Going into the 2017-18 regular season, the Central Division seemed like a tossup for the most part. The Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues, and Chicago Blues all seemed to have a legitimate claim at supremacy.
While the top of the division seemed to be open for the taking, the bottom of the division seemed to be a lock.
The Colorado Avalanche were expected to claim dead last in the division for a second year, and the expectations were properly justified.
That’s because last year, the Avalanche were flat out terrible. They posted a record of 22-56-4 with 48 points, plotting them 31 points (16 wins) away from the next closest team, which happened to be Dallas.