How The Philadelphia Flyers Stack Up Against The Metropolitan Divison
The Flyers have had a busy offseason. They’ve signed some depth pieces, selected some potentially great draft picks, and unloaded some dead weight from the team. While these moves aren’t going to catapult them to the top of the standings this year, they are looking further ahead to the future.
Speaking of that future, you have to examine the other teams in the Metropolitan Division to see where the Flyers fit in. Several of the teams in the division have made some major moves to get stronger. Other teams are just getting older and are primed for a fall. Looking at how the Flyers stand in comparison to the rest of their competition can give us an idea of how well the rebuild is coming along.
*The following list is based on how the Metropolitan Division finished last season*
Carolina Hurricanes
Record: 52-21-9
The Canes have been the cream of the crop in the division. They have been a dominant, well balanced team and a strong contender for the Eastern Conference Champions since Rod Brind’Amour took over as head coach. They are also in grave danger of losing their title as best team in the Metro.
Last season, the team made it all the way to the Conference Finals for the second time in five years. Injuries took their toll on them as the playoffs went on. The biggest one was when scoring juggernaut Andrei Svechnikov tore his ACL just before the end of the season. He may be healthy enough for training camp, but we’ll see. Teuvo Teravainen broke his hand during the first round of the playoffs, but did return for their series against the Panthers.
This team is loaded with talent. Sebastian Aho and Martin Necas form a very strong offensive unit. They were reinforced this year when the Canes signed Michael Bunting. They also re-signed the heart and soul of their team, Jordan Staal, as well as re-upping their solid goaltending duo of Antti Raanta and Frederick Andersen.
Raanta and Andersen are not necessarily the best goalies in the league. However, they are dependable. It also helps when you have the NHL’s best defensive corps in front of you. Brent Burns shows no signs of aging as he scored 18 goals with 61 points. Jaccob Slavin, Brady Skjei, and Brent Pesce are three of the best defensive minded blueliners in the league. The Canes also added veteran defender Dmitri Orlov to this squad. It was already a formidable bunch, but adding Orlov will make it more so.
Carolina was in contention for Erik Karlsson most of the offseason. Those rumors took a big hit after the Canes signed former Flyers defenseman Tony DeAngelo. DeAngelo had great success in his lone season in Carolina. Will he listen to Brind’Amour after striking out with John Tortorella? Who knows at this point?
So with all of this that is positive, what’s the problem with the Hurricanes? Why could this team lose their position as top dog in the Metro? Carolina has nine unrestricted free agents and four RFAs looming next year. We aren’t talking about young prospects here. We’re talking about the core of this team: Necas, Skeji, Pesce, and Teravainen as well as former Flyer Brendan Lemieux. They just recently re-upped Aho for nine years.
Carolina currently has just under $900,000 freed up for the cap now that the DeAngelo deal is finalized, but that could change when Svechnikov is activated. Likewise, the cap is expected to rise next year. How much is yet to be determined, but it looks as if it could be more than this year’s raise of $1 million. Still, can Carolina keep everyone? They are a young team and everybody is going to want to be paid. I guess it depends on if players want money more than a chance to win the cup. This team is a legit contender if they can keep it together. They’ve survived losing good players like Dougie Hamilton, Jeff Skinner, and Vincent Trocheck in the past. How long can that continue? Are Carolina’s days numbered? As far as this season goes, they will probably capture the division. 2024-25….that’s a different story.
New Jersey Devils
Record: 52-22-8
The Devils were the surprise of the Metro last year. In one season they went from last place to within one point of the division title. Bolstered by a young squad and a trade deadline pickup of Timo Meier, the Devils are in prime position to take the division. They handled the Rangers in seven games in the first round of the playoffs last season, but got manhandled by the Canes in the second round.
The Devils have been quiet, losing Ryan Graves and Miles Wood to free agency. Most of the moves they’ve made have been depth signings. However, they re-signed Meier to an eight year contract. They also bolstered their offense by trading for Calgary forward Tyler Toffoli. Only two of their current forwards are over 30 (Toffoli and Ondrej Palat). A lot of how they performed in the postseason last year could be attributed to the relative youth and inexperience of this team.
Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, and Meier will form a foursome that is signed on for the next four years. That is a great core group of guys to build around. It’s a model that the Flyers could really use to follow in their rebuild. This team will once again challenge Carolina for the divisional title. They should also be a very competitive team for the rest of the 2020s. Barring a multitude of injuries, this team isn’t going away anytime soon.
New York Rangers
Record: 47-22-13
The Rangers have had a busy offseason. They slipped from second place to third and struggled this playoff season. In order to shake things up, they hired former Flyers coach Peter Laviolette to guide the team. It’s hoped that the Stanley Cup winning coach can finally bring the trophy back to Broadway.
They also have made a lot of signings. Nick Bonino and Erik Gustafsson highlight a free agent class that is expected to bolster this lineup while they lost only Niko Mikkola to the Panthers. Likewise, the Rangers signed depth pieces like Tyler Pitlick and Jonathan Quick as a backup to mighty goaltender Igor Shesterkin. This will help to fortify a powerful lineup already brimming with starts like Artemi Panarin, Jacob Trouba, Adam Fox, Vincent Trocheck, and Mika Zibanejad.
Shesterkin is the key to this team. He is one of the top five best goalies in the league. When Henrik Lundqvist retired, most thought that the Rangers would take a step back in net. Not at all. And there are some indications that Shesterkin could end up even better than the Hall of Famer. As long as he is in between the posts, the Rangers will have a chance to win.
This team can score, but they have struggled defensively. They still have over $2 million left in cap space in which they could sign a defender or someone else. Allegedly, Vladimir Tarasenko wanted to return to New York, but he ended up signing a one-year deal with the Ottawa Senators.
The Rangers are also aging. They don’t have a lot of time left as most of their forwards are on the wrong side of 30. Their window is rapidly closing as younger teams, like Carolina and New Jersey (and to a lesser extent Philadelphia) are exerting their influence on the division. If the Rangers don’t take the division and make a deep run in the playoffs, management will have to consider altering this team in the next year or two.
New York Islanders
Record: 42-31-9
After underperforming the year before and striking out in the Johnny Gaudreau sweepstakes, the Isles bounced back and made a last minute run to the playoffs, edging the veteran teams of Pittsburgh and Washington. They’ve followed that campaign up by signing Julien Gauthier and trading away Josh Bailey. They are also almost $500,000 over the salary cap.
Despite all that, this team has an abundance of players that play well together. Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov are a stable goaltending duo. Whenever you have a good goalie combo in net, you always have a chance to win. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pullock are still patrolling the blueline while Mathew Barzal, trade deadline acquisition Bo Horvat, Anders Lee, Nelson Brock, Kyle Palmieri, and Cal Clutterbuck still make for an imposing set of forwards. They aren’t the greatest set of forwards, but they are feisty enough to give you fits.
The Isles are always hard to figure out. When you think they are going to be good, they disappoint. When you expect them to suck, they surprise. No matter what, they will always be the other New York team. They could easily be a third place team or last place team. They are younger than the Rangers and, with acquring Horvat last year, are in a good place to rise up. Keep an eye on them.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Record: 40-31-11
The Pens missed the playoffs for the first time since 2005-06. Pittsburgh only had to win one game in their final three and they would’ve clinched a spot in the playoffs. They were facing the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, and Columbus Blue Jackets; three teams that were out of the playoffs including two of the worst three teams in the NHL. Win one and they are in. The Pens lost all three games. They blew it. With a roster of seasoned, battle hardened veterans, they blew it. Instead, Florida got it and rode the wave all the way to the finals.
That is the problem with Pittsburgh. They are an old team now. They spent the previous offseason trying to bring the band back together and kept Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang in house with Sidney Crosby in a vain attempt to recapture their glory years. Much like the Rangers, this team is on the wrong side of 30 with just seven skaters on their roster under 30. All of this cost former Flyers GM Ron Hextall his job as GM. Part of me likes to think that Hexy took that job to sabotage the team for the Flyers sake. If he did do that, he did a great job!
The Pens aren’t awful, but they aren’t the menacing team they once were. Their experience and hockey knowledge do give them an edge most teams won’t have. However, they are slipping. When you drop three games against basement dwellers in order to make the playoffs, that shows you are backsliding big time. The Pens also have to worry about Jake Guentzel, one of the few guys under 30, hitting the free agent market next year. Guentzel is currently injured and should miss a few months due to ankle surgery.
Flyers fans only need to rejoice. This hated rival is falling apart and is heading for an extended rough patch coming up. Of course, let’s be honest, this comes after an extended run where they won three Stanley Cup Championships too. It was bound to happen.
However, the Pens won the Erik Karlsson sweepstakes. He could help them big time and could potentially stop their slide. He could jumpstart both their offense and defense. The trade cost Pittsburgh a lot, however. Gone is next year’s first round pick and 2025’s second rounder. Also gone is last year’s trade deadline pickup Mikael Granlund, Jan Rutta, Jeff Petry, and goaltender Casey DeSmith.
Karlsson will be a great addition to this team. Is it too little too late? This season could be the Penguins last ditch effort to win a Cup with Crosby, Malkin, and Letang. If they don’t win it this year, there is a good chance their window is forever shut with this crew. And if that is the case, they also just mortgaged their future for nothing.
Washington Capitals
Record: 35-37-10
It wasn’t that long ago that they were the titans of the division. They are in a free fall now. They’ve gotten old. Alex Ovechkin is 37 and Nicklas Backstrom is 35. The Caps have over $18 million tied up in these fading superstars and are almost $1 million over the cap.
The cash strapped team made just one major free agent signing in Max Pacioretty and hope that the injury prone star can have a bounce back season. In return, they lost several players, including Conor Sheary, to free agency.
For a team that lost a lot of time due to injuries, they didn’t do enough to build their team up. Likewise, their finances are strangling them. In short, they are an older version of the Flyers. While just having Ovechkin could help any team be successful, they don’t have much beyond him. It is not unfathomable to foresee that this team is heading for the cellar. It could happen this year or next year, but they are not who they once were.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Record: 25-48-9
This was the favorite sleeper of every analyst last year when they signed Johnny Gaudreau to a long term deal. Then Zach Werenski got hurt and his future is in jeopardy. CBJ also lost Jakub Voracek to a career threatening injury. While Gaudreau and Patrik Laine put up big numbers for Columbus, the rest of the team was pretty much garbage.
To this end, the Jackets made a trade with the Flyers for Ivan Provorov to help bolster their blueline. He should most likely be paired up with with either Adam Boqvist or Damon Severson and become a solid defensive pairing. In fact, Columbus’s defense was fairly good last year, but they could not score goals outside of Gaudreau and Laine. Their first round draft selection of Adam Fanitlli was a pretty solid one and he should compete for a spot on the team during their training camp.
Yes, they have Boone Jenner and Cole Sillinger, but the Jackets don’t have a whole lot after that. What makes them unpredictable is their youth. Another year together will make them stronger. A stronger defense will help them be more competitive. They won’t make the playoffs, but they may not be a basement dweller either. A lot of this season will depend on the health of their players and what moves, if any, they make during the season. Much like the Flyers, this is a young team that is looking to get better. They are looking to make their move up in the standings in the upcoming seasons.