The New York Rangers (1) are the best team in the Metropolitan Division. The Rangers have the best goaltender Igor Shesterkin. The Blue Shirts blue line is the best is the division as well. Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox and rugged newly minted Captain 
Jacob Trouba hold down the right side while gritty Ryan Lindgren and wunderkind K’Andre Miller hold down the left. Youngster Braden Schneider has earned ice time after a strong rookie campaign. The Rangers have the All-Star power of a Broadway Tony winner up front. Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Artemi Panarin bury pucks. Newly acquired second line center Vince Trocheck gives the Rangers some snarl in the top six. If youngsters Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko continue to improve the Rangers will glide into the playoffs. Rangers Head Coach Gerard Gallant is masterful in the regular season and GM Chris Drury has two number one draft picks to fortify this Original Six team for another deep playoff run.
The Pittsburgh Penguins (2) brought everybody back for another run at Lord Stanley’s Cup. Even though they have not made it out of the first round in since 2018. The Penguins organization believes their window is still open. When Sidney Crosby is on your team it’s easy to find excuses for recent failures. Injuries, Poor goaltending and stupid penalties top the list of reasons the Penguins have not advanced. The Penguins other Hall of Fame center Evgeni Malkin is motivated after a contentious contract negotiation this summer. Anytime Geno shows up with a chip on his shoulder in September he usually has an incredible season. Top six line wingers Jake Guentzal, Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell give the centers ample fire power The Penguins Bottom 6 is has been in decline since the back to back Cups. It could use an infusion of youth like Drew O’Connor or Radim Zohorna. The defense will once again be anchored by top pairing Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin. The Penguins added Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta over the summer giving them some much needed size. Tristen Jarry is a very good regular season net minder but yet to produce in the playoffs. Head Coach Mike Sullivan signed a contract extension over the summer and is not on the hot seat.
The Carolina Hurricanes (3) have a tremendous top line of Sebastain Aho, Teauvo Teravainen and Andrei Svechnikov but the second line will not be as strong as it was last year. Last year’s second line center Vince Trocheck is being replaced by unproven Jesperi  Kotkanniemi. Team heartbeat Nino Niederreiter went to St Louis and newly acquired sniper Max Pacioretty is out until at least January. The Canes will need Seth Jarvis to keep improving and Marty Necas to bounce back from a disappointing season. Carolina’s blueline already top notch with Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei was bolstered by adding former San Jose Shark Brent Burns. Goaltenders Freddie Andersen and Antti Raanta are better than average but not great.
The New York Islanders (4) are the other Metro Division team playing it back with almost the same team. GM Lou Lamoriello believed last year was a fluke with Covid and a long road trip to start the season. He replaced Head Coach Barry Trotz with his disciple Lane Lambert. The forwards crew will be led by Mathew Barzal who took a step back last year after seemingly being headed to super stardom. Captain Anders lee is healthy. Brock Nelson is coming off a great year statistically. The Fishermen will be looking for more out of wingers Anthony Beauvillier and Oliver Wahlstrom. They also are looking to squeeze one more year out of the best fourth line in hockey Matt Martin, Cal Clutterbuck and Casey Cizikas. The defense will be improved by having top pair Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech healthy. Noah Dobson and Alexander Romanov give the Islanders some much needed youth on the back end. Scott Mayfield will provide its muscle. Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov give the Islanders the best goaltending tandem in the NHL.
The Washington Capitals (5) have been a Metropolitan Division power for over a decade but go into this season with more questions than answers. There’s no question that legend Alexander Ovechkin will score a ton of goals. It’s not if Ovi will catch Wayne Gretzky’s all time goal record but when. Every other forward has more questions than answers. Will center Nik Backstrom ever play again? When will Tom Wilson return. Will Evgeny Kuznetsov have two good seasons in a row? Can Anthony Mantha play to his potential in every game this season. Will TJ Oshie bounce back or is age the reason for his decline. The Capitals defense is no better than average after offensive Eric Carlson and underrated Dmitry Orlov. Darcy Kuemper, with his new Stanley Cup ring will sure up the Capitals net. Goaltending has been an issue in Washington since Braden Holtby’s departure.
The Columbus Blue Jackets (6) signed the summer’s biggest prize top free agent Johnny Gaudreau. Johnny Hockey and Patrik Laine give the Jackets the best one-two punch in franchise history. Jakub Voracek and Gus Nyquist are fine second line wingers. Unfortunately, Columbus’ top two centers are Boone Jenner and Jack Roslovic. The Blue Jackets defense is led by Zach Werenski. Werenski is a number one defensemen who got overpaid last offseason. The rest of the Blue Jackets defense is adequate. Adam Boquist can score, and Erik Gudbranson will lay the lumber. Elvis Merzlinkins is a dynamic goaltender. The BJs power play should be lethal. They will win high scoring games but will not be able to lock down top tier teams.
The New Jersey Devils (7) could move up this list and contend for a playoff spot. The Devils need their young talent to stay healthy and continue to improve. Centers Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier have the pedigree to be game changers. Jesper Bratt and Yegor Sharangovich and Tomas Tatar have good scoring hands . Miles Woods uses his hands for scoring and fighting. The Devils have Dougie Hamilton and Damon Severson anchoring their blue line until youngsters Simon Nemec and Luke Hughes mature into their roles as top pair defensemen. New Jersey has a three headed monster in net. Mackenzie Blackwood, Vitek Vanecek and Jonathan Bernier. Head Coach Lindy Ruff hopes one of these three wins the job because last year the goaltending was awful.
The Philadelphia Flyers (8) goaltender Carter Hart was supposed to be the great goaltender the Flyers haven’t had in almost 50 years. Unfortunately, the team in front of him has been awful. Two years ago, Hart let the team down. Last year they let him down. Philly brass want to return to the days of the Broad Street Bullies. They hired John Tortorella to bring violence back to the City of Brotherly Love. Nic Deslauries, Zach MacEwen, Antoine Roussel, Tony DeAngelo, and Rasmus Ristolainan won’t beat you on the score board but they will injure you. The fights should be more entertaining than Gritty and hopefully keep the impatient Flyer fans engaged until the draft.
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