The Metropolitan division has been pretty intriguing all season long. The Washington Capitals are running away with it and will finish in first place barring a massive collapse. 

Meanwhile, the Columbus Blue Jackets (who a lot of people thought would be good this year) are sitting in last place coming out of the All-Star Break. 

The rest of the teams are in a dog fight for spots two through seven and it wouldn't surprise anyone who gets those spots. Let's take a look at the other teams in the division and where they might finish up.

New York Rangers

Despite their struggles over the past month and a half, the Rangers are in second place by a slim margin. They are three points ahead of the New York Islanders and four points ahead of the surging Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils.

Henrik Lundqvist has been amazing yet again this season and is showing no signs of slowing down despite being 33 years old. He's one of the best goaltenders in the world and could very well win the Vezina if he keeps it up.

Mats Zuccarello has been the Rangers best offensive player this year with 18 goals and 35 points thus far. Only Derrick Brassard (who's having a good year as well) has more with 36 points. New York is going to have to have a better 2nd half of the season if they are to keep their second place spot in the division.

New York Islanders

It's the Islanders first full season in Brooklyn after moving from Long Island and it's been an up and down year for them. They started out good but now they're in a dog fight with a lot of teams gunning for them. John Tavares is having a bit of a subpar season as he only has 34 points on the year.

Usually you would find him in the top 20 in the scoring race or even the top ten. The Travis Hamonic situation has been difficult for the Islanders since they can't trade him because of Johnny Boychuk being out with a long term injury. Any trade for Hamonic would likely have to come in the offseason after he requested one at the beginning of the season due to family issues. Overall, they're going to have to play a lot better down the stretch if they want to hold on to that spot.

Pittsburgh Penguins

It's been a chaotic season for the Penguins to say the least. They didn't get off to a good start and had to fire Mike Johnston but now they seem rejuvenated under Mike Sullivan which is why they now hold a wild card spot entering the break. Sidney Crosby is looking like himself after a horrible 10 game start to the season when he hardly put up any points and Kris Letang is looking like a Norris trophy candidate defenseman again.

Did I mentin that Marc-Andre Fleury is also having one of the best seasons of his career? They sit just one point behind the New York Islanders for third place but they have a daunting schedule these next couple months where they'll face a lot of teams inside the division and other teams vying for playoff spots. If the Penguins can muster some more big wins, they'll be able to leap frog a couple teams in the standings. 

New Jersey Devils

Raise your hand if you thought the Devils could be vying for a potential playoff spot this season. I don't think anyone did but they're in the hunt thanks to goaltender Cory Schneider's incredible play this season. If they do end up making the playoffs, he would be my and most likely a lot of media's pick for the Vezina trophy.

They're currently tied with the Penguins with 55 points but the question is that will they continue this success or flame out? The trade deadline is a month away so we'll have a better answer to that question once we get to that point and whether GM Ray Shero will add or trade assets.

Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers have fallen down a bit in the standings the past couple weeks but they're still only five points out of a playoff spot. No one really expected them to compete this year since most of their defensive prospects haven't arrived, but Shane Gostisbehere has been a welcomed surprise for them this year on the blueline.

Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek are both one and two points wise on their team as Giroux as 39 while Voracek has 36. Both will need to play even better after the break if the Flyers are to have a chance. It'll be interesting to see how the Flyers season turns out. Even if they end up missing the playoffs, they still have a very bright future ahead of them. It's going to be an exciting second half of the season for this great division.