots. He and the goal scorers will be ushering in a new era in the Central Division this season.

Detroit Red Wings

LAST SEASON 58-16-8, first in West; lost in first round to Edmonton
KEY ADDITIONS G Dominik Hasek, G Danny Markov
KEY LOSSES LW Brendan Shanahan, C Steve Yzerman

THE LAST time the Red Wings started a season without Steve Yzerman was 1983--84. In the intervening 23 years they went from being a perennial joke (the Dead Things) to the NHL's most successful franchise. While Detroit will miss Yzerman, who retired as the longest-tenured captain in NHL history (20 years), the team still has veteran leadership in 44-year-old defenseman Chris Chelios, 37-year-old Mathieu Schneider and a dominant 36-year-old Nicklas Lidstrom (box, opposite page). That core will be rejoined by 41-year-old Dominik Hasek, who five seasons ago backstopped Detroit to the Stanley Cup. Hasek has been troubled by a chronic groin injury, but is determined to add a final flourish to a career in which he has won six Vezina Trophies and twice been named NHL MVP. (He had a 2.09 goals-against average in 43 games for Ottawa last season.)

While the Red Wings will rely on experience to keep opponents from scoring, they'll count on fresher legs to put the puck in the net at the other end. Top offensive performers Pavel Datsyuk (a team-high 87 points last season) and Henrik Zetterberg (39 goals, 46 assists) plus secondary weapons Mikael Samuelsson (23 goals) and Jason Williams (21 goals) are all between 26 and 29 years old. This is a powerful team, and the win-at-all-costs attitude embodied by Yzerman remains. "Guys played with Steve a long time," says coach Mike Babcock, "and hopefully learned a lot from him."

Columbus Blue Jackets