B/R NHL Staff Roundtable: Predicting the Winners of Every Division This Season
Good news, hockey fans. It's September, and real NHL games are just around the corner.
As teams, players and fans gear up for training camp next week, the B/R NHL Staff has been called together once again to answer the question: Which teams are winning their respective divisions?
Will we see a major drop-off from the Bruins, leading to another team winning the Atlantic? Are the Oilers primed to take over the Pacific?
See who we think is taking each divisional crown and have your say in the comments section on the B/R app.
Metropolitan Division: New Jersey Devils
1 of 4
Arguably the most competitive NHL division of the past few years (eyes on the standings points, people), the Metropolitan Division hasn't let up ahead of the 2023-24 season.
You've got last season's division-leading Carolina Hurricanes, who also boast the longest playoff run of the bunch with a trip to the Eastern Conference Final.
They're getting an internal boost with Andrei Svechnikov returning from an ACL injury, and the roster is relatively intact, especially with the sneaky-good addition of Dmitry Orlov.
I still worry about their offense drying up, as it has in each of their consecutive postseasons. The Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta tandem (with a splash of Pyotr Kochetkov) returning in net doesn't worry me as long as the scoring is taken care of. But that's a big if, and you're asking multiple top-to-middle-six players like Martin Necas and Seth Jarvis to have career years.
Then you've got an interesting situation in New York, with the Rangers making moves over the summer and remaining elite in net with Igor Shesterkin.
General manager Chris Drury was able to make the most of the cap-space issues plaguing the entire league with the best cost-efficiency ratio of the offseason, adding pieces such as Nick Bonino, Blake Wheeler, Erik Gustafsson and Jonathan Quick.
The Penguins are, of course, the No. 1 Metro team to watch that didn't qualify for last season's playoffs.
The addition of reigning Norris winner Erik Karlsson is huge, not just because of his on-ice talent but also because he clearly wants to win and chose this team for a reason.
Sidney Crosby is coming off one of his best years in recent memory, and there's some healthy pressure to get it done one more time while this core is still relatively intact.
The additions of Reilly Smith and Alex Nedeljkovic have me believing this Penguins team won't miss the playoffs again this season.
One Metro team has been playing the long game since the 2019 draft, though, and it's a lesson in patience many of us could learn from.
The Jack Hughes era officially arrived with his and the new-look New Jersey Devils' first playoff appearance last season, and the reasonable contract they signed their star to has helped them construct and maintain a roster exceptionally well while the rest of the top teams have struggled to stay under the cap without losing much.
The Devils beat the Rangers in seven games last season before dropping Round 2 to the Hurricanes. A playoff series win was already a step in the right direction, but the offseason seals the deal on my pick for the 2023-24 Metropolitan winners.
They were able to re-sign deadline acquisition Timo Meier long-term, extend Jesper Bratt and add a consistent scoring threat in Tyler Toffoli, among others.
Hughes and the already established core have only just begun. Young goalie Akira Schmid was nowhere near perfect after stealing the No. 1 role from Vitek Vaněček during the playoffs, but he had some outstanding moments in an unideal situation.
If the 23-year-old takes the next step, the 2023-24 Devils will be the most complete team in the Metropolitan Division.
—Sara Civian
Atlantic Division: Toronto Maple Leafs
2 of 4
On May 31, the Toronto Leafs replaced Kyle Dubas as general manager with Brad Treliving. He brought in defenseman John Klingberg and forwards Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi. Those additions should help them win their first division title in a full 82-game NHL season since 1999-2000.
The Leafs' core four of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares are often criticized for their playoff performance. However, they consistently light it up offensively during the regular season.
Since Tavares joined the Leafs in 2018-19, their 3.49 goals-per-game average ranks third overall. Add in the offense and grit of Bertuzzi and Domi, and this club will have a more physical presence around opposing nets this season.
Toronto's blue-line corps isn't the deepest, but it possesses plenty of experience in Morgan Rielly, T.J. Brodie, Mark Giordano and Klingberg. Goaltender Ilya Samsonov appeared comfortable last season in the starter's job. He'll be backed by the promising Joseph Woll and the seasoned Martin Jones.
Signing head coach Sheldon Keefe to a two-year contract extension brings stability behind the bench. In 267 regular-season games under Keefe, the Leafs have a solid record of 166-71-30, qualifying for the playoffs in each of the past four seasons.
Signing head coach Sheldon Keefe to a two-year contract extension brings stability behind the bench.
In 267 regular-season games under the 42-year-old, the Leafs have a solid record of 166-71-30, qualifying for the playoffs in each of the past four seasons.
—Lyle Richardson
Central Division: Dallas Stars
3 of 4
For the first time in a while, the Central Division feels almost anticlimactic.
The Dallas Stars made the Western Conference Final last season and showed why they were consistently at the top of what was a very competitive division. This season, though? They're the class of the group, and it's not really close.
Dallas boasts one of the best scorers in the NHL in Jason Robertson, a seemingly ageless wonder in Joe Pavelski, a long-time duo that keeps on going with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. They also have their second wave of greats in Roope Hintz, Wyatt Johnston and Mason Marchment. Oh yeah, and they have one of the top defensemen in the league, Miro Heiskanen, and elite goaltender Jake Oettinger.
Colorado is Dallas' lone threat to win the division and with Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen together, they have the firepower to make life uncomfortable for many teams in the Central.
They also have Alexandar Georgiev as an underrated goaltender and Devon Toews teaming up with Makar to create all kinds of problems for opposing defenses. But they're going to be without Gabriel Landeskog all season and replacing him with Ryan Johansen (fresh off his own serious injury), Ross Colton and Miles Wood makes them a bit more rugged, but it feels like they're missing something to keep up with the Stars.
Sure, Minnesota is there, but it's got a lot to prove after getting humbled by Dallas in the playoffs, and Winnipeg is staring a rebuild in the face depending on what happens with all-world goalie Connor Hellebuyck.
Chicago with Connor Bedard will be fun, but the team will still be bad. St. Louis still believes in Jordan Binnington despite all the evidence telling them it probably shouldn't. And Arizona? Well, its sophomore season at Arizona State should be much more entertaining with Logan Cooley and Conor Geekie potentially in the fold.
But it's Dallas that stands tallest in the Central. It ran out of gas and couldn't hang with Vegas last season, and it will be eager to put that right. That run starts by taking home the Central.
—Joe Yerdon
.png?w=256 "NHL Mock Draft")
.jpg?w=256 "Kucherov Landing Spots")
.png?w=256)
Pacific Division: Edmonton Oilers
4 of 4
It's no stretch to suggest the Pacific is the hardest division to forecast. After all, it's the only one that had four 100-point teams in 2022-23.
And the team that finished next in line, Calgary at 93, just happened to be coming off a 2021-22 season in which it led the group with 111 points.
So, there's the defending Stanley Cup champion in Vegas, the league's most prolific offense in Edmonton, and two more contenders in Los Angeles and Seattle with points percentages above .600.
Not to mention the Flames with a new coach and the Vancouver Canucks, who finished sixth in the eight-team pack but still earned better than half the available points (.506).
But never let it be said that the B/R hockey staff shies from a challenge.
Recent history shows there's no guarantee a returning champion is a lock to lead its division the following season. In fact, only three of the last 10 Cup hoisters (Washington, St. Louis, Colorado) came back with a division win the following spring, alongside two second-place finishes, four thirds and a fourth.
Assuming the 70 percent probability rate holds, and the Golden Knights are out of the equation, it becomes a question of improvement for the wannabes, with one rising clearly from the pack.
Having Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl is a huge plus for the Oilers; and if Evander Kane manages to play more than 41 games, an already dangerous attack is ratcheted up a notch.
And if a similar assumption is made that the Stuart Skinner-Jack Campbell tandem will simply hold serve and maintain league averages in goals against and save percentage, it's got to be Edmonton's race to lose.
The playoffs, though, are another story.
But if you're looking to hang a banner for a division win, the Oilers seem the safest bet.
—Lyle Fitzsimmons
.png?w=480 "NHL Mock Draft")
.jpg?w=480 "Kucherov Landing Spots")
.png?w=480)
.png?w=600 "B/R NHL Staff Second-Round Predictions 🏒")
