| Formerly | Norris Division |
|---|---|
| Conference | Western Conference |
| League | National Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Founded | 1993 |
| No. of teams | 8 |
| Most recent champion | Winnipeg Jets (1st title) |
| Most titles | Detroit Red Wings (13 titles) |
TheNational Hockey League'sCentral Division was formed in 1993 as part of theWestern Conference in a league realignment. Its predecessor was theNorris Division, and it's also one of two successors to theNorthwest Division. TheChicago Blackhawks have been a member of the Central Division in all of its seasons since the original 1993 realignment. TheArizona Coyotes (as theoriginal Winnipeg Jets),Dallas Stars andSt. Louis Blues were also original members of the division, but were realigned to a different division for a while before returning; both the Coyotes and Stars were moved to thePacific Division in 1998 (the Stars moved back to the Central in 2013, and the Coyotes followed in 2021), while the Blues were moved to theWest Division during the temporary 2020–21 realignment. Three of its teams—theMinnesota Wild,Nashville Predators, andWinnipeg Jets (as theAtlanta Thrashers)—joined the NHL during aleague expansion phase between 1998 and 2000. The fourth team in that three-year expansion period, theColumbus Blue Jackets, was once a member of the Central Division, but moved to theMetropolitan Division after the 2013 realignment.
After the addition of theVegas Golden Knights to the Pacific Division in 2017, the Central Division was the only division in the NHL without eight teams. This situation remained in effect until the2020–21 NHL season, when theCOVID-19 pandemic compelled a radical re-alignment of the divisions, including the temporary abolition of the Eastern and Western conferences. The Central Division was the only existing division retained for the 2020–21 NHL season. Only three of the eight Central Division teams for 2020–21 were members of the division in the previous season.
The Central Division has sent five teams to theStanley Cup playoffs on seven occasions. In the first three seasons after the realignment of2013, Central Division teams occupied both Wild Card playoff spots in the Western Conference. This occurred again in the2018–19 season, for the fourth time in six seasons. In thepandemic-shortened 2019–20 season, all Central Division teams made the2020 Stanley Cup playoffs due to the 24-team format.
From the 2013–20 alignment to this grouping, the only change was the addition of the Arizona Coyotes, moved from the Pacific Division to make room there for the expansionSeattle Kraken.
| (#) | Denotes team that won theStanley Cup |
| (#) | Denotes team that won theClarence S. Campbell Bowl, but lostStanley Cup Finals |
| (#) | Denotes team that qualified for theStanley Cup playoffs |
| ‡ | Denotes winner of thePresidents' Trophy |
| Season | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993–94 | (1) Detroit(100) | (3) Toronto(98) | (4) Dallas(97) | (5) St. Louis(91) | (6) Chicago(87) | Winnipeg(57) | ||
| 1994–95[a] | (1) Detroit(70)‡ | (3) St. Louis(61) | (4) Chicago(53) | (5) Toronto(50) | (8) Dallas(42) | Winnipeg(39) | ||
| 1995–96 | (1) Detroit(131)‡ | (3) Chicago(94) | (4) Toronto(80) | (5) St. Louis(80) | (8) Winnipeg(78) | Dallas(66) | ||
| 1996–97 | (2) Dallas(104) | (3) Detroit(94) | (5) Phoenix(83) | (6) St. Louis(83) | (8) Chicago(81) | Toronto(68) | ||
| 1997–98 | (1) Dallas(109)‡ | (3) Detroit(103) | (4) St. Louis(98) | (6) Phoenix(82) | Chicago(73) | Toronto(69) | ||
| 1998–99 | (3) Detroit(93) | (5) St. Louis(87) | Chicago(70) | Nashville(63) | ||||
| 1999–2000 | (1) St. Louis(114)‡ | (4) Detroit(108) | Chicago(78) | Nashville(70) | ||||
| 2000–01 | (2) Detroit(111) | (4) St. Louis(103) | Nashville(80) | Chicago(71) | Columbus(71) | |||
| 2001–02 | (1) Detroit(116)‡ | (4) St. Louis(98) | (5) Chicago(96) | Nashville(69) | Columbus(57) | |||
| 2002–03 | (2) Detroit(110) | (5) St. Louis(99) | Chicago(79) | Nashville(74) | Columbus(69) | |||
| 2003–04 | (1) Detroit(109)‡ | (7) St. Louis(91) | (8) Nashville(91) | Columbus(62) | Chicago(59) | |||
| 2004–05 | No season due to2004–05 NHL lockout | |||||||
| 2005–06 | (1) Detroit(124)‡ | (4) Nashville(106) | Columbus(74) | Chicago(65) | St. Louis(57) | |||
| 2006–07 | (1) Detroit(113) | (4) Nashville(110) | St. Louis(81) | Columbus(73) | Chicago(71) | |||
| 2007–08 | (1) Detroit(115)‡ | (8) Nashville(91) | Chicago(88) | Columbus(80) | St. Louis(79) | |||
| 2008–09 | (2) Detroit(112) | (4)Chicago(104) | (6) St. Louis(92) | (7) Columbus(92) | Nashville(88) | |||
| 2009–10 | (2) Chicago(112) | (5) Detroit(102) | (7) Nashville(100) | St. Louis(90) | Columbus(79) | |||
| 2010–11 | (3) Detroit(104) | (5) Nashville(99) | (8) Chicago(97) | St. Louis(87) | Columbus(81) | |||
| 2011–12 | (2) St. Louis(109) | (4) Nashville(104) | (5) Detroit(102) | (6) Chicago(101) | Columbus(65) | |||
| 2012–13[b] | (1) Chicago(77)‡ | (4) St. Louis(60) | (7) Detroit(56) | Columbus(55) | Nashville(41) | |||
| 2013–14 | (1) Colorado(112) | (2) St. Louis(111) | (3) Chicago(107) | (WC1) Minnesota(98) | (WC2) Dallas(91) | Nashville(88) | Winnipeg(84) | |
| 2014–15 | (1) St. Louis(109) | (2) Nashville(104) | (3) Chicago(102) | (WC1) Minnesota(100) | (WC2) Winnipeg(99) | Dallas(92) | Colorado(90) | |
| 2015–16 | (1) Dallas(109) | (2) St. Louis(107) | (3) Chicago(103) | (WC1) Nashville(96) | (WC2) Minnesota(87) | Colorado(82) | Winnipeg(78) | |
| 2016–17 | (1) Chicago(109) | (2) Minnesota(106) | (3) St. Louis(99) | (WC2) Nashville(94) | Winnipeg(87) | Dallas(79) | Colorado(48) | |
| 2017–18 | (1) Nashville(117)‡ | (2) Winnipeg(114) | (3) Minnesota(101) | (WC2) Colorado(95) | St. Louis(94) | Dallas(92) | Chicago(76) | |
| 2018–19 | (1) Nashville(100) | (2) Winnipeg(99) | (3) St. Louis(99) | (WC1) Dallas(93) | (WC2) Colorado(90) | Chicago(84) | Minnesota(83) | |
| 2019–20[c] | (1) St. Louis (71 gp 94 pts. .662 ppct.) | (2) Colorado (70 gp 92 pts. .657 ppct.) | (4) Dallas (69 gp 82 pts. .594 ppct.) | (6) Nashville (69 gp 78 pts. .565 ppct.) | (9) Winnipeg (71 gp 80 pts. .563 ppct.) | (10) Minnesota (69 gp 77 pts. .558 ppct.) | (12) Chicago (70 gp 72 pts. .514 ppct.) | |
| 2020–21[d] | Temporary realignment for season | |||||||
| Carolina (80) | Florida (79) | Tampa Bay (75) | Nashville (64) | Dallas (60) | Chicago (55) | Detroit (48) | Columbus (48) | |
| 2021–22 | (1) Colorado(119) | (2) Minnesota(113) | (3) St. Louis(109) | (WC1) Dallas(98) | (WC2) Nashville(97) | Winnipeg(89) | Chicago(68) | Arizona(57) |
| 2022–23 | (1) Colorado(109) | (2) Dallas(108) | (3) Minnesota(103) | (WC2) Winnipeg(95) | Nashville(92) | St. Louis(81) | Arizona(70) | Chicago(59) |
| 2023–24 | (1) Dallas(113) | (2) Winnipeg(110) | (3) Colorado(107) | (WC1) Nashville(99) | St. Louis(92) | Minnesota(87) | Arizona(77) | Chicago(52) |
| 2024–25 | (1) Winnipeg(116)‡ | (2) Dallas(106) | (3) Colorado(102) | (WC1) Minnesota(97) | (WC2) St. Louis(96) | Utah(89) | Nashville(68) | Chicago(61) |
Teams inbold are currently in the division.
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