It's been a tough month for the Detroit Red Wings. Not only did they suffer the indignity of watching the Pittsburgh Penguins carry the Stanley Cup around their home ice in Joe Louis Arena, but they watched helplessly as three significant forwards -- Marian Hossa, Mikael Samuelsson and Jiri Hudler -- walked away via free agency.

What lies ahead for the 2009-10 season, in the words of Red Wings general manager Ken Holland, is "the most challenging regular season we've had since the early 1990s."

The Red Wings have won the Central Division every year since the Blue Jackets joined the league in 2000-01, an eight-season run that ranks as the longest current streak in the NHL.

But one must wonder whether a changing of the guard isn't on the horizon in the Central.

"It's becoming a very difficult division," Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson said. "All five teams nearly made the playoffs last season, and that could happen again."

Chicago is the sexy pick to dethrone Detroit this season.

The Blackhawks have stockpiled offensive talent at an alarming rate, highlighted by poaching Hossa -- a 40-goal scorer in 2008-09.

The Blue Jackets have a swell of young offensive talent, too, and they hope the free-agent addition of checking center Sami Pahlsson will help them go toe-to-toe with the elite centers on Chicago and Detroit.

The St. Louis Blues didn't do much in free agency, but they made the playoffs last season without top defenseman Erik Johnson (knee) and oft-injured winger Paul Kariya (hip). They expect to be much improved.

"It's the best and deepest division in hockey," Holland said. "Chicago is a young team, and they're for real. We all saw that last season, and they're better now.

"Look at the young players in Columbus to go with (Rick) Nash: (Derick) Brassard and (Jake) Voracek and (Steve) Mason. They're only getting better. Same with St. Louis. Nashville -- with Shea Weber, Ryan Suter and Dan Hamhuis -- has probably the best young defense in the NHL."

The Red Wings, due to salary-cap restrictions, took a half-step backward, losing their leading scorer (Hossa) and a player (Samuelsson) who had a knack for scoring big goals. Hudler, a "plus" third-line type, appears headed to Russia.

They'll likely be replaced by skilled winger Ville Leino and energy players such as Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader.

"Last season, we had a real margin for error because of our ability to score," Holland said. "We outscored our mistakes. We weren't very good on defense or the penalty kill for most of the season, but we could crank it up offensively.

"We still think we can roll out three pairs of defensemen who have no real weakness. But we won't be as explosive. We'll have to play tighter, and our scoring is going to come from our top two lines now, like most clubs."

Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock isn't buying that the Red Wings are suddenly vulnerable.

"Nobody has the knowledge Detroit does, from being through it so many years now," he said. "We can all talk about it, but until we put our teams through it and come out on the other side, it's all just talk.

"Until you beat that team, everything goes through Detroit."

aportzline@dispatch.com