The 2026-27 NHL season could be a memorable one in the Metropolitan Division. With the Carolina Hurricanes entering the season as Stanley Cup champions and legendary stars Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin potentially nearing the end of their careers, the division is filled with compelling storylines. Here are 2026-27 Metropolitan Division predictions, including projected standings, playoff contenders, X-factors and bold predictions for all eight teams.
As they enter the season as the defending Stanley Cup Champions, Carolina knows they can expect every team’s best efforts each night. There is always a sense of pride in taking down the champs, even in the regular season. Overall, Frederik Andersen (signed in Edmonton) is the only major departure. The team extended forward Nicolas Deslauriers for two more years, but they still need to re-sign RFA defenseman Alexander Nikishin before the season begins. Coming off an impressive first full season in the NHL and scoring 33 points, the team expects Nikishin to take on a bigger role this season, once signed.
Retaining almost the entirety of its cup-winning roster, they are poised for another run this season. The team will rely on Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake continuing their production from the playoffs. In a much improved Metropolitan Division, they will need to avoid any hangover to repeat as division winners, much less Stanley Cup champions. With the veteran leadership in the locker room and the guidance of Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour, this team feels confident it is still the team that runs the Metropolitan Division.
X-Factor Player: Brandon Bussi, Goaltender. After Andersen signed in the offseason with Edmonton, Bussi expects to be the starter going into camp. With a less experienced backup, he will look to repeat his performance from a year ago.
Bold Prediction: They make a hockey trade involving Andrei Svechnikov and repeat as divisional winners.
Entering last season, it looked like the playoff window for the Penguins was closing for this group. The core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang are all in the last stretch of their careers, and Erik Karlsson hadn’t been the player he had been in the past since arriving in Pittsburgh. They went out and proved they still had some fight left and came in second in the Metropolitan Division. This year, however, they need to capture the same magic in a bottle. Crosby’s consistency will continue, but they are hopeful to get contributions throughout the lineup on a more regular basis.
The team is still rebuilding the prospect pool after depleting it by adding to their Cup-winning teams, so they were hoping to add some speed and youth in the offseason. They added some younger NHL ready players like Hendrix Lapierre (acquired from Washington) and Kaedan Korczak (acquired from Vegas), they will take on more opportunities than they were on their previous teams. Nicholas Robertson (acquired from Toronto) and Andrei Kuzmenko (signed in free agency) will also be relied on to bolster the offense.
X-Factor Player: Ben Kindel, Forward. After being a surprise to make the team out of camp as an 18-year-old, he had a solid rookie season, scoring 35 points. With an aging core, he needs to be one of the next catalysts for the team.
Bold Prediction: Erik Karlsson is traded at the deadline, and they miss the playoffs.
The Flyers were a bit of a surprise team last season, after finishing in last place in the Metropolitan Division the previous year. The team wasn’t looking to wait another year and continue building for the future after hiring Rick Tocchet as head coach, and trading for Trevor Zegras from Anaheim. After going 18-7-1 following the Olympic break, and some breakout goaltending from Dan Vladar, they made the playoffs for the first time since 2020. This season, they will need to improve upon their offensive numbers after finishing 21st in goals for and were dead last on the power play.
Porter Martone is expected to be on the team for the full year. He joined the team late in the season following the end of his college season and career. Vladar was extended for 5-years, Zegras and Jamie Drysdale signed 4-year extensions, and they acquired Goaltender Joseph Woll from Toronto this offseason. They are looking to these players as the team’s core moving forward, and expect to be in the hunt for the division title. The team also expects to see continued growth from other young players like Matvei Michkov, Denver Barkey, and Cam York to push them to the next step as a team.
X-Factor Player: Matvei Michkov, Forward. Fans in Philly have been supportive of Michkov during his young career as he adapted to the North-American style. With the way Porter Martone hit the ground running as a 19-year-old, they need Michkov to show major improvement and commitment to his development as a professional.
Bold Prediction: Zegras and Martone find chemistry, and both score 30 goals.
While nothing is official, it is expected to be Alex Ovechkin’s final season in the NHL. Entering what will be his 21st season, he has accomplished everything you could have hoped for after Washington drafted him first overall in 2004. All-time leading goal-scorer and Stanley Cup champ, to name a couple. The Capitals weren’t going to go out quietly for his last dance. They added some pieces in Jordan Kyrou (acquired from St. Louis), Alex Tuch (acquired from Buffalo), and Boone Jenner (signed in free agency), and expect all to be big impact players to the lineup.
While they added some veterans, they also traded away some of their homegrown young talent in Hendrix Lapierre (Pittsburgh) and Connor McMichael (St. Louis). The team expects to be much improved overall, especially in the goal-scoring, with the addition of offensive players. You would expect the team that has the greatest goal-scorer of all time to be ranked higher than 15th in goals for. With the added motivation for Ovechkin, they are looking to make a big run for it all this season in the Metropolitan Division.
X-Factor Player: Jordan Kyrou, Forward. After pushing for his way out of St. Louis, he has to prove he still can be a 70-point player after a down year of 46 points. Adding an element of speed that the Capitals haven’t had in years, he will need to break open games.
Bold Prediction: They make the playoffs in Ovechkin’s final season and Tom Wilson scores 40 goals and 40 assists.
It has felt like Columbus has been stuck in the middle over the last couple of seasons and unsure of what they were as a team. They are not a lottery team or a true contender, and that can feel like being one roster move away from swinging to either side. They will have reigning Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski back after he rejected a trade to Dallas this offseason. They do need to re-sign RFA Adam Fantilli to a new contract before the season; he expects to play on the top line with Kirill Marchenko and Valeri Nichushkin (acquired from Colorado).
They have a solid forward group with: Sean Monahan, Marchenko, Charlie Coyle, Kent Johnson, Conor Garland, and Nichushkin. The defense drops off a bit compared to Werenski, but overall, it’s a solid group. The team defense and goaltending combined for 16th in goals against across the league last year, and after re-signing Jett Greaves, will look to improve on those metrics. Overall, still can’t really judge what this team is going to be, but expect to make the next step as a young team in the Metropolitan Division.
X-Factor Player: Valeri Nichushkin, Forward. After being traded from Colorado in the offseason, he will be looking to lock down a Top-6 role and get back to his 20+ goal production.
Bold Prediction: Kent Johnson has a bounce-back season and breaks the 70-point mark.
The expectations around this Islanders team shouldn’t match the expectations of Matthew Schaefer and Ilya Sorokin. As a team, they were ranked 25th in goals for across the league, but made up for it with the 5th-best goals-against mark. A large reason they weren’t a lottery team again was the stellar play of Sorokin and Schaefer taking the league by storm. There will be a lot of change without a big leader in the room after former captain Anders Lee signed in Utah, and entering the first full season under Head Coach Peter DeBoer.
The team signed Matias Maccelli in the offseason to replace some of the offensive production from Lee, but they will be entering camp with most of the same roster. The team extended Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and re-signed Tony Deangelo. Overall, the Islanders will need Schaefer, Bo Horvat, and Matt Barzal to carry the load again, and will be looking for contributions from the depth players to improve upon their season from a year ago, but will be a tough task in the Metropolitan Division this year.
X-Factor Player: Matthew Schaefer, Defenseman. An obvious answer, but the poise and ability he displayed as an 18-year-old in the NHL was beyond impressive. The dynamic skill and composure make his second season one to watch; he may find himself in the Norris conversations by the end of the season.
Bold Prediction: They take a step back as a team and are sellers at the deadline.
For the Devils, it felt like injury after injury. Jack Hughes cut his hand and required surgery, and both Luke Hughes and Arseny Gritsyuk had season-ending surgeries. At least Jack got the “Golden Goal” for Team USA at the Olympics. This season, they not only expect better health luck but also have already made some significant changes to the roster. They traded starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom to Florida and traded former second overall pick Simon Nemec to Calgary. This new-look New Jersey team has a lot to prove to the doubters and the fans.
The team signed Anthony Mantha and David Rittich in free agency, and traded for Evan Rodrigues, Jesper Boqvist, and Declan Chisholm in the offseason. They also re-signed captain Nico Hischier to a 5-year extension, so the team is expected to make a bounce back this season and compete for years to come. The starting goaltender looks to be Jake Allen, but both he and Rittich have mostly been backups lately; look for them to be in on a goalie at the deadline. The Hughes brothers will need to stay healthy, Timo Meier needs to be the player they traded for, and for Jesper Bratt and Hischier to continue producing for them to compete in the Metropolitan Division.
X-Factor Player: Luke Hughes, Defenseman. Both of his brothers are solidified superstars, while he has had a slightly slower path to development in comparison. By no means is he a bad player; he is an above-average, young d-man who hasn’t entered his prime. Injuries have set him back, but after a long summer of rehabbing and training, and he aims to break out.
Bold Prediction: Jack Hughes wins the Art Ross Trophy for the league’s highest points total.
The Rangers were awful at home last season with a record of 14-20-7, and were 23rd in the league in home scoring. For comparison, they ranked 12th in road scoring and had a 20-19-2 record. The average still has them finishing last in the Metropolitan Division, but every other team in the league besides the Rangers and Canucks scored more at home than on the road. Had they been better at scoring in Madison Square Garden, they might have been in the mix for the playoffs.
They added some goal-scoring with Oliver Bjorkstrand via free agency, and got another puck-moving defenseman when they traded for Sean Durzi from Utah, but will need Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller, Alexis Lafreniere, and Adam Fox to contribute if they want to compete this year. Igor Shesterkin has been the only consistent performer for the Rangers, and they need to surround him with better results. Will Cuylle has made that next step as a player, coming off back-to-back 20-goal seasons. A few big steps for their other young players like forwards Gabe Perreault and Noah Laba, and defenseman Braden Schneider will help to move the team in the right direction.
X-Factor Player: Gabe Perreault, Forward. The former first-round pick from 2023 has yet to solidify himself as a top-6 forward in the NHL, but after a miserable year in Manhattan, they will rely on his continued development and growth to produce at the NHL level if they want to make it out of the Metropolitan Division’s basement.
Bold Prediction: Alexis Lafreniere is finally traded at the deadline after years of speculation.
The Metropolitan Division will still run through Carolina, but the Flyers and Capitals will make it interesting. Bussi solidifies himself as a true number one goalie in the NHL, and Stankoven has a follow-up season to his playoff production.
Washington and Philadelphia will be battling for the 2 and 3 seeds in the Metropolitan Division all season and have an epic first-round match-up in Ovi’s farewell season.
New Jersey is poised for a big bounce back, and Jack Hughes will build on his confidence from the Olympics. Quinn Hughes may find more and more reasons to try to join his brothers.
Columbus finds an identity, but is still at least a year away from getting into the playoffs. Not enough depth on the blue line, but Werenski makes up for it most nights. They compete until the last couple of weeks, but eventually run out of time to make a push.
Pittsburgh gives Malkin an unceremonious farewell in comparison to Ovechkin in Washington as Ovechkin makes the playoffs, while Malkin doesn’t. But the next wave of Penguins stars starts to shine.
New York: both the Rangers and Islanders will have next year to look towards as they sell off and build for the future.
Predicted Final Season Standings:
See the rest of the Divisional previews on my page here.
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