2024-25 NHL Divisional Rankings for Metro:

North America is set for its inaugural NHL Season. New Jersey and Buffalo kicked it all off at Prague with the Global Series; training camps have come and gone and preseason play almost complete; this summer has brought several changes across divisions as star players have found new homes.
NHL Rumors: Who Will Make the Biggest Impact in the Metropolitan Division? Every new season brings hope for its teams – top clubs aim at winning the Stanley Cup; rebuilders want to remain competitive as long as possible and show some measure of progress; but even though all clubs want victory on one hand or another. There can only ever be one true victor in sports!
As NHLRumors.com has done for several seasons now, we will conduct our usual overview of both Eastern and Western Conferences by ranking teams within each of their four divisions – beginning with Metro Division Rankings as we begin 2019.
1. New York Rangers (Last Season Finisher)
Last season, the New York Rangers claimed first place in NHL Metro Division after setting a record pace season pace and taking home both President’s Trophy and winning the Presidents Trophy award despite losing in Eastern Conference Final to Florida Panthers.
Hockey Rumors: Update on New York Rangers’ Free Agent Goalie Igor Shesterkin (Update).
Chris Drury did little in the off-season as Jacob Trouba’s contract restricted them, other than trading for Reilly Smith to provide some continuity on Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad’s top line (they hope Kaapo Kakko can fill that void), Alexis Lafreniere remains with Artemi Panarin and Vicent Trocheck, although their success hinges on Panarin and his health status).
Ryan Lindgren signed a one-year deal, is also out with injury but otherwise, they signed depth players as depth signings — with Igor Shesterkin likely getting extended with long term contract talks to follow – plus having enough cap space in 2019-20 to pay their core players.
Rangers and Devils will battle it out to take top honors in the NHL Metro Division this season; though we’re uncertain of their point total. We expect an exciting battle!
2. New Jersey Devils (Last Season Finished Seventh)
The New Jersey Devils, led by President and General Manager Tom Fitzgerald, kicked off their 2018-19 campaign on September 4 in Prague against Buffalo Sabres. Fitzgerald acknowledged a potential complacency problem after last season’s disappointing result but began working towards improvement immediately thereafter.
NHL Rumors: How the New Jersey Devils Acquired Sheldon Keefe
After replacing Lindy Ruff with Travis Green and recruiting Sheldon Keefe from Toronto’s Maple Leafs organization who had recently been cut loose, Green set his sights on landing him. Keefe then acquired Jacob Markstrom who impressed in game one as their goalie despite having just joined.
Once that happened, he overhauled the Devils to become tougher to play against – adding size with Brett Pesce, Johnathan Kovacevic, Brenden Dillon, Stefan Noesen and Tomas Tatar joining Brenden Dillon and Stefan Noesen from Brenden Dillon along with Paul Cotter as trade acquisition. Additionally, Dougie Hamilton rejoins Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, Seamus Casey on their lineup!
Fitzgerald helped return the Devils to their hard-hitting form two seasons ago, when they proved an intimidating team for opponents to face off against. Nobody is expecting them to miss the playoffs this time around – with Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier leading their charge through learning new systems with ease.
3. Carolina Hurricanes (Last Season, Place 2bra The Carolina Hurricanes will experience some regression this season in the NHL Metro Division after losing key members on defense – such as Pesce and Brady Skjei – during this summer. To replace their departing teammates on defence they acquired Sean Walker and Shayne Gostisbehere as replacements on defence respectively.
NHL News: Canucks, Islanders, Jets and Sens Join Hurricanes, Penguins Blue Jackets Devils in Utah
Expect Rod Brind’Amour and his Hurricanes team to play with an edge with him behind their bench. No other team conforms so closely to its coach’s identity than this club does, which makes Martin Necas’ new deal even more interesting to see deployed. Jack Drury may take an increase role while Seth Jarvis seems like this team belongs to him even if Sebastian Aho remains.
Jack Roslovic will fill Jake Guentzel’s place after being traded to Tampa Bay prior to free agency, as they may not be as explosive again like before; nevertheless Andrei Svechnikov can still put pucks into the net; Pyotr Kochetkov may take more games away from Frederik Andersen than previously expected.
4. Washington Capitals (Last Year: Fourth Place) Many might find the Washington Capitals surprising, yet this could be an upstart in the NHL Metro Division this season. Many don’t expect them to last as they did last season but their offseason moves suggest otherwise.
Washington Capitals Have Been Impressive Under Their Former Coach This Offseason Washington have impressed their former coach this offseason by adding Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren; trading Jakob Chychrun while losing Nick Jensen; as well as signing Andrew Mangiapane, Matt Roy, and Pierre-Luc Dubois as additions.
PLD could be the difference-maker here; should he live up to his contract signed with Los Angeles prior to being traded to Washington, the Capitals may have found their replacement for Nicklas Backstrom.
Washington still boasts Sonny Milano, Dylan Strome and Connor McMichael from their initial retooling effort a month ahead of its rival team, Philadelphia. Additionally they may benefit from T.J. Oshie’s absence and have significant long-term injury replacement cap space thanks to him expectedly missing all season – suggesting they might surprise many in 2016.
5. New York Islanders (Finished Third Last Season ) Its We cannot say enough good things about the Islanders! Hardly predictable, they stand apart as one-of-a-kind teams every season with outstanding goal scoring abilities that remain unchanged year over year.
NHL Injuries: Blue Jackets, Canadiens, Islanders, Rangers, Senators, Penguins and Jets
Can this team score enough goals to win? Every year, the answer has been “no”, even with Anthony Duclair now on board. While we know Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal can score plenty, Brock Nelson rarely stops scoring 30+ goals per season while Kyle Palmieri’s scoring streakiness may make things difficult for this older Islanders team.
Now the players will benefit from having an off-season under Patrick Roy; one should never underestimate his coaching prowess. Noah Dobson plays an instrumental role in defense while two top goalies like Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov help ensure optimal goaltending playback.
But this division is tough, and they must overcome a rival such as Washington that seems determined to beat them down.
6. Pittsburgh Penguins (Last Year: Fifth Place)
It appears as though this year will be another difficult one for the Pittsburgh Penguins, as they look likely to miss the playoffs for at least the third straight time despite Sidney Crosby returning for two more seasons; they remain one of the oldest teams in the league despite that potential upside.
Will Sidney Crosby Play for the Pittsburgh Penguins Again Their rebuild should have started years ago when Kris Letang or Evgeni Malkin should have been chosen, not both, instead. But ownership desires management to build around Crosby, Letang, and Malkin in hopes of one final run at winning a Stanley Cup title; that goal simply has not come about given recent additions made to their lineup.
Kevin Hayes has seen better days, yet still provides good playmaking abilities for the Penguins. Rutger McGroarty may become Jake Guentzel 2.0 while Anthony Beauvillier remains serviceable as Matt Grzelcyk remains unknown and doesn’t stand out at any one moment; Tristan Jarry must step up if this team hopes to advance any further.
Last season they finished sixth. 8. Philadelphia Flyers (Last Season: Sixth Place)
Last season the Philadelphia Flyers made quite an impression in the NHL Metro Division by staying competitive until very near to playoff time before falling out of contention altogether. Nevertheless, everyone knew Philadelphia wasn’t making it!
Philadelphia Flyers Could Surprise Next Season
There has been much anticipation surrounding the Philadelphia Flyers this season since Matvei Michkov joined their roster after returning from KHL play and quickly making himself at home alongside Owen Tippett, Bobby Brink and Morgan Frost. Additionally they boast some promising young pieces such as Ivan Fedotov and Aleksei Kolosov along with Samuel Ersson in goal to complete a formidable line up.
Travis Konecny signed an eight-year extension with Philadelphia this off-season and we can only wait and see what head coach John Tortorella can get out of his group this season. Given so many teams advancing such as New Jersey Devils are, it will be intriguing to witness where all teams fall on the standings this year.
8. Columbus Blue Jackets (Last Year Finished 8th) Let’s face it; writing this list won’t be easy or pleasant – and let’s be real: Columbus will experience another difficult season this year due to Johnny Gaudreau’s tragic passing, sending them spiraling toward disaster that may never fully recover from. There was so much promise between Gaudreau and Sean Monahan and so much potential between the two – unfortunately one was taken far too soon from us all.
NHL Rumors: Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets
Both Philadelphia and Columbus remain young teams on the ice; Dean Evason is taking charge as bench boss in Columbus; his hopes are for them to perform at their best level under him and at that of any bench boss since 1980 (Kent Johnson, Adam Fantilli, Monahan Boone Jenner Kirill Marchenko David Jiricek Zach Werenski Ivan Provorov Damon Severson are some good pieces to look out for).