A look at the NHL’s Metropolitan Division preview for the 2022-23 season. We’ll go through where every team should finish in the standings and why, as well as whether or not they will qualify for the playoffs.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes won the Metro division last season by six points, but it came right down to the end of the season. They knocked off the New York Rangers to solidify the division and won six games in a row to end the season. This season they have added Brent Burns in place of Tony DeAngelo, brought in Max Pacioretty who will produce when he returns from injury, and hope to have the rest of their team stay healthy, especially their goaltending.
The Hurricanes have four strong lines and a head coach that expects a lot from them. They have injected more youth into their lineup as Seth Jarvis should remain on the top line and Jack Drury will be playing in the bottom-six. The team scored the most goals in their division as well as allowed the fewest goals against. With a Vezina contender in Frederik Andersen and an all-around great group, the Hurricanes are set to take the division title once again.
New York Rangers
The Rangers are fortunate to have the best goaltender in the NHL on their team. Last season’s Vezina winner held the team together on many occasions and looks to have a bit more help as the young players are more experienced. They will give the Hurricanes a run for their money and the teams will finish one and two in the division barring any major injuries.
Chris Kreider had an amazing season in 2021-22, but it is very unlikely he will repeat that performance. The top-six right wingers are also a concern as the Rangers are planning on spreading out their scoring and keeping the young third line together.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins revamped their defence bringing in Jeff Petry and Ty Smith. Petry brings another veteran presence to the top-four and provides great play in both the offensive and defensive zone. The forward group is also deep and the team will start the season without any major injuries. This will surely allow them to start on the right track and battle among the top teams in the division. You can’t count Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin out as each is still very dangerous.
The Penguins’ goaltender Tristan Jarry will be in the conversation for the Vezina as well if he continues his dominant regular seasons. The team has qualified for the playoffs in 16 consecutive seasons and don’t plan on ending that streak now with the core still intact.
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals are going to be dealing with a few major injuries to kick off the 2022-23 season. They will be without Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson, but brought in reinforcements to help ease those losses. Among the new faces are Dylan Strome, Connor Brown, and Marcus Johansson so their forward group still looks deep.
Related: Stat Hockey’s Washington Capitals 2022-23 Line Projections
They still have the greatest goal-scorer of all-time on their team and he is closing in on the goals record. Alex Ovechkin hit 50 goals for the ninth time in his career last season. The Capitals also revamped their goaltender so that they have a legitimate number one goaltender. This will help create stability in net and allow for them to get back into the postseason and out of the first round.
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders had so much go wrong last season which cost one of the best coaches of all-time to be fired. Barry Trotz so often preached a defensive game and though that worked, it held back the talented players from putting up a ton of points offensively. This season players like Mathew Barzal, Oliver Wahlstrom, and Noah Dobson should really shine.
The team went to the conference finals in two consecutive seasons before last season’s disaster. They have one of the strongest goalie tandems in the NHL but may not receive as much help because of a new system the team is playing. The Islanders hope to return to the playoffs, and with a healthy team and more offence, they should just sneak in.
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets will be better offensively with the addition of Johnny Gaudreau and more young talent inserted into the lineup, but they will still have trouble keeping pucks out of their net. I want to believe in Elvis Merzlikins, but the team isn’t built to be a defensive juggernaut like they were when John Tortorella was there and they upset the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Blue Jackets are also hoping Patrik Laine can stay healthy and find consistency on a line with one of the best playmakers in the NHL. Seeing how keeping pucks out of the net is such an important thing, the young defensive group and questionable goaltending will hold this team back from making it into the playoffs.
New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils will have the same issue as the Blue Jackets in their bout to qualify for the postseason. The goaltending is questionable even though they brought in Vitek Vanecek to help improve it. The defence also improved and Dougie Hamilton should have a bounce-back season now that he’s healthy.
A big concern is Jack Hughes’ health. He has broken out and proven to be the best player on the team, but misses a ton of games. The Devils do have a strong forward group around him, but it won’t be enough, even if he stays healthy. The rest of the division is better right now, but they will be at the top soon enough.
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers had a horrible offseason. They failed to bring in anyone significant other than DeAngelo and now have to deal with long injuries to Ryan Ellis and Sean Couturier. Bringing Tortorella in will help them defensively, but the lack of offence was a major problem for them last season as well.
They have no elite players and no number one defencemen. Carter Hart had a better season in 2021-22, but still nowhere needed of a starter to help get the team to the postseason. Injuries, lack of impactful players, and an organization in shambles will place the Flyers last in the division once again.
That was Stat Hockey’s NHL Metropolitan division preview. Do you agree with the order and reasoning?
