How will the Metropolitan Division shake out? Our predictions for the Metro Division

The NHL regular season has now officially begun as the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabers kicked off the season yesterday in Prague as part of a two-game set before returning to the United States.

The Carolina Hurricanes officially open their 2024-2025 season next Friday, hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning as they usher in a new era without longtime captain Steven Stamkos, who signed with the Nashville Predators this summer.

Related: Assembling the Greatest Roster of All Time for the Whalers/Hurricanes Franchise: Who Makes the Cut?

Despite losing some key players like Jake Guentzel, Teuvo Teravainen, Stefan Noesen and Brady Skjei, the Hurricanes still believe they are in a position to finish in the top three in the Metropolitan Division.

The Metropolitan Division should be more interesting this season, however, as the New Jersey Devils are performing much better after an offseason in which they acquired a legitimate No. 1 goaltender in Jacob Markstrom and lured two former Canes in Brett Pesce and Stefan Noesen. to the Garden State. The Hurricanes’ opponent in the first round of the playoffs the past two years, The New York Islanders, are also expected to be in contention to regain top spot. Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello added veteran winger Anthony Duclair to round out the team’s top line alongside Bo Horvat and Mat Barzal and may have found the KHL’s hidden gem in Maxim Tysplakov, who has had an impressive preseason.

Then of course you have the reigning NHL Presidents’ trophy winners in the New York Rangers, who are the favorites to win the Metropolitan Division again behind star goaltender Igor Shesterkin and fellow Russian forward Artemi Panarin.

That said, here are our predictions for the Metropolitan Division. Keep in mind that there is of course a good chance that it is all wrong.

1. New York RangersAlthough the Rangers didn’t make many changes this summer, the team is still expected to repeat as Metro division champions. Netminder Igor Shesterkin appears to be entering the start of the season without a new contract, which could provide some distraction, but the 28-year-old Shesterkin is the backbone of the team and should be in the conversation again to win the Vezina Trophy . With an elite supporting cast of Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox and former 2020 first overall pick Alexis Lafreniere looking like he’s on the verge of breaking out, the Rangers should be the class of the division once again.

2. Carolina Hurricanes– As mentioned above, a lot of attention is being paid to the Hurricanes’ offseason losses. While there is no doubt that the team will feel the losses left by Guentzel and company, the Hurricanes are still led by one of the best centers in the game: Sebastian Aho. He will be complimented by young Seth Jarvis, who completed a record-breaking contract extension this summer, and still has one of the best four defensive groups in the league with Jaccob Slavin, Brent Burns, Dmitry Orlov and Sean Walker. Of course, you have Rod Brind’Amour behind the bench, ensuring his team still plays that aggressive, up-tempo style of hockey that makes the Hurricanes one of the toughest teams to play against in the NHL.

Related: Breaking: Hurricanes re-sign Seth Jarvis to eight-year, $63.2 million contract

3. New York Islanders– If the division’s top three indeed stack up this way, it would set up a Hurricanes-Islanders first-round match for the third straight season. The Islanders have largely the same group returning this season, but added the speedy and skilled Anthony Duclair to give the team a more well-rounded top line and added the highly sought after KHL free agent in Maxim Tsyplakov, who had interest from 12 other NHL teams. before choosing Long Island. Tsyplakov joins a second line that already includes more than 30 proven goal scorers such as Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, rounding out a solid top six group. If Vezina’s 2022-23 runner-up in Ilya Sorokin rebounds after a down year last season, the Patrick Roy-led Islanders could surprise a lot of people.

4. New Jersey Devils– After a busy offseason by Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald, in which he brought in Jacob Markstrom, Brett Pesce and Brenden Dillon to go along with the core of superstar Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Timo Meier and Dougie Hamilton, much of the NHL media has predicted the Devils will finish atop the Metropolitan division. While that can certainly happen, the Devils have struggled with injuries in recent seasons; in particular their best player Jack Hughes. During the 2021-22 season, Hughes was limited to just 49 games and missed 20 games last season due to injury. If Hughes and top defenseman Dougie Hamilton, who missed most of last year, can stay healthy, the Devils could once again challenge for the division crown.

5. Capitals of Washington– The storyline going into this season in the nation’s capital is that Alex Ovechkin is just 42 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzkys’ all-time goal scoring record. After a slow start last year, Ovechkin managed to end the year with 31 goals. The Capitals brought in forwards Pierre-Luc Dubois and Andrew Mangiapane this summer, as well as top 4 defenseman Jacob Chychrun and goaltender Logan Thompson. Despite the additions and a surprising 23-24 playoff appearance, the Caps are a team that will be on the outside come playoff time.

6. Pittsburgh Penguins– While you can never count out a team led by Sidney Crosby, the Penguins appear to be headed for a third straight year of missing out on the playoffs. Crosby, who signed a two-year extension last month, hopes that doesn’t happen. However, as one of the older teams in the NHL, it doesn’t seem like the Pens have added enough support around him to move the needle. General Manager Kyle Dubas brought in veteran Kevin Hayes, but the 32-year-old is coming off the worst year of his career last season, scoring just 29 points in 79 games with the Blues. The Penguins traded for promising forward Rutger McGroarty from the Winnipeg Jets. If McGroarty exceeds expectations, there’s a chance the Penguins could surprise people, but otherwise it could be a long year in Pittsburgh.

7. Philadelphia Flyers– The Flyers surprised people last season, as the team held third place in the Metropolitan last season before falling apart late in the year. General Manager Daniel Briere wasn’t very active this summer, but he was able to land the team’s seventh overall pick in the 2023 draft in Russia’s Matvei Michkov. Michkov appears to be the real deal and will likely challenge for the Calder Trophy. Combined with young players like Owen Tippett, Morgan Frost, Jett Luchanko and star player Travis Konecny, the future looks bright in Philadelphia. However, there could be some growing pains for the young players on the team ahead of this season, which could lead to a step back.

8. Columbus Blue Jackets– An unspeakable tragedy shocked the Blue Jackets and the entire hockey world when Blue Jackets star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew were struck and killed while riding bicycles by a drunk driver near their home in Salem, NJ last August. While they were both great hockey players, they were even better individuals off the ice, and they will both be greatly missed.

Despite the loss of Johnny Gaudreau, the Blue Jackets and their teammates have the very difficult task of moving forward and turning the page on playing hockey. Captain Boone Jenner and new Blue Jacket Sean Monahan will lead the team offensively with promising young players Adam Fantili, Cole Sillinger and Kirill Marchenko, but this season will be a tough one in Columbus.