NHL 23-24 Metropolitan Division Preview
Battle for The Hudson Could Determine Division Title

NHL Metropolitan Division Preview:
The Battle for the Hudson could determine the Division unless defending Champs Carolina have a say in the matter.
NHL Metropolitan Division Preview: The Carolina Hurricanes edged out the hot New Jersey Devils by a single point down the stretch for the Metro Division title last season. Despite a 13-game win streak in from late October into the end of November, New Jersey fell a bit short in the regular season race and couldn’t upend the Canes in their playoff matchup either, with Carolina eliminating Lindy Ruff’s club in five games.
They were able to take out their rivals from across the Hudson River – the New York Rangers, who blew a 2-0 series lead in their first round battle. The Pittsburgh Penguins missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 16 years last season, and with the addition of Erik Karlsson and new General Manager Kyle Dubas from Toronto, it’s quite clear the Pens are in Win Now mode.
Washington Capitals fans are still following “The Great Eight” Alexander Ovechkin and his quest for the National Hockey League All-Time record for Most Goals. He’s just 73 goals away from setting the record, and while he’s scored 40 or more goals in 13 consecutive seasons, it’s hard to see him setting the record this year with a less than competitive team.
Columbus already had the biggest mistake of the NHL season before the first official game could be played and the Philadelphia Flyers begin another year of a rebuild process that is growing harder to trust by the moment.
OPENING NIGHT
Chicago Blackhawks at Pittsburgh Penguins 
Location: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Day/Time: Tuesday, October 10th, 5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET
Television: ESPN
New Jersey Devils (52-22-8, 112 Points)
⦁ Division Odds: +200
⦁ Conference Odds: +550
⦁ Stanley Cup Odds: +1000
⦁ Season Points Projection: 105.5 (Over -125/Under -105)
Continuing with our NHL Metropolitan Division Season Preview: One of the biggest surprises last season in the National Hockey League was the emergence of the New Jersey Devils as a contending team in the Eastern Conference.
After two home losses to open the season, Devils fans started to chant “Fire Lindy”, directed at head coach Lindy Ruff. His troops responded with a 13-game winning streak, heading into the start of December with a 16-3-1 record and not looking back, going neck-and-neck with the Carolina Hurricanes down to the wire before the Canes earned one more point than the Devils to clinch the Metro Division crown.
To add insult to injury, after New Jersey beat their rivals, the New York Rangers in a six-game series after trailing 2-0 to start the First Round clash, the Devils were outclassed in five games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals by Carolina yet again.
This talented bunch is spearheaded by forwards Jack Hughes and Timo Meier. After coming over from New Jersey before the Trade Deadline, we will now get to see a full camp to give him time to really gel with his new teammates offensively after a fairly pedestrian playoff run.
Young skaters Dawson Mercer, Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischier patrol the second line while Erik Haula and newcomer Tomas Nosek highlight the bottom third and fourth lines.
On defense, Dougie Hamilton continues to dazzle as one of the best two-way defensemen in the game. Jonas Siegenthaler and Kevin Bahl both have elevated their games last hockey season, along with adding veteran Colin Miller to pair with John Merino. This is a fairly decent defensive core that will keep this team more than competitive this season.
Goaltending seems to be sturdy with platoon system of Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid, who emerged of late to take over and start in some big hockey matchups, including the First Round playoff series, where the Devils, down 2 games to none against their hated rivals, the New York Rangers.
Ruff called upon the 22-year old Swiss native to start in goal and he delivered four straight wins to advance the club to the Conference Semifinals, where they were stopped by Carolina in five games after Schmid regressed to form and Vanecek ran out of steam.
This Devils team proved to many they belong in the title conversation amongst clubs in the Eastern Conference. And now they just have to find a way to play balanced hockey in a consistent pattern throughout the entire pro NHL season, a job much easier said than done.
Carolina Hurricanes (52-21-9, 113 Points)
⦁ Division Odds: +185
⦁ Conference Odds: +450
⦁ Stanley Cup Odds: +1000
⦁ Season Point Projections: 108.5 (Over -120/Under -110)
The Carolina Hurricanes won the Metropolitan Division title last season in a nail-biting race between themselves and the New Jersey Devils, decided by one extra overtime loss, leading to the single point putting the Canes ahead in the NHL standings and possibly being the difference in their head-to-head series in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Where head coach Rod Brind’Amour’s club exercised the Devils away in five games before coming up short in a four-game sweep at the hands of the Florida Panthers in the East Final, all four contests were decided by one goal, with two NHL matchups going past regulation and one going into four overtimes.
Carolina won’t be discouraged by their postseason exit last Summer, if anything, many experts are looking at this team to run it back to at least the Conference Finals once again, if not further. With hockey star winger Andrei Svechnikov set to return from his torn ACL injury this season along with new forward signing Michael Bunting from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Sebastian Aho, who had a big playoffs and Martin Necas.
That core group up front mixed with speedy secondary scorers like Teuvo Teravainen and Stefan Noesen, Carolina has great forward depth again this year, which will be a big plus for the NHL team.
Veteran Brent Burns returns to the club, starting at age 38 in his 19th National Hockey League season. He will once again pair on the top defensive line along with Jaccob Slavin, who is on pace to win a Norris Trophy as league’s Best Defenseman within the next several years.
Tony DeAngelo returns to the club after a year with the Philadelphia Flyers. Hockey player Dimitri Orlov signs a deal coming over from the Boston Bruins after many years in Washington beforehand. And rounding out the blueliners is Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce, two solid grinders on the second line pairing.
The goaltending tandem of Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta return once again for the Canes. Both netminders have had extensive injury issues for their entire careers and yet General Manager Don Waddell feels confident enough in this duo to resign both guys despite having Pyotr Kochetkov in the AHL ready to make a firm impact at the next level. His personality, charisma and intensity is a welcome and refreshing throwback to goalies of the late 1980’s and 1990’s.
The Hurricanes should be right back at the top of the Metropolitan Division preview and the Eastern Conference standings, and anything less than a conference title and a Stanley Cup Final appearance would be considered a failure for this hockey season.
New York Rangers (47-22-13, 107 Points)
⦁ Division Odds: +350
⦁ Conference Odds: +800
⦁ Stanley Cup Odds: +1600
⦁ Season Point Projection: 101.5 Points (Over -125/Under -105)
Things flipped quickly in the “City that Never Sleeps” last Spring for the New York Rangers, who went on the road across the Hudson River to take on their rivals, the New Jersey Devils in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, won both of their meetings in Newark, and then proceeded to drop four straight contests, including three at Madison Square Garden, to seal their elimination.
As a result, Head Coach Gerald Gallant was fired and veteran bench boss Peter Laviolette enters the fold. General Manager Chris Drury went the classic Rangers route of spending money on Free Agents over 30, signing the likes of forward Blake Wheeler from Winnipeg, defenseman Erik Gustafsson and longtime Kings netminder Jonathan Quick.
All of these coming on club-friendly deals that gives young stars like Artemi Panarin, Alexis LaFreniere and K’Andre Miller some proven winners and grit players to learn from as they look to return back to the Eastern Conference Final, a destination they made just two short seasons ago.
Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad return up front for the Blueshirts, along with two-way stalwarts Vincent Trocheck and Filip Chytil. Kappo Kakko is another young NHL player who needs to step his game up to the next level along with LaFreniere, the former number one overall draft pick three seasons ago.
Adam Fox is one of the premier defensemen in all of the National Hockey League and is picked by many to win the Norris Trophy as awarded to the best defenseman in hockey. With 12 goals and 72 points last season, Fox will be a major player, especially with the Rangers on the Power-Play.
Ryan Lindgren and Jacob Trouba have been solid stay-at-home pillars while Erik Gustafsson leaves much to be desired on the backend, he is a solid puck carrier and will open up the rush for the bottom forward groups at times.
In goal, Igor Shesterkin runs the crease in Manhattan, but now he has an improved battery mate in Jonathan Quick, a three-time Stanley Cup winner and Olympic Silver medalist who in his 17th NHL season, is looking for one more chip and would love to hoist it in the Big Apple. This pairing is a strong favorite for the Jennings Trophy, which is awarded for lowest team goals-against average.
The Blueshirts are ready for another deep postseason run and only time will tell if this influx of veterans can inspire the young skaters who are seeing that window slowly close up in front of them. Watch out for New York this season.
Pittsburgh Penguins (39-35-8, 86 Points)
⦁ Division Odds: +750
⦁ Conference Odds: +1600
⦁ Stanley Cup Odds: +2800
⦁ Season Point Projection: 98.5 Points (Over -105/Under -125)
For the first time since the 2005-2006 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins only played 82 games, staying home for the postseason. This is only the second time in captain Sidney Crosby’s career where he has missed the playoffs, with the first coming in his rookie season.
Things needed to change quickly in the Steel City and so management booted General Manager Ron Hextall, and acquired Kyle Dubas from the Toronto Maple Leafs. While the pressure isn’t as intense on Dubas to deliver in Pittsburgh like it was in Toronto, his moves will still be combed over with a microscope at every turn.
He signed streaky starting goaltender Tristan Jarry to a new five-year deal, then acquired a wealth of depth forwards, something the Pens used to supply in their farm department. Reilly Smith, Matt Nieto, Lars Eller, Noel Acciari, Rem Pitlick and Vincent Hinostroza, just to name a few, to round out the supporting cast of Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell.
The biggest move by Dubas was getting the trade done that brought Erik Karlsson to town from San Jose. While some top draft picks had to be included in the three-team deal, the Pens are showing their fans that the window to win is closing and they are attempting to jump through and make one more run at a title.
Alongside veteran Kris Letang, who has gone through just about all you can imagine a human being has gone through, just two years removed from his second stroke, he still intends to play until his contract expires at age 42 in 2028. Shot blockers Marcus Petterson and Ryan Graves round out the blueline corps for Pittsburgh in what should be a fairly average unit.
As previously mentioned, Tristan Jarry was resigned for another five years, which drew the ire of some Penguins faithful. Casey DeSmith was moved in a trade that saw him land in Montreal and then to Vancouver, which opened the door for Alex Nedejelkovic to be signed as a free agent to back up Jarry.
After two rocky seasons with Detroit, if he isn’t up to the task, Magnus Hellborg, who also was a teammate of “Ned” in Grand Rapids of the AHL, and most recently from Ottawa, will be in line to take the secondary slot.
Dubas arrived into town and pushed all the chips into the center of the table for the Penguins. Whether Crosby, Malkin, Letang and Company have the horses for one more good run remains to be seen. With a lot of tough competition in the East, they will certainly have their work cut out for them right out of the gate.
New York Islanders (42-32-8, 92 Points)
⦁ Division Odds: +1200
⦁ Conference Odds: +2500
⦁ Stanley Cup Odds: +5000
⦁ Season Point Projection: 92.5 Points (-115 each way)
One of the most one-dimensional teams in the National Hockey League over the last several seasons, the defense-heavy New York Islanders head into this campaign with virtually no lineup changes aside from letting go veteran winger Zach Parise, which was viewed by many as an addition via subtraction.
Captain Anders Lee, along with Mat Barzal and Brock Nelson carry the bulk of the scoring for this club along with Bo Horvat and Jean-Gabriel Pageau. The toughest grinder line in the East is definitely the pairing of Matt Martin, Casey Cizikas, and Cal Clutterbuck, this alliterative trio can really rock and throw the body every single night.
On the blueline, you have the same workhorses that head coach Lane Lambert really relies on to be the lifeblood of this Islanders club, for better or for worse, when things tend to go dry offensively. Ryan Pulock has developed into one of the harder shooting point men in the league, while Adam Pelech is a notoriously difficult defenseman to face against, and a tremendous shot-blocker as well. Scott Mayfield and Noah Dobson make for a quality second pairing, while Alexander Romanov brings the club good youth and size on the backend.
Ilya Sorokin is picked by many experts to win the Vezina Trophy as the League’s Best Goaltender this NHL season. The 28-year old Russian enters his fourth season with the Isles, and with a record of 70-46-18 with 16 shutouts over three seasons, this guy is worth the hype and will keep New York competitive in games nearly every night he’s in the crease.
His backup is veteran countryman Semyon Varlamov, who isn’t as sharp these days entering his 15th season in the league. Both guys are signed to long-term deals so this is the pairing until otherwise noted.
The Islanders play a heavy, defensive style that wears clubs down over the course of 60 minutes, but if they go cold offensively, they are susceptible to getting routed in NHL matchups some nights, as was shown late in the season last year. The Isles will be in the Wild Card mix early, and look for them to fall out of the race again as the NHL calendar flips to 2024.
Columbus Blue Jackets (35-37-10, 80 Points)
⦁ Division Odds: +10000
⦁ Conference Odds: +6500
⦁ Stanley Cup Odds: +25000
⦁ Season Point Projection: 73.5 Points (-115 each way)
The Columbus Blue Jackets are on their second coach to start the 2023-24 campaign after they were left with no choice but to fire head coach Mike Babcock, who was just making his return to the NHL years after allegations of unfavorable conduct towards players, it surfaced that players of the Blue Jackets organization were demanded by Babcock to have insight to player’s personal photos and videos on their phones.
The last time a National Hockey League coach could get away with such invasive behavior, cell phones didn’t even exist. Babcock was shown the door and in comes Pascal Vincent, who originally started the year as an assistant. He brings in Mark Recchi to replace his spot, which doesn’t spell well for the Power-Play, something that hasn’t translated well thus far in Recchi’s time as a NHL assistant.
Despite General Manager Jarmo Kekäläinen’s apologies to the team and fans, Columbus is in a weird spot where they aren’t ready to contend, but also not in a complete rebuilding spot. Not when you have long-term contracts for forward Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine on the top line and talented young defensemen like Zach Werenski and Damon Severson.
This club has solid pieces to build upon but not much else afterwards. Landing the number three overall pick in this summer’s Entry Draft saw University of Michigan speedster Adam Fantilli selected by the Blue Jackets. Despite his school of choice, the Columbus faithful will welcome his offensive talent with open arms for years to come.
Elvis Merzlikins has had a rough couple of years on and off the ice, with watching his best friend and teammate Matiss Kiveleniks pass away due to a fireworks accident which saved him and his pregnant wife. Two years later and Merzlikins, who had to step away from the team to sort out his mental health, has finally returned to the club with hopefully a new lease on his career and in better spirits overall.
His backup options are Daniil Tarasov, who is dealing with a slight knee issue suffered in camp, Spencer Martin, formerly of Vancouver, and Aaron Dell, a veteran with NHL experience who has below-average numbers in nearly every pro season he has played.
Columbus failed with the Mike Babcock experiment before it could officially start and now will be at the drawing board all season trying to continue rebuilding in the right direction.
Washington Capitals (46-30-6, 98 Points)
⦁ Division Odds: +1800
⦁ Conference Odds: +3000
⦁ Stanley Cup Odds: +6000
⦁ Season Point Projection: 86.5 Points (-115 each way)
Everyone was watching the race to 801 with superstar Alex Ovechkin looking to eclipse the great Gordie Howe and take over as the second-best goal scorer in National Hockey League history. While “The Great Eight” scored 42 goals last season, putting him at 822 overall, just 72 away from tying Wayne Gretzky for most overall, Washington had not much else to celebrate during the season.
Injuries hampered the club all year long to the tune of 441 man games lost, the most for the Caps in nearly 25 years. Tom Wilson suffered a knee injury that knocked him out all year, he returns healthy as does T.J. Oshie, who dealt with a ton of aches and pains even in games he played last season.
Max Pachioretty comes over from Carolina, but he is still recovering from another Achilles injury and wont be ready to start the year. Despite the veteran names up front, new head coach Spencer Carbery is making a point for this team to play faster at both ends of the ice.
One key return to the lineup is Niklas Backstrom, who is playing with brand new hips after successful resurfacing surgery. His offensive playmaking ability has been missed at full speed and health and that will be a welcome addition back to this lineup.
On defense, John Carlson returns to full-time duty after fracturing his skull last season. Nick Jenson and Martin Fehervary both played well in elevated roles due to Carlson’s absence. Additions from last trade deadline include Rasmus Sandin from Toronto and free agent signing Joel Edmundson. In the net, the tandem of Darcy Kuemper and Charlie Lindrgren was formidable enough to not require any changes for this year.
Washington is just the stale bread in the pantry while the Pittsburgh’s and Carolina’s shoot for championships while the Columbuses and Philadelphia’s look to rebuild, the Capitals just sit plainly in the middle, not good enough to compete for a Stanley Cup, but not wretched enough to secure a Top-Three draft pick. Something’s got to give in District of Columbia this season and I would side with the latter coming to fruition first.
Philadelphia Flyers (31-45-6, 68 Points)
⦁ Division Odds: +10000
⦁ Conference Odds: +6500
⦁ Stanley Cup Odds: +15000
⦁ Season Point Projection: 75.5 Points (Over -105/Under -125)
The Philadelphia Flyers are under yet another rebuild, this time with a new General Manager in Daniel Briere and veteran coach John Tortorella still behind the bench, this youth movement on Broad Street is all about evaluating the talent they already have while looking to lose out this season and hopefully hit the number one overall pick in this Summer’s Draft, something this came up short with this year.
They selected Matvei Michkov, who plays in Sochi of the Konkinental in Russia, and the club has been skittish with his minutes to say the least. The Flyers have little to no say over his developmental time because he’s under a no-move contract with Sochi.
Domestically, the Flyers’ top forwards consist of Sean Couturier, Joel Farabee and Cam Atkinson, with two of these men returning from serious surgeries that ended their seasons in 2022-23 in Atkinson and Couturier. This team scored just 220 total goals last season and will have trouble trying to eclipse that mark this year. Youngsters Morgan Frost and Noah Cates will have more time to show what they can do in an elevated role.
Defensively, Rasmus Ristolainen and Travis Sanheim are the pillars on this unit, with vets Sean Walker and Marc Staal joining the club in the offseason. Nick Seeler is appreciated for his toughness, as is enforcer Nicolas DesLauries, but they won’t provide much outside of penalty minutes on the scoring sheet from a nightly basis.
Goaltender Carter Hart is in a make-or-break year with Philly. After having struggles on the road and some nagging injuries, the 25-year old netminder is a Restricted Free Agent at the end of the season and with Cal Peterson coming over in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings, this management will be eyeing both goalies to see which will be able to carry the load moving forward.
This will be the most interesting storyline to focus on with the Flyers all season. It will be another rough year for the guys in Orange and Black, but maybe they can strike it rich in the draft coming up this Summer.
1 | New Jersey Devils* |
2 | Carolina Hurricanes* |
3 | New York Rangers* |
4 | Pittsburgh Penguins* |
5 | New York Islanders |
6 | Columbus Blue Jackets |
7 | Washington Capitals |
8 | Philadelphia Flyers |
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