The National Hockey League's Central Division was formed in 1993 as part of the Western Conference in a league realignment. Its predecessor was the Norris Division and its also one of two successors to the Northwest Division. The Chicago Blackhawks have been a member of the Central Division in all of its seasons since the original 1993 realignment. The Arizona Coyotes (as the original Winnipeg Jets), Dallas Stars and St. 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 the Pacific Division in 1998 (the Stars moved back to the Central in 2013, and the Coyotes followed in 2021), while the Blues were moved to the West Division during the temporary 2021 realignment. Three of its teams—the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, and Winnipeg Jets (as the Atlanta Thrashers)—joined the NHL during a league expansion phase between 1998 and 2000. The fourth team in that three-year expansion period, the Columbus Blue Jackets, was once a member of the Central Division, but moved to the Metropolitan Division after the 2013 realignment.

After the addition of the Vegas 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 the 2020–21 NHL season, when the COVID-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 the Stanley Cup playoffs on seven occasions. In the first three seasons after the realignment of 2013, Central Division teams occupied both Wild Card playoff spots in the Western Conference. This occurred again in the 2018–19 season, for the fourth time in six seasons. In the pandemic-shortened 2019–20 season, all Central Division teams made the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs due to the 24-team format.

• 1994 – Detroit Red Wings (46–30–8, 100 pts)
• 1995 – Detroit Red Wings (33–11–4, 70 pts)
• 1996 – Detroit Red Wings (62–13–7, 131 pts)
• 1997 – Dallas Stars (48–26–8, 104 pts)
• 1998 – Dallas Stars (49–22–11, 109 pts)
• 1999 – Detroit Red Wings (43–32–7, 93 pts)
• 2000 – St. Louis Blues (51–19–11–1, 114 pts)
• 2001 – Detroit Red Wings (49–20–9–4, 111 pts)
• 2002 – Detroit Red Wings (51–17–10–4, 116 pts)
• 2003 – Detroit Red Wings (48–20–10–4, 110 pts)
• 2004 – Detroit Red Wings (48–21–11–2, 109 pts)
• 2005 – no season (NHL Lockout)
• 2006 – Detroit Red Wings (58–16–8, 124 pts)
• 2007 – Detroit Red Wings (50–19–13, 113 pts)
• 2008 – Detroit Red Wings (54–21–7, 115 pts)
• 2009 – Detroit Red Wings (51–21–10, 112 pts)
• 2010 – Chicago Blackhawks (52–22–8, 112 pts)
• 2011 – Detroit Red Wings (47–25–10, 104 pts)
• 2012 – St. Louis Blues (49–22–11, 109 pts)
• 2013 – Chicago Blackhawks (36–7–5, 77 pts)
• 2014 – Colorado Avalanche (52–22–8, 112 pts)
• 2015 – St. Louis Blues (51–24–7, 109 pts)
• 2016 – Dallas Stars (50–23–9, 109 pts)
• 2017 – Chicago Blackhawks (50–23–9, 109 pts)
• 2018 – Nashville Predators (53–18–11, 117 pts)
• 2019 – Nashville Predators (47–29–6, 100 pts)
• 2020 – St. Louis Blues (42–19–10, 94 pts)
• 2021 – Carolina Hurricanes (36–12–8, 80 pts)
• 2022 – Colorado Avalanche (56–19–7, 119 pts)
• 2023 – Colorado Avalanche (51–24–7, 109 pts)
• 2024 – Dallas Stars (52–21–9, 113 pts)

• 1997 – Detroit Red Wings
• 1998 – Detroit Red Wings
• 2002 – Detroit Red Wings
• 2008 – Detroit Red Wings
• 2010 – Chicago Blackhawks
• 2013 – Chicago Blackhawks
• 2015 – Chicago Blackhawks
• 2019 – St. Louis Blues
• 2021 – Tampa Bay Lightning
• 2022 – Colorado Avalanche

• 1995 – Detroit Red Wings
• 1996 – Detroit Red Wings
• 1998 – Dallas Stars
• 2000 – St. Louis Blues
• 2002 – Detroit Red Wings
• 2004 – Detroit Red Wings
• 2006 – Detroit Red Wings
• 2008 – Detroit Red Wings
• 2013 – Chicago Blackhawks
• 2018 – Nashville Predators

Teams in bold are currently in the division.