Written by: Alyssa
The metro, one of the strongest divisions in the league has shown their dominance through the last few years. With both the penguins and the capitals seeming to slow down and losing the dominance they had for years. Will the St. Louis blues close to door for the metro or will these strong teams push their way back out? The placing of these teams are based on their off season pickups and their performances last season.
Philadelphia Flyers
With a bare offseason and a disappointing 2018-2019 season, this upcoming season seems bleak for the flyers. With very little to talk about except the resigning of names such as Provorov and Elliot; and the lack of a contract for Travis Konecny. The only hope for the broad street bullies is signing of capitals Niskanen and their first round draft pick Cam York,which just adds to my theory that the flyers only want to sign gingers. Still many are concerned with the loss of Wayne Simmonds last season and what his absence will mean for the flyers blue line. Can Hart fill the empty spot that the flyers have been trying to fill for years, or will he be able to take them all the way?
New York Rangers
Coming off a disappointing 2018-2019 season the thought of loss still lingers in the back of many Rangers fans minds. With the second overall pick in the 2019 draft the, the Rangers selected Finnish born Kakko who they hoped would bring the Rangers to the cup again. A slow offseason of only signing jets RFA Trouba and Jackets RFA Panarin the team is mostly the same as recent seasons. A rocky relationship with Lundquist seems to be in the works with the goalie’s thoughts of leaving the team; and buying out Shattenkirk causes more anger with the veterans of their team. After the teams loss of Zuccarello last season they seem to be in a confusing spot. Could they somehow make Panarin into the power house he was last season? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Columbus Blue Jackets
With a historical season behind them the Jackets seemed to be on the way to a Stanley Cup final. They sadly were defeated by the Stanley cup runner up the Boston Bruins.During The offseason they seemed to be on the way to another historical season. Then they lost major names such as Panarin, Bobrosky, and Duchene. This put them on a drastic hunt to sign power house players which lead them to sign Detroit’s forward Nyquist.With only small resigning’s the team seemed to be searching for what they lost. Can the strong wills of Atkinson, Jones, and Werniski claw their way back to the playoffs?
New Jersey Devils
With the first overall pick of the 2019 draft the Devils took American born Hughes; who they hoped would breathe new life into the team. The team had a go big or go home motto walking into the 19-20 offseason and they most definitely did not disappoint. With huge pickups such as Subban, Gusev, and Simmonds and many players getting resigned. They seem to be pushing their bad past behind them and thriving for the one thing every team in the league dreams of…the Stanley Cup. Can these new power house players help Hall, Hischer, and the rest of the Devils to the cup?
New York Islanders
With only minor changes to the roaster their team seems just as strong as it was entering the playoffs. With the strange sweeping curse that consumed almost the whole eastern conference, I had a confusing time thinking about them and the Hurricanes in this list. Besides they still ended the regular season in second place, which confirms they are a good team with depth. With the loss of Lehner the depth of his goal tending will now be dropped into the lap of new Islander Varlamov. Almost losing their captain again caused more stress to this fan base. Just take care of Tommy for me… ok serious back. With every metro team balking up will they shine or rust under the tidal wave that is the metro division.
Carolina Hurricanes
With Williams future with the canes still unknown will young players like Aho, Svechnikov, and Teravainen be able to take the Canes back to the cup final? Many players coming back with new contracts and only few players lost during this year’s offseason; it seems the canes are becoming a demanding team with some powerful players. With resigning of large players such as Mrazek, Fleury and Aho; the future of the Canes seems very bright. Combine all that with a good draft, the Canes seem to be making a comeback with last season’s win over the reigning Stanley Cup champions the Capitals. Then with their sweep of the Islanders in the second round, the Canes are going to be a tough competitor. Will they be able to make it back to the final and win like 2006?
Pittsburgh Penguins
With a surprising sweep from the Islanders in the first round, many fans threw blame onto the Pens lacking blue line. No changes have come for these fans with Johnson and Gudbranson still on the team and a contract for Pettersson lacking. With a very unsurprising trade of Kessel for Coyotes Galchenyuk, the Pens seem to be trying to bring themselves back to their glory days. With the loss of Maatta and addition of Kahun and Tanev (two more forwards), most fans find the defense lacking and see this as their main flaw. With the retirement of Cullen and former forward Kunitz, which I’d like to break the 4th wall real quick and wish them both amazing careers with their respective teams. The playoffs seem sure with many resignings and an extension for Coach Sullivan, they seem to be just as strong. Can Crosby and Malkin win another cup or is their time up?
Washington Capitals
Coming of a disappointing loss to the Canes in the first round, the Caps haven’t changed much besides the loss of Niskanen and the retirement of Orpik. With resigning of Hagelin and Vrana, Caps fans hopes are large, but with Holtby’s place on the team still unknown, what will this mean for them? The Capitals are working against the salary cap this season, while they are still over the cap when I am writing this, it is nowhere near as bad as the former Stanley cup final rival the Golden Knights. Can they bring back the boom from 2018 or will they fall like they did in 2019? Will the Capital collapse or will it survive this metro world war?
With the control and strength of every team on this list who will dominate and who will fall to the bottom? Even the teams in the bottom half of this list are strong and deep like the rest of the metro. The utmost respect to every single one of these teams and all these fans. All opinions expressed in this article are mine and mine alone, with the most generic unbiasedness I can achieve.