The Central Division. Eight teams. Eight hidden gems to help you win your league.
The Central Division is the deepest division in the Western Conference and arguably the most competitive in the entire NHL. The star power is undeniable and they will dominate every draft room conversation through the first few rounds. After that is exactly where the opportunity lies. These eight players are sitting quietly on draft boards waiting to be discovered. Here is one sleeper from every Central Division team for 2026-27.
Chicago Blackhawks — Bowen Byram | D
NHL.com identified Byram as one of their top breakout candidates heading into 2026-27, and the numbers behind that endorsement are compelling. He posted career highs last season and arrives in Chicago via trade to step into a role that few defencemen in this league would turn down: top-pairing minutes alongside Connor Bedard, with first power play unit responsibility on a Blackhawks team desperate for a blue line quarterback. He is projected to play 25-plus minutes per game, and his combination of skating, shot, and offensive instincts gives him the tools to challenge the 50-point mark for the first time in his career. Chicago needs him to be the defenceman that unlocks Bedard’s full offensive potential. He is capable of being exactly that.
Projection Tier: 50 to 59 Points
Floor: 45 Points
Expected: 55 Points
Ceiling: 63 Points
Fantasy Risk Rating: Medium
Opportunity: 5/5
Trend: Breakout
Colorado Avalanche — Jaden Schwartz | LW
Schwartz signed a three-year, $9.75 million deal with Colorado this offseason after injuries limited him to just 50 games last season. He arrives fully healthy on the best offensive team in the NHL. CBS Sports flagged him specifically as a sleeper for 2026-27, and the case is straightforward. A proven scorer playing top-six minutes alongside Nathan MacKinnon, who led the NHL with 53 goals and 127 points last season. It is not a situation where production is difficult to generate. It is a situation where production is almost inevitable. Schwartz has scored 20-plus goals multiple times in his career and is being drafted well outside the top 150 in most leagues. That gap between his ADP and his production ceiling is where your league advantage lives.
Projection Tier: 50 to 59 Points
Floor: 45 Points
Expected: 55 Points
Ceiling: 62 Points
Fantasy Risk Rating: Moderate
Opportunity: 5/5
Trend: Bounce Back
Dallas Stars — Roope Hintz | C
Hintz is one of the most consistently undervalued centres in the entire NHL. With Wyatt Johnston firmly established as Dallas’s first-line centre alongside Mikko Rantanen, Hintz projects as the second-line centre with Jason Robertson…a role that still carries significant fantasy value on one of the deepest offensive teams in the Western Conference. On a Stars team this loaded, second-line minutes are first-line minutes on most other franchises. He had posted back-to-back 60-plus point seasons before a dip last season due to injury, and is now entering his prime at 27 years old. He plays on a power play unit that finished top-ten in the league last season. He is a proven producer in a deep offensive environment being drafted conservatively in most leagues.
Projection Tier: 70 to 79 Points
Floor: 65 Points
Expected: 75 Points
Ceiling: 82 Points
Fantasy Risk Rating: Low
Opportunity: 5/5
Trend: Stable
Minnesota Wild — Blake Coleman | LW
NHL.com flagged Coleman as one of their top sleeper picks of the entire offseason after he was acquired from Calgary this summer, and the numbers behind that endorsement are quietly staggering. He is a four-time 20-goal scorer who posted 20 goals and 150-plus hits in fewer than 70 games last season…one of only two players in the entire NHL to accomplish that alongside Brady Tkachuk. His four shorthanded goals last season ranked tied for second in the league. Minnesota just came off their first playoff series win since 2015, and Coleman gives them the compete-level forward they have been missing. He is going undrafted on average in most leagues.
Projection Tier: 40 to 49 Points
Floor: 38 Points
Expected: 45 Points
Ceiling: 52 Points
Fantasy Risk Rating: Low
Opportunity: 5/5
Trend: Trending Up
Nashville Predators — Mavrik Bourque | C
Bourque was acquired from Dallas this offseason and immediately becomes one of the most intriguing young centres in the Central Division. He set NHL career highs last season with 41 points in 82 games, including 20 goals and 21 assists, and steps into Nashville as a featured top-six piece on a Predators team that is rebuilding around youth and needs him to be a primary offensive driver. At 24 years old in his third full NHL season, the upside is significant. A player with speed, skill, and offensive instincts does not plateau at 41 points. Nashville gives him the ice time, the power play responsibility, and the offensive freedom to find out exactly what his ceiling is. The answer could surprise a lot of fantasy managers who are not paying attention.
Projection Tier: 50 to 59 Points
Floor: 45 Points
Expected: 55 Points
Ceiling: 63 Points
Fantasy Risk Rating: Moderate
Opportunity: 5/5
Trend: Trending Up
St. Louis Blues — Joel Hofer | G
NHL.com and Yahoo Sports both flagged Hofer as one of the most compelling goaltending sleepers in the entire league, and the numbers from his 2025-26 season make the case emphatically. After the Olympic break he went 12-2-2 with a .933 save percentage and a 2.04 goals-against average. He posted career bests in wins, goals-against average, and shutouts last season, and now enters 2026-27 as the full-time starter in St. Louis with Jordan Binnington’s role significantly diminished after a disastrous campaign. The Blues play a structured defensive system that keeps shot volumes manageable, and Hofer’s underlying numbers suggest he is more than capable of thriving within it. He is a top-twelve fantasy goaltender available well outside that range in most drafts.
Projection Tier: 30 to 34 Wins
Floor: 27 Wins
Expected: 32 Wins
Ceiling: 36 Wins
Fantasy Risk Rating: Moderate
Opportunity: 5/5
Trend: Breakout
Utah Mammoth — Dylan Guenther | RW
ESPN ranked Guenther 25th overall in their early fantasy rankings and he is still going well outside that range in most drafts. The 22-year-old winger plays alongside Clayton Keller on one of the most productive first lines in the Western Conference, has power play time on a unit that finished top-ten in the league last season, and enters 2026-27 coming off a season where he established himself as a legitimate top-six NHL winger. Utah reached the playoffs for the first time in franchise history last season, and the roster is better heading into 2026-27 with Anders Lee arriving on a three-year deal. Guenther is the most exciting young offensive piece on a team that is quietly building into a genuine contender. His draft-day cost does not reflect that yet.
Projection Tier: 70 to 79 Points
Floor: 68 Points
Expected: 75 Points
Ceiling: 80 Points
Fantasy Risk Rating: Low
Opportunity: 5/5
Trend: Trending Up
Winnipeg Jets — Cole Perfetti | C
The Hellebuyck trade request has dominated every Winnipeg conversation this offseason, and buried underneath all of that noise is a fantasy asset that is being ignored. Cole Perfetti is a young, skilled centre who has been developing quietly in Winnipeg’s system and enters 2026-27 with the best opportunity of his career. NHL.com flagged him as a breakout candidate, and the reasoning is sound: the Jets’ current roster creates expanded roles for their young forwards, and Perfetti is the most offensively gifted of the group. He is fast, creative, and has the kind of playmaking instincts that produce fantasy points regardless of the chaos surrounding his team. Draft him late and let the upside take care of itself.
Projection Tier: 50 to 59 Points
Floor: 45 Points
Expected: 55 Points
Ceiling: 63 Points
Fantasy Risk Rating: Moderate
Opportunity: 5/5
Trend: Breakout
The Pacific Division sleepers are coming next. Stay tuned.
Statistics and analyst insights sourced from NHL.com, CBS Sports, ESPN Fantasy, DobberHockey, Daily Faceoff, Yardbarker, and Yahoo Sports Fantasy, September 2026.
— The Add List +