The teams at the bottom of the Central Division have a way to go to contend with the heavy hitters at the top, but there’s plenty of reason for optimism with the Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota Wild and Utah Hockey Club going into the 2024-25 season. In this Locked On NHL Season Preview Round Table, Seth Toupal (Locked On Wild), Haley Taylor Simon (Locked On Blues), Chicago Blackhawks (Locked On Blackhawks) and Tom Callahan (Locked On Utah Hockey Club) to break down the state of the Central Division’s playoff hopefuls. Will a second year of Connor Bedard help the Blackhawks improve? Can the Blues bounce back after a disappointing 2023-24? Are the Wild on the clock to convince Kirill Kaprizov to stay? And will the energy of a new fan base in a new city push a young Utah team to improve? All that, plus points over/unders, reasons for optimism, offseason additions, breakout players, and what’s at stake for these teams if they miss the playoffs once again.

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