The Metropolitan Division had the misfortune of having an odd name and also enjoying the least competitive division title race in the NHL last year. The Pittsburgh Penguins sprinted out to a double-digit points lead and never looked back.
While the Pens were unable to catch the Boston Bruins for the top overall seed in the Eastern Conference, a showdown of the 2013 conference final seemed inevitable. The two division winners had played a memorable and chippy series the previous year and Pittsburgh had revenge on their minds.
However, a plucky team from Broadway heart-attacked its way through the conference, knocking off the mighty Penguins along the way before falling to Los Angeles in the Stanley Cup Final. The New York Rangers made a spirited run, playing 20 out of a possible 21 games in their first three series before falling to the Kings in five.
There were wholesale changes made in Pittsburgh as regular season success and the memory of 2009 wasn’t enough to keep Dan Bylsma and Fred Shero employed. The Capitals swapped out rookie coach Adam Oates for seasoned veteran Barry Trotz and the Islanders are rolling the dice on some vagabond veterans.
Aside from the Penguins, who have too much talent NOT to be good, the rest of the Metro is a logjam of “pretty good” teams. There are no teams that could be considered bad, and unfortunately for all eight clubs, there will be some cannibalism as they beat the hell out of each other for the better part of the season. Let’s take a gander at how the Metropolitan Division shapes up for 2014-15.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Canes have the big names at the top of the roster: Eric Staal, Alexander Semin, Jordan Staal and I’ll throw in Jeff Skinner and Andrej Sekera for good measure. But that’s honestly about it. Cam Ward is literally a coin flip that could give the Hurricanes a ten-game swing in either direction if he can bounce back from his worst statistical season. Ultimately, everyone else is just better. Predicted finish: Eighth
New Jersey Devils
We’ll all feel bad for Cory Schneider by the end of the year in New Jersey. This is a defense-first team that is plying offense from senior citizens Jaromir Jagr, Patrik Elias, Dainius Zubrus and Mike Cammaleri. Adam Henrique is literally the only player the Devils have under the age of 29 that can give the fans any hope. Schneider will be ridiculously good again, but the Devils will be mediocre. Predicted finish: Seventh
Washington Capitals
The Capitals are at a bit of a crossroads about where they want to go. By hiring Barry Trotz as the head coach, the powers that be may be nearing the end of the Alex Ovechkin ride. The mercurial Russian sniper led the league in goals with 51, but was a putrid minus-35 on the year. While the stat may be a tad bit flawed, there were several egregious examples of the Washington captain dogging it in the defensive end. Trotz will put his stamp on the team immediately, which will make for an interesting showdown with the face of the franchise. The Caps spent a ton on defense, and they needed to, but time will tell if they get a decent return on the investment. The team missed the playoffs for only the second time in Ovechkin’s career and it’s looking like this year might be the third. Predicted finish: Sixth
New York Rangers
The defending conference champs will need to shake off the disappointment of their Stanley Cup loss early because there are quite a few teams that look better than they do after this summer. Nobody can quite figure out what happened to Rick Nash, but what can we honestly expect from him at this point. Dan Boyle helps the power play, and Dan Girardi will show that he is actually a really good defenseman. Henrik Lundqvist gives New York a chance to win every night he plays and will be the only reason the Rangers are even in the playoff picture. Predicted finish: Fifth
Columbus Blue Jackets
It’s almost weird to say but the Jackets have been the model franchise over the past few years on “How to Build a Contender”. GM Jarmo Kekalainen has drafted well, traded well and not overspent on free agency. The Jackets big albatross at the moment is getting leading scorer Ryan Johansen under contract. The 22-year old center has the potential to be special and Columbus will do the right thing and get him signed long-term. As much as I like what Columbus is doing, I feel like they might take a step back this season. Scott Hartnell will fall down a lot, Sergei Bobrovsky will be amazing but it just won’t be enough. They’ll be nudging the Rangers out of the last playoff spot in the final week. Predicted finish: Fourth
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins may finally realize this year that the road to the Stanley Cup is a marathon and not a sprint. The gaudy win totals and unbeaten streaks look and sound nice on Sportscenter, but the real season begins in late April and May. This is a team that has every piece to the puzzle but simply cannot get out of their own way. When you have talent like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and a serviceable goaltender like Marc-Andre Fleury, the expectations have to be high. (Former) Coach Dan Bylsma and general manager Fred Shero paid the price with their jobs, but the players are accountable in the end. Perhaps including more than five players in extra man situations or taking advantage of a very productive feeder program in the AHL can help the Pens finally get back to the Cup Final. There will be bumps and growing pains this year in Pittsburgh, but this is a team that will be very dangerous and tested when the playoffs start. Predicted finish: Third
New York Islanders
Consider this the kiss of death, you patient and trusting Islander fans. I trust in the development of this team every year only to be disappointed in the end. However, this year my lofty expectations come with a shiny new (to them) goaltender in the sidecar. His name is Jaroslav Halak and he is exponentially better than anyone that has worn goalie pads for the Islanders in the past 10 years. Granted, he will be playing in front of a mediocre and rambunctious defense, but Halak gives New York a better chance to win games than anyone in recent memory. Nikolai Kulemin and Mikhail Grabovski have been added to an already upstart and frisky offense. They may not catapult the Isles into the elite category, but they immediately give them more depth, talent and experience up the middle and on the wings. Predicted finish: Second
Philadelphia Flyers
As much as I feel like I gave the Islanders the kiss of death, I may be courting the Flyers into an equally precarious zone of expectations. The bottom line is that the Flyers are top to bottom the most balanced team in the division. Even without Kimmo Timonen, Philly has all the pieces required for a great run this season. They took the Rangers to a Game 7 that could have gone either way and looked as dangerous as any team in the east headed into the playoffs. Claude Giroux is elite, we can all agree on that now, since he has been spectacular for several years now. Wayne Simmonds is becoming the prototype for power forwards in the NHL. The youngsters, Brayden Schenn, Jakub Voracek, Sean Couturier, Giroux, Simmonds, Luke Schenn and goaltender Steve Mason are all under 27 years old. This is a good team that will only get better in years to come. Predicted finish: First