Not long ago, the Metropolitan Division was considered the strongest in the NHL, with the Pittsburgh Penguins led by Sidney Crosby and the emerging Carolina Hurricanes in the foreground.
Now things have taken a good turn, where our Alex Chauvancy recently visited the argument that the division is in its weakest place in this season. This plays in favor of the New York Rangers, who after a disastrous 2024-25 Rebound want rebound without dealing with the Mammoet two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
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That said, the blues shirts will have competition this season, with the biggest threats arranged for them.
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders are in an interesting position to start this season. On the one hand it feels like a reconstruction year, where the team is ready to end under the bottom of the rankings, especially after trading their number one defender, Noah Dobson.
But then you take a deeper dip in the strangers – and that is where things become interesting. An important reason is demonstrably the best of the competition Prospect PoolIncluding 2025 First General Pick Matthew Schaefer. It is fair to expect that he will turn the schedule of the training camp. Then there is Calum Ritchie, who also has the chance to influence the NHL level this season. In addition, the islanders Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) -star signed Maxim Shabanov. Plus, would the islanders close a deal to sign Cole Eiserman to play by the end of 2025-26, who could very well compete for the Hobey Baker in his upcoming college season?
Then you look at some of the players who are currently at NHL level. Mathew Barzal is of course an elitental talent. Bo Horvat is a solid top-six player, just like a recent free agent who signed Jonathan Drouin. The blue line contains stable options such as Alexander Romanov, Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech. But the biggest question is in the net. Will Ilya Sorokin bounce back to his elite form? If he does this season and some prospects bloom this season, the islanders can be a problem. But think more like an annoying wildcard team – instead of a candidate to win the metro.
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals come from an impressive 2024-25 and finally end in the metro. Still, the reason we arrange them so low on the list? Nothing scares you enough to consider them a real powerhouse in the metro. A big reason for their success last season was the game of Logan Thompson between the Pijpen, which saves a lucrative 26 goals expected above in 43 regular seasonal matches in 2024-25, according to Sink. For a large part of his career, in his first few seasons, Thompson has been seen as a back -up goalkeeper and has saved a goal every season. Perhaps 2024-25 is a sign of things that come for the 28-year-old but history tells you that Thompson will go back to a certain extent, which would probably significantly influence the capitals in the rankings.
Moreover, the capitals of prior elital talent miss. Some of their best paid players, including Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson, only reflect the piece that is seen in their first years. However, younger grid players with high upward head, including Alexei Protas, Connor McMichael and Ryan Leonard, can add an interesting dynamic to the capitals this season this season. In summary, the capitals are a good team, but they don’t put anything on the table to scare top candidates in the division. But they will undoubtedly bring the Rangers competition for a wildcard position or third place in the metro.
New Jersey Devils
After he received competent goalting last season, it was no surprise to see the New Jersey Devils in a play-off position after a disappointing season 2023-24. Jacob Markström and Jake Allen seem great short -term options for the Newark -based team.
A worries is the health of Jack Hughes. He is forced to miss a considerable amount of time in his NHL career because of various injuries, including several important shoulder injuries (one of which took the rest of last season). The other issue is that outside Hughes and Jesper Bratt is not much explosive forward. Nico Hischier, who floats around one point per game, is an elite second-line center but it is real. Timo Meier is a big disappointment since the devils for him Two years ago, and once promising Dawson Mercer has seen his scoring decline since placing 56 points in the regular season 2022-23.
But as long as one of all or Markström can process no. 1 goals this season and Hughes plays most of 2025-26, I see no reason why they will not end up as one of the top three teams in the metro. Moreover, there is too much talent on the blue line of veterans such as Dougie Hamilton to younger players such as Luke Hughes. The devils have strength on the backend and in the middle – it is just a matter of whether goal congregation can continue to offer stability.
Carolina Hurricanes
For years, the Carolina Hurricanes have been the model of consistency in the NHL. Under the leadership of Rod Brind’amour, the organization led the NHL in expected goals for percentage of 2022-25 (57.63 percent), according to Natural Stat Trick.
The coaching combined with depth makes it difficult to find a hole on the entire schedule. What the Hurricanes, however, stops every season when winning a Stanley Cup are two things: goal congregation and a different game-changing star forward. Nikolaj Ehlers will undoubtedly make the hurricanes better – but chances are that he is not the last piece that the hurricanes are looking for.
Between the pipes, Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov may not be good enough to win a Stanley Cup, but have proven that they can hold the fort during the regular season. The hurricanes are probably the safest choice to win the metro division this season if you had to bet on it. If the Rangers return to the trophy of the presidents (although unlikely), then it is fair to expect the hurricanes there in the race with them.
Outside the hurricanes, powerhouses do not really exist in the metro. The devils are talented enough, but have questions about the health of their greatest star. The capitals are likely to deteriorate after over -performing last season, while the islanders may be on the agenda, but are probably not ready to compete head -up with the top teams in the metro. Abysmal goal congregation will probably ensure that the penguins miss the play -offs for a fourth consecutive season.
Where the Rangers end in the metro remains unknown. But after making a few changes to the past year, it is reasonable to expect them in the play -offs at least, and a weaker division could make that hope much more likely.
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