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Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
It’s a simple but important question for this NHL regular season: which of the league’s four divisions will be the most difficult to secure a playoff spot?
Well, we know right away that you can rule out the Pacific, and that goes even if the Seattle Kraken draws a Vegas Golden Knights in their first year. And we also know that the Atlantic, even with back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, is going to have a few softer touches (hello, Ottawa, Detroit and Buffalo) so they’re not really in. the race, Either.
That brings us to a division in every conference that will have four playoff teams, and at least two or three franchises will be bitter with disappointment when they don’t qualify for a playoff spot. So which is the more difficult division – the Metropolitan or the Central?
It’s close – and you might be able to make a compelling argument for either – but for this watcher, it’s the metro that’s the hardest part. Of the Metro’s eight teams, all but one – the rebuilding Columbus Blue Jackets, whose players are currently talking optimistically about the playoffs, but wishful thinking – will be competitive in the 2021-22 campaign.
For starters, the Metro has the New York Islanders, an organization that has proven in past playoffs that their previous run to the conference finals in 2019-20 was no fluke. The Islands added blue line giant Zdeno Chara to solidify their background, and have a great mix of talented young players just getting started and championship-hungry veterans. Until another team proves they should be considered the team to beat in the subway, the Islanders have earned that label.
But the Isles won’t be the only Greater New York area team to challenge their opponents the most. The New York Rangers have cleaned up on the management side after missing the playoffs last year, but have only made a few targeted improvements on their last six forward groups and their third pair. defensive. New head coach Gerard Gallant has been blessed with a skilled collection of top-six forwards and top-four defenders, and given that the Rangers finished with five wins less than the Islanders when they came out. clinched the last place in the divisional playoffs last year. , it’s certainly not inconceivable that they are leading their best players to a playoff berth this time around.
And the New Jersey Devils might be the dark horse in this division, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t improved enough to beat a more experienced contender. Indeed, the acquisition of veteran D-man Dougie Hamilton should pay off right away on both ends of the ice; and companion Jonathan Bernier will help push Mackenzie Blackwood into the games played category. New Jersey will need youngsters Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Yegor Sharangovich and Ty Smith to continue their development to advance to the playoffs, but head coach Lindy Ruff will give them the structure and opportunities they need. to succeed.
So right away we have three potential playoff teams, and we don’t count a pair of teams that have won a Cup with their current core: the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Pens are already grappling with injury issues – captain Sidney Crosby will start the season on the injured list for at least a few weeks, while notorious beast Evgeni Malkin will miss at least the first two months of the year to rehabilitate a wobbly knee – and their overall depth was reduced as they tried to bring in talent that would help them secure another Cup victory. But they finished first in the division last year, and no one is expected to overtake them this time around. The Caps, meanwhile, finished with the same number of points Pittsburgh generated in 2021, and they still have a strong forward unit in the top six, as well as a high-impact defensive duo in the trophy contender. Norris John Carlson and Dmitry Orlov. Questions about their depth and overall defensive acumen also remain, but the Capitals could easily catch fire at any point in the season and rack up enough points to ensure they don’t miss the playoffs for the first time since 2013. -14.
That makes five potential playoff teams in the metro area, but we still haven’t considered a team that won its own division – the only one-year-old Central Division – last year: the Hurricanes of the Caroline, who were great initially but were not happy with the status quo and used their abundance of salary caps to bring in new faces Frederik Andersen, Antti Raanta, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Derek Stepan, Ethan Bear, Ian Cole and Tony DeAngelo. We’ll see how the controversial DeAngelo in particular fits in with this team, but it’s a good amount of squad turnover for a group that finished last season with 36 wins. Only the Florida Panthers and Penguins, who have both won 37 games, and Vegas (40) and Colorado (39) had more wins last year, so it’s fair to assume Carolina will be again a high-paced threat in 2021-22.
And that brings us to the seventh and final team in the Metro Division that could land a playoff berth this season: the Philadelphia Flyers. Philly general manager Chuck Fletcher’s dismay at the Flyers’ abysmal defensive offense last year was reflected in the drastic action he took this summer, almost completely reshaping his defense corps (by calling in former Sabers mainstay Rasmus Ristolainen, former Nashville Predators veteran Ryan Ellis and Panthers D-man Keith Yandle) and the addition of a few experienced forwards (former Blue Jacket Cam Atkinson and crosses well traveled Derik Brassard and Nate Thompson to support Philadelphia in the middle. The Flyers are clearly serious, and there is great internal pressure for them to avoid missing the playoffs for what would be the third time in the past four seasons .
As stated, you could argue that the Central Division has more real Cup favorites – the Colorado Avalanche, Winnipeg Jets, and St. Louis Blues could make their way to a Cup final – but I’m not that convinced of the Predators. , the Chicago Blackhawks and the Minnesota Wild. The Preds, Hawks and Wild could achieve an above-average year, but each of those three teams also have a potential downside that could prevent them from qualifying for the playoffs. What about Arizona coyotes? They are in the midst of yet another rebuild and have virtually no chance of reviving it with a surprise playoff run.
The hardest division comes down, at least, for this writer, in how many teams you could project to have some serious post-season success, and I think the Metropolitan has more (Pittsburgh, Washington, Caroline , Washington and the Islanders and Rangers) than the Central (Avs, Blues, Stars and Jets). You never know, of course, what the injury spell and bug has in store for a team or group of teams, but the Metro is going to be a brutal slugfest all season long like no other division will. This gives them the advantage.
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