Metropolitan Division Offseason: Winners and Losers

We’re not quite through the off-season, but it’s safe now to evaluate the moves that each team in the Metropolitan Division has made thus far and pick winners and losers. After all, not many moves will be made late into August.

In 2020-2021, the NHL realigned divisions based on geographic location in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, with highly effective vaccines readily available the NHL will go back to the divisions we’ve grown accustomed to.

The reigning Metropolitan Division champions (2019-2020) are the Washington Capitals, finishing with 90 standings points, good for a point percentage of .652. Followed closely by the Philadelphia Flyers at 89 (.645) and the Pittsburgh Penguins at 86 (.623) to round out the top three. The Carolina Hurricanes finished with 81 points (.596), the New York Islanders finished fifth with 80 points in only 68 games (.588), to best the sixth place Columbus Blue Jackets who amassed 81 points in 70 games (.579). The bottom two teams were the young New York Rangers (79 points or .564) and the New Jersey Devils who finished with 68 points for a point percentage of .493.

The Metropolitan Division will look different in 2021-2022. The Capitals will prevail, narrowly, over the Hurricanes for the division title. The Islanders will place third, followed by the Penguins, Rangers, Devils, Flyers and Blue Jackets in that order.

Washington Capitals

Winner:

The Washington Capitals had one of the quieter off-seasons, up against the cap and as talented as any team in the NHL, the Capitals didn’t need to do much. Coming into the off-season: the Capitals had two major goals: re-sign Alex Ovechkin and stabilize the goaltending. Brian MacLellan did just that. Alex Ovechkin was re-signed to a five-year contract with an AAV of $9.5 million. Signing Ovechkin to a team-friendly deal that allowed the team the flexibility to continue to field a competitive team around Ovechkin is a huge success.

The goaltending situation seemed to be a bigger question mark, especially when the Seattle Kraken selected Vitek Vanecek in the NHL Expansion Draft. Without their breakout young goaltender from a season ago, it suddenly became apparent that the Capitals had no cap space and very limited goalie depth on the roster. That’s a problem.

Within the span of a week, MacLellan solved the problem. MacLellan was able to move Brenden Dillon, which gave him the cap-space and draft capital to reacquire Vanecek from the Kraken and then the team re-signed Ilya Samsonov to a bridge-contract. Another shrewd move from the Capitals’ front-office. With the face of the franchise under contract for five-years on a contract the team can afford and their young goaltending duo from a season ago re-signed, it’s hard to argue that the Capitals were anything but a winner in the 2021-2022 off-season.

New York Islanders

Loser:

The New York Islanders have had a relatively quiet but also a strange off-season. With that said, having a quiet offseason does not dictate whether it’s a successful off-season. However, the Islanders, so far, are not a better team than they were last season. They’re slightly worse and that isn’t good for a team that is expected to compete for a Stanley Cup.

The Isles biggest loss was Jordan Eberle to the Seattle Kraken during the Expansion Draft. Jordan Eberle is a talented winger, something the Isles need. While he isn’t a superstar and hasn’t eclipsed the 20-goal plateau since 2017-2018, the Isles have done very little to replace him to this point. A season ago, Eberle scored 16 goals and added 17 assists in 55 games. Lou Lamoriello and the New York front-office also moved on from Nick Leddy and Andrew Ladd. In return, two of the biggest official moves, are the Isles adding Richard Panik to their roster and resigning Adam Pelech to an eight-year contract.

Being able to move Andrew Ladd’s contract is a win, but the team still currently has roughly $12 million in cap-space and they still need to negotiate terms for RFAs, Anthony Beauvillier and Ilya Sorokin. Reports also suggest that Kyle Palmieri will return and Zach Parise will join the roster. Those players will surely take a large chunk of that free cap-space.

With those additions, the Islanders are a very similar team to a year ago. They’re tough, solid defensively, underpowered offensively and well-coached. They are not much, if at all, better than they were in 2020-2021. But as the roster sits, right now, the Islanders are losers because a lot of these moves are not official and the current roster is simply not as good as the one from a season ago.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Winners:

The Pittsburgh Penguins are in a similar situation that the Capitals find themselves in. The Penguins have struggled in recent playoff series and their core is aging, quickly. The Capitals have the edge when it comes to scoring, physicality and depth but if Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang stay healthy, the Penguins will remain a dangerous team in the 2021-2022 season. Armed with a well-rounded team and not a lot of cap-space, this offseason was far from notable for Penguins’ fans.

The Pens did lose a few notable players. Jared McCann, who filled in admirably during Malkin’s absence was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Brandon Tanev who was selected by the Kraken and Cody Ceci who signed with the Edmonton Oilers are the losses that will hurt Pittsburgh the most. Losing McCann and his 32 points would be the biggest blow if Crosby, Malkin or Jeff Carter were to miss any significant amount of time in the upcoming season. The four-year contract that Pittsburgh awarded to Brock McGinn is a solid deal for both sides. The thought around Pittsburgh is that McGinn can fill part of the void left by Tanev.

“I think I’m a 200-foot player who’s going to bring energy, who’s going to play that physical style and also contribute offensively,” he said. “My mindset is not going to change. … I’m going to come out, bring energy for the guys and try to win as many games as we can and hopefully bring a Cup to the city of Pittsburgh.”

Ron Hextall did a good job filling Tanev’s role with the McGinn signing. The question in Pittsburgh will be their goaltending and if they will be able to stay healthy. Without blowing up their core roster, the Penguins didn’t have much wiggle room on their team. Given the circumstances, they had a decent offseason. It won’t be enough to catapult them above the more-talented Capitals and Hurricanes nor will they get above the pesky Islanders but the Penguins will once again compete in the Metropolitan Division. This division will be close and the Penguins will be right in the thick of things, just like they are every year it seems. It’s anybody’s guess as to exactly where they will finish.

New York Rangers

Losers:

The New York Rangers have a completely revamped front-office. Their coaching staff is also completely revamped. Headlined by Gerard Gallant, the Rangers will be a well-coached bunch. With that said, the rest of the moves from Drury’s front-office left a lot to be desired. It was clear that the organization’s ownership didn’t like the level of toughness on the roster and after the line-brawls of a season ago caused by Tom Wilson’s antics, it was obvious the Rangers wanted to get tougher. By doing so, they became less-talented. Chris Drury addressed the need for physical players by trading for Ryan Reaves, signing Jarred Tinordi and trading for Barclay Goodrow.

Barclay Goodrow is the type of player that the Rangers should have targeted, and kudos to Drury for bringing him aboard. He’s a tough, physical player who will help retool the bottom-six and make the Rangers harder to play against. A season-ago, Goodrow matched his career-high for Corsi For % of 49.2, despite being deployed nearly 64% of the time in the defensive zone. With the Lightning, Goodrow scored 6 goals and added 14 assists during the regular season, good for a plus-20. Adding in 111 hits and back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, you can see why Goodrow is a valuable third-line piece. That’s about where the positives end though.

Ryan Reaves is a physical-force to be reckoned with on the ice, but that’s about it. As far as actual hockey skill goes, Reaves is not an NHL-caliber player. Offering very little offensive ability, one might expect Reaves would be an effective penalty-killer, given his physical style of play. For one, he spends so much time in the box, he can’t be relied upon to be available when his team his short-handed, because more often than not, he won’t be. Giving up a third-round draft pick for a guy who averages 8:37 of ice-time in an eleven-year career is a steep price to pay. Reaves is an enforcer, nothing more, and this screams of a knee-jerk reaction to the physicality of teams like the Capitals and Islanders.

On the blue-line, the Rangers brought in Patrik Nemeth and Jarred Tinordi. Nemeth is an interesting signing, who the Rangers hope will pair nicely with rookie Nils Lundkvist on the third-line. Nemeth is a solid stay-at-home defenseman who has played for the lowly Detroit Red Wings recently until being traded to the Colorado Avalanche late last season. With the Avs, Nemeth saw his possession metrics improve across the board as a member of a better team. Nemeth will provide a steady player on the bottom pair. Nemeth isn’t the type of player who will propel the Rangers over the Metropolitan’s top teams but he isn’t expected to be.

Tinordi on the other hand is a depth-signing at best on the blue-line. The tough defenseman has never played in more than 28 games in a single season and has a career Corsi For % of 43.8 and a season ago with the Boston Bruins, he was even worse at only 37.8. While physicality is an important aspect of a hockey team, outside of Goodrow, the Rangers will sacrifice talent for physicality.

Some may argue that Tinordi and Reaves will only play against physical opponents like the Capitals or Islanders, and they may be right, but against teams like the Capitals or Islanders, you need your best players. That’s where Chris Drury and the Rangers missed the mark. The Rangers have physical players like Ryan Reaves and they have talented players like Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad, but they don’t have talented, physical players like Tom Wilson of the Capitals or Anders Lee of the Islanders.

New Jersey Devils

Winners:

The New Jersey Devils made some big splashes in the 2021-2022 off-season and this team could surprise many in the Metropolitan Division. New Jersey fans have a lot to look forward to next season, the Devils brought in three high-impact players. Bringing in Dougie Hamilton, Ryan Graves and Jonathan Bernier instantly makes the Devils a lot better.

Dougie Hamilton, for reasons we’ve already discussed, is one of the best defenseman in the league. He will drive play and with him, the Devils will have one of the top players in the NHL on their side. The Devils shelled out a lot of money and a lot of term to Hamilton, but a move like this signals to the team and to the fanbase that the Devils are entering the next phase of their rebuild. The Devils expect to compete, and compete they will.

Ryan Graves is another intriguing piece that Tom Fitzgerald brought in to help the Devils make the next step in their rebuild. Graves is young but proven, playing in149 games for the Colorado Avalanche he has made a name for himself as a complete defender. In 2019-2020, his first full season, he burst onto the scene, leading the NHL with a plus-40 rating. Graves came back down to earth a bit last season, putting up 15 points in 54 games and having a plus-15 rating, but those are still very respectable numbers. Expect Graves to average 20 minutes of time on the ice or more in the upcoming season for the Devils, a mark he is yet to eclipse in his career.

Jonathan Bernier was one of the bright spots on the Detroit Red Wings from a season ago. Despite playing behind one of the league’s worst teams, Bernier had a .914 save percentage in 24 games. Those numbers don’t show the whole picture, Bernier faced the most amount of shots per 60 minutes amongst goalies who played at least 1,000 minutes at 5-on-5 and he faced the third most high-danger shots per 60 minutes.

To put those numbers into context, Braden Holtby, a former Vezina winning goaltender, faced the second-most shots per 60 minutes last season and his save percentage was a mere .889. Brought in by Martin Brodeur to mentor and to challenge Mackenzie Blackwood, Bernier is excited to play on a team that is looking to compete.

“When a guy like him [Brodeur] calls you and explains why they want you there and the ins and outs of the organization and the team and the city, to me, he just sold it,” Bernier explained. “Sometimes you just go with your gut, and when he called me it just made 100 percent sense to go there. I know they’re still a young team, but for them to go and get [Dougie] Hamilton, Ryan Graves, they’re really trying to get to that next level now. They’re not just a team still looking for draft picks and rebuilding in that first stage. They’re going to that second stage where, now, results are important. That’s what I was looking for, a team that can compete and hopefully make the playoffs.”

Mackenzie Blackwood will have a breakout season with the Devils, with Bernier solidifying the crease and taking some pressure off of him, Blackwood will thrive. The former second-round selection regressed a bit a season ago, posting a career-low .902 save percentage in 35 appearances. With a much-improved team in-front of him and Bernier by his side, Blackwood will post a save percentage north of .912 in the 2021-2022 season.

While the Devils are still a couple of years away from competing for the division title, they are no longer are they an easy two-points for opponents. The Devils might just shock some people, specifically the Philadelphia Flyers who drop to second-to-last in the division.

Philadelphia Flyers

Losers:

The Philadelphia Flyers fell apart last season, finishing the shortened campaign at 25-23-8. The team had sky-high expectations and as the season grew on, the offense disappeared and with it, their playoff hopes. Defensively, the Flyers were a mess most of the season and their star young netminder Carter Hart struggled because of it, an .877 save percentage is nowhere near good enough. While not entirely his fault, at the end of the day, Hart needed to stand up and carry his team, he couldn’t do it. The Flyers have missed the postseason in five of the last nine years and will once again fall short of expectations.

Chemistry and consistency was a big problem in Philadelphia last season and the front-office has decided to make some significant changes. Ryan Ellis, Derek Brassard, Cam Atkinson and Rasmus Ristolainen headline the acquisitions for Chuck Fletcher. In the process, the Flyers are notably moving on from Shayne Gostisbehere, Jakub Voracek, Phil Myers, Nolan Patrick and three draft picks in the first two rounds. Their 2021 first round pick and a pair of second round picks from 2022 and 2023.

That’s a lot of draft capital for a front-office to surrender given the core group on the roster has struggled to show consistency when it comes to the most important part of hockey; winning. On the ice, the Flyers look to be better, a lot better. The problem is, many thought 2020-2021 was going to be the year for the Flyers. It wasn’t. Often times the team that makes the biggest splashes in the offseason disappoints. That will be the case for the Flyers.

Fletcher hopes that Ellis and Ristolainen will anchor the defense. Ellis owns a career Corsi For % of 52.6 over the last 10 seasons with the Nashville Predators. Ellis is an excellent addition, he’s a true top-pair defenseman that plays well in all areas of the game.

“Ryan is an excellent, all-around defenseman,” Fletcher said. “In our opinion, he’s one of the best passers in the game on the blue line. He’s great in transition, he can play the power play, he’s got a heavy shot and he’s a very good penalty killer.

Ristolainen, playing on the Buffalo Sabres who have been one of the league’s worst teams in recent memory has struggled to truly live up to his expectations as a top-ten draft selection back in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. Ristolainen ate up a lot of minutes in Buffalo and the Flyers hope that putting Ristolainen on their team, which is undoubtedly far more talented than the supporting cast he had in Buffalo will allow the big defenseman to take his game to the next level.

Cam Atkinson is two-years removed from a 41 goal effort. The Flyers are hoping that he can bounce back from injuries and be a threat to score. It would be unlikely for him to come near 40 goals, but even 25 goals from Atkinson will be a huge boost for the Flyers who struggled to stay consistent offensively a season ago. Atkinson is also an adept penalty-killer, over the past 5 seasons, Atkinson is tied with Brad Marchand and Sebastian Aho for most short-handed goals with 12. That would be a welcome addition to the Flyers who had an abysmal 73.1 percent effective penalty killing unit last year.

This all looks great on paper, but the Flyers will once again struggle to be consistent. Carter Hart will improve but he won’t quite play to his 2019-2020 level and that will be the nail in the coffin for the Flyers. A surprising Devils team will narrowly edge them out and Philadelphia fans will be outraged as the season progresses into yet another failure.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Winners:

The Columbus Blue Jackets were winners this off-season. That’s hard to say about a team that I have finishing in last-place in their division. The Metropolitan Division is deep to begin with and with the progression in New Jersey, the Jackets just simply get the short-end of the stick. Most notably, they lack talent in the center position and aren’t deep enough overall to compete this season in a stacked division.

Jarmo Kekalainen and his front-office had a busy off-season. Trading Seth Jones for Adam Boqvist and a first and second round draft pick got things off to quite the start. Then the Jackets swapped Cam Atkinson for Jakub Voracek and signed Sean Kuraly and Zac Rinaldo to help bolster the center position. Whilst Rinaldo and Kuraly are far from top-six fowards, both of them are welcome depth additions to the bottom-nine. Zach Werenski got a six-year extension, Boone Jenner got a four-year deal, Jake Bean was re-signed for another three-years and Patrick Laine will be back for another season in Colombus. While not an exhaustive list, those are the notable moves that were made.

Behind the bench, Brad Larsen, the former assistant coach will take the reigns. Larsen is well-liked within the organization and will shape up to be a nice fit for the Jackets.

“We underwent an exhaustive process in which we looked very closely at a number of outstanding candidates to be the next coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets and the one individual we kept coming back to throughout was Brad Larsen,” explained Jarmo Kekalainen. “Brad was one of the top young coaches in the American Hockey League when he joined our club as an assistant coach and over the past seven years has earned the respect of our players, staff and organization with his work ethic, hockey acumen and the way he treats people, and we couldn’t be more pleased to introduce him as our next head coach.”

Adam Boqvist has huge upside on the blueline, a move like this signals that the Jackets want to be a competitive team but are comfortable waiting a few years to really compete for a championship. Seth Jones has been an elite-level defender for the Jackets but struggled a season ago. Adding a player like Boqvist and acquiring draft capital is a home run for Columbus. It might take a season or two for this deal to pay dividends, but when it does, Columbus will compete for the division title.

Atkinson’s departure is going to sting, bringing in Jakub Voracek offers little relief. Voracek, once a consistent 20-goal scorer is 32-years-old and coming off a season where he scored only 9 goals. A volume-shooter by definition, he has not had a shooting percentage of over 10 percent for seven years and hasn’t scored 20 goals since 2018-2019. The Blue Jackets are hoping Voracek’s play-making ability continues and he rediscovers his scoring touch. If he doesn’t, the Jackets are stuck with Voracek’s $8.25 million cap hit through the 2023-2024 season.

Regardless of Voracek’s performance, the Jackets are improved over the team last season that went 18-26-12 under John Tortorella and that makes them winners this off-season.