The NHL Season is right around the corner. Training camps have begun along with the preseason. There are a lot of familiar faces in new places to begin the season.
The start of a new season brings hope as teams look to build towards the playoffs and dethrone the Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights
Welcome to the divisional rankings. We’ll look at both the Eastern and Western Conferences, ranking teams in each of the four divisions. First up in the NHL Divisional Rankings is the Metro Division.
NHL Metro Division Rankings
1. Carolina Hurricanes (Last year finished First)
The Hurricanes will sit atop the Metro Division once again in the 2023-24 NHL Season. That is no disrespect to the teams below them in the standings, but until proven otherwise, the Hurricanes have the edge. It is because of their defense and goaltending. There are some who want to knock the goaltending of Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta, both of whom are injury-prone, and that is fair, but those two are the reason Carolina is in a lot more games than they should be.
On the backend with Brent Burns, Tony DeAngelo, Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei, and the newly signed Dmitry Orlov. That is a stout defensive group. The second-best D-core in the NHL behind Vegas. Those guys help out the goaltending, which helps the forwards of Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Seth Jarvis, Jordan Martinook, Teuvo Teravainen, and Martin Necas. While the Canes may not score a lot, when they do their role players step up.
This team is a unit. There are no superstars. They play as their coach Rod Brind’Amour played. Maybe that is a good thing. Maybe it isn’t. But the Hurricanes are hungry and look out for them.
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2. New Jersey Devils (Last year finished Second)
The New Jersey Devils are slightly behind the Hurricanes in the division. One reason is their goaltending. If they had acquired Connor Hellebuyck, they would be number one. That is not to say GM Tom Fitzgerald did not improve his club in the offseason. Oh no. He was able to re-sign Timo Meier for eight years, extend Jesper Bratt for eight years, acquire Tyler Toffoli from Calgary, and Colin Miller from Dallas, and keep the depth players like Nathan Bastian and Erik Haula. The Devils have one of the best top nines in the NHL.
We know the Devils can score. Just look at what they did in the preseason. Toffoli-Jack Hughes-Bratt is an explosive line. Meier-Nico Hischier–Alexander Holtz is really solid too. If the Devils can get production from Holtz, that is gravy for them especially considering where they drafted him. He has improved his decision-making, skating, and shooting. Then there is Ondrej Palat-Haula-Dawson Mercer, tell me that isn’t a unit you want to mess with. And their power play units are just as explosive.
Again it comes down to Vitek Vanecek, Akira Schmid, and that defense. Out are Ryan Graves and Damon Severson. In are Simon Nemec and Luke Hughes to fill those voids. Both players have really impressed this preseason. Luke Hughes gives the Devils an element of skating the puck out of their zone they have not had in a while. Expectations are high and the Devils know what to expect now.
You can group the next two teams into potential playoff teams and one has to make it.
3. New York Rangers (Last year finished Third)
The Rangers finished third last season and track to finish third again this season in the NHL Metro Division. However, there is a good chance they could miss the playoffs as well. New coach Peter Laviolette has done wonders in his first years with new teams – looking at the Carolina Hurricanes, Philadelphia Flyers and Nashville Predators. Can he do the same with the Rangers?
Look, Igor Shesterkin is one of the best goalies in the world and not just in the division. However, Jonathan Quick is not a good choice to be his backup and the Rangers are clearly seeing it this postseason. The Rangers’ defense is not the same as the Vegas’ defense. We know what Adam Fox can do, but having him paired with K’Andre Miller might be a good thing. Ryan Lindgren and Fox work well together. Putting him with Jacob Trouba is not the right move. And the Rangers don’t have a sixth defenceman.
Not to mention a little older and slower. And it is now or never for Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko, and Filip Chytil. Laviolette has got Lafreniere playing the right wing on the top line with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. While Artemi Panarin and Blake Wheeler are the wings for Chytil. Trocheck and Kakko are clicking, but again, the depth.
It really can go either way for the Rangers this season.
4. Pittsburgh Penguins (Last year finished Fifth)
The Penguins just missed last year by two points. It came down to goaltending and defense. That is a reason why they missed and it cost Brian Burke and Ron Hextall their jobs. Kyle Dubas enters as the GM and President of Hockey Operations. What does he do first? Acquire Erik Karlsson and extend Tristan Jarry. Karlsson is a good addition as he will help the power play. Defensively not so much. But that is not who he is.
Jarry on the other hand, we don’t know if he can keep this team in contention. Now they do have Alex Nedeljkovic. But again, the Penguins will be trying to outscore their problems on defense. Kris Letang is a year older. Ryan Graves, another new addition, was given six years. The backend for Pittsburgh does not scare teams. And Jarry needs to make the saves for the Penguins to have a chance.
We know Sidney Crosby will not slow down. He continues to play at a high level. What about Evgeni Malkin? He is in better shape than he has been. Bigger, faster, and lighter. But if you get under his skin, his game is ruined. Jake Guentzel will miss some time to start. How will Reilly Smith do on a new team? Again the power play will be good, but what about the rest? They might miss playoffs again.
5. New York Islanders (Last year finished Fourth)
Then there are the New York Islanders. Last season, the Islanders just got into the playoffs finishing fourth in the NHL Metro Division. This year might be a challenge. Yes, they still have Ilya Sorokin, but offensively they can’t score. It is all well and good you play defense and have one of the best goalies in the world. But it does not mean anything if you can’t score. Especially on the power play.
That is what cost the Islanders their playoff series against Carolina last year. They just could not score. Not to mention this team is another year older and slower. Let’s see what Bo Horvat can do in a full season with the Islanders. But to get the best out of him, the Islanders have to be more offensive-minded. Having Mathew Barzal back will help. But can they really count on Kyle Palmieri, Brock Nelson, and Pierre Engvall all season? They need more.
Defensively Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock, and Noah Dobson are some of the best. Add in Alexander Romanov and Scott Mayfield and it is a good corps of players. Again the Islanders need to score. And let’s be honest their general manager has not handled the cap well. So the Isles are always an interesting team to watch.
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6. Washington Capitals (Last year finished Sixth)
Here we are again with the Washington Capitals. One of the Kings of the NHL Metro Division is now a team that will miss the playoffs for a second straight year. Look, Washington made some moves this offseason, mainly behind the bench adding Spencer Carbery but it does not change the fact that the Capitals are still one of the oldest teams in the league.
Look Alex Ovechkin is one of the greatest goal scorers in NHL history. However, it is about passing Wayne Gretzky‘s goal-scoring record. As much as he wants another Stanley Cup, he is just not going to get it with this group. There is so much drama surrounding this team, especially Evgeny Kuznetsov. Does he want to stay? Does he want to leave? T.J. Oshie is another year older, and Nicklas Backstrom is another year older. How is his hip doing really? John Carlson is still good on the backend, but what else is there?
Darcy Kuemper has to make a save for the Capitals, but is that realistic? Capitals have a lot of issues to fix before they are a playoff team again.
7. Columbus Blue Jackets (Last year finished Eighth)
Though the Columbus Blue Jackets are listed as seventh, they could go to the sixth spot. It seems like there is a breath of fresh air in Columbus now that the whole Mike Babcock situation is put to bed. Pascal Vincent has this team playing the right way. And good on the organization for giving Vincent a chance. He probably should have gotten the job from the start.
This season for Columbus it is about staying healthy. That is really the case. Columbus was one of the teams that had lots of man games lost to injury last season. Now if this team can stay healthy, the Blue Jackets will be a fun team to watch. Just look at the players there with Johnny Gaudreau, Adam Fantilli, Patrik Laine, Kent Johnson, Boone Jenner, Zach Werenski, Adam Boqvist, and the additions of Damon Severson and Ivan Provorov, this Blue Jackets team is solid. Elvis Merzlikins between the pipes.
Top to bottom the Blue Jackets will be a threat in the years to come. Just not yet. But they will be better than most predict.
8. Philadelphia Flyers (Last year finished Seventh)
Even though the Flyers finished seventh last year in the NHL Metro Division, this year they are going to finish last. The Flyers have a lot to work on in all three phases of the game, not to mention in all positions. Another team that was haunted by injury, but this team is not put together well.
That is why Keith Jones and Daniel Briere are in the positions they are in. The Flyers got a good player in the 2023 NHL draft in Matvei Mitchov. We will not see Michov for a couple of years barring some miracle. So when you look at the current roster, the Flyers have interesting pieces especially young players like Owen Tippett, Morgan Frost, and Joel Farabee.
Look the Flyers still want to be physical hence the Garnett Hathway signing. But the Flyers need guys like Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier, and Cam Atkinson to score. On the backend, that defense does not scare you with Cam York, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Travis Sanheim. Marc Staal is there as well. The question will be can Carter Hart regain his form? Because if he does not then the Flyers are back in the same problem they have been for decades when they were in need of a starting goaltender.
