Some very good teams. Some not very good teams. That’s the short version of the Eastern Metropolitan Division preview. Here’s the team-by-team version.
It was all going to plan for the Carolina Hurricanes until they got swept by Florida, although Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour decided it wasn’t a sweep as they didn’t lose any of the games by more than one goal.
Not sure that’s quite how it works, Rod!
In fairness to him, we all know what he meant: a 4-0 series defeat suggests they were pushed aside with ease, when in reality it was a much more closely-fought contest. The result, and the bitter disappointment, stays the same.
What also stays the same is that they are one of the favourites to go all the way heading into this season and that this is based on them having the deepest group of defenceman in the NHL. Picking up Dmitry Orlov as a free agent and bringing back Tony DeAngelo gives them an enviable group at the back, on the powerplay and penalty kill.
Which just leaves one more holdover from the 2022-23 campaign: is pairing that defensive group with a good, rather than great, attacking core going to get it done once they get to the play-offs?
Albert Einstein famously said that “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”. I’m not aware that he offered a definition of incompetence; however, I would suggest it might have been along the lines of “coming up with a terrible idea, being warned by everybody how bad an idea it is, but then still doing it anyway”.
The Columbus Blue Jackets’ capitulation last season apparently led to someone, or some people, deciding that what this group of players needed was a Head Coach who would be on them 24/7, challenging them and making them uncomfortable.
Mike “Poison” Babcock entered, immediately reminded everyone why he’s not fit to be part of an NHL organisation any more, and then left before the team even got to pre-season camp. Pascal Vincent was promoted into the role and has to try to bring some semblance of structure. The rookie campaign of uber-talented centre Adam Fantilli will be one to enjoy, but Blue Jackets fans deserve more than what they’ve been put through over the past 12 months.
There is a lot to like about the New Jersey Devils coming into this season.
What was an enticing attacking group has got even better through Tyler Toffoli joining from Calgary, coming off career highs in goals (34) and assists (39), and having last season’s trade deadline star Timo Meier in from the start (and around for the next eight seasons too).
Jack Hughes’s 99-point season confirmed his standing as one of the most talented young players in the game and he will be joined by younger brother Luke this season, with the rookie joining the defensive corps alongside veteran Colin Miller.
Quite simply, they were one of the best teams in the NHL last season and are just as good again, if not better, this time around.
I really don’t know what to make of the Islanders. They have some high-class talent in Mathew Barzak and goaltender Ilya Sorokin alongside solid players like defenseman Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock to give them a good shot at being in-and-around the play-off spots.
However, General Manager Lou Lamoriello hasn’t done anything over the off-season to make them better. Bo Horvat could be like a new signing after a sketchy mid-season transition from Vancouver, but that’s about it.
Based on their current roster, the best argument I could put forward for them is that they may still be the fourth-best team in the Division. That’s not guaranteed given the potential upturn for Pittsburgh, nor would it be guaranteed to be enough for a play-off spot if the ultra-competitive Atlantic produces five better teams.
I’m not prepared to write them off, but it feels like they need a few unlikely players to have career years, or a notable trade addition or two, for their best to be good enough.
It won’t help the mood of Islanders fans that their cross-town rivals don’t produce the same level of doubt.
That’s not to say the Rangers are without any question marks, though. Their First Round defeat to the Devils last season left more than a few New Yorkers asking once again if the team has the fight to get over the line when the going gets tough.
Without the emotional baggage that comes with being a fan, it’s easier for me to accept a conclusion that sometimes the little moments just don’t go your way.
It will be interesting to see whether former Washington Caps Head Coach Peter Laviolette will be able to tilt the odds more in the Rangers’ favour than Gerard Gallant was able to, despite the latter taking the team to back-to-back 100+ point regular seasons.
The Flyers are not going to be bad this season; they’re going to be ‘rebuild bad’.
That’s the plan of new GM Daniel Brière anyway. Although it’s never a great position for a fanbase to be in, and fans in Philadelphia usually aren’t shy in sharing their displeasure with their sports teams, at least there is now a clear plan to follow.
Sean Couturier, Cam Atkinson, Travis Konecny and Scott Laughton will all come into the season with the thought that a good first half will see them traded.
Then Penguins could be one of the better stories across the NHL this season.
Things just never seemed quite right under Execs Ron Hextall and Brian Burke. That era/error is now over and Kyle Dubas has moved over from Toronto with the desire to give the Crosby-Malkin-Letang core another couple of shots at Stanley Cup glory before charting a course through the post-Crosby period that – painful as it is to consider in Pittsburgh – has to come at some point.
Dubas immediately showed his ambition by making an audacious attempt to trade for Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson, then demonstrated his determination by refusing to admit defeat and his ingenuity by finally getting his man by bringing the Canadiens into the trade with San Jose.
Karlsson’s injury history means the trade is not without its risks, but the potential reward could be huge. Penguins fans are excited and so they should be.
It’s difficult not to be distracted when your legendary player is closing in on an historic record.
Alex Ovechkin added 42 goals to his tally in 2022-23, moving past Gordie Howe into second all-time on the goal scorer list in the process. He’s now 72 behind Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894: close enough to be confident that he’s going to get there, whilst far enough away to know that it’s not going to happen this season (his season best is 65, achieved as a 22-year old in 2007-08).
Attention can therefore move back to the task of trying to make the play-offs again after missing out for the first time in nine years. Spencer Carbery is making the step up to Head Coach after being an assistant in Toronto and the early noises from the camp are that his charges are happy with the change.
The question is, can Ovi help to give this decent squad of players a genuine chance of over-performing into the top four, or does his presence mean Washington feel obliged to keep rolling the dice rather than accepting that their pile of chips doesn’t quite stack up high enough to stay at the table?
