Columbus Blue Jackets Minding the Metro: 18-19 Division Predictions
Where will the Columbus Blue Jackets finish in the Metropolitan Division in 2019?
Everyone talks about how tough the Central Division is or how top heavy the Atlantic Division is this season. But let’s not forget that the Lord Stanley’s Cup has resided in the Metropolitan Division for the last three seasons. The Columbus Blue Jackets’ division is still a gauntlet and for my money, the toughest division in the NHL.
This year, the top is even more top heavy but the bottom is bottoming out. The top five teams in the division will all be fighting for what probably will be only four playoff spots. Let’s take a look at how the Metro will shake out starting at the bottom.
8. New York Islanders
The toughest offseason in the league award has to go to the Ottawa Senators. But the New York Islanders gave them a run for their money.
The Islanders first missed out on bringing back their franchise center John Tavares as he decided to take his talents to Toronto. After that they decided to sign Leo Komarov, Valtteri Filppula, and Luca Sbisa. Not exactly how a franchise looking to win should be spending their money.
Finally, they blew a chance to bring back the Fisherman jersey and brought back this dud of a jersey. Three big swings and misses to go along with a whole new front office and coach getting acclimated to their team.
The Islanders are still terrible in net, bad on the backend and have Josh-Ho Sang and Kieffer Bellows in the minors. Scoring will be tough outside of Matthew Barzal and Josh Bailey. The Columbus Blue Jackets should be able to get at least five out of eight points away from the Islanders this year.
7. New York Rangers
It’s going to be a long year for New York metro area hockey fans. The Rangers should be ballooned by Henrik Lundqvist but outside of the King, the roster is pretty bare bones. The Blueshirts are in an announced, and so far, well executed rebuild sans Lundqvist stealing them games here and there.
By the trade deadline it shouldn’t shock anyone that Mats Zuccarello and Marc Staal shipped away from the Big Apple. The Rangers will be giving plenty of playing time to the plethora of prospects the team has acquired over the last two years.
Keep an eye on Filip Chytil, Brett Howden, and Lias Andersson. These three young forwards are the future of this Rangers organization and could be pestering the Jackets for years to come. Chytil and Howden look like they will make the NHL squad out of camp and Andersson will start the year in the AHL.
Middling Squads
6. New Jersey Devils
Last year the Devils went from the first overall pick in the NHL draft to making the playoffs. They were fueled by Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall‘s incredible season. This year though, the Devils will come back down to Earth and finish out of the playoffs.
The organization is handling the situation perfectly though. After the surprise run to the playoffs, the team didn’t overpay for free agents or trade away prospects for older players. They understand that this team isn’t positioned to be a perennial playoff performer and wont be until the young players get another season under their belt.
The Devils still have goaltending issues and there are doubts whether or not Corey Schneider is the answer. Last year he only started 40 games and posted a .907 save percentage. Keith Kinkaid started 41 games for the Devils and performed better than Schneider, but not playoff caliber.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Hopefully the Devils and their fans enjoyed the 2017-2018 season because this year will not be as fun as last year.
5. Carolina Hurricanes
I really wanted to put Carolina in the playoffs. REALLY wanted to. I just can’t see them scoring enough to overcome there terrible goalie situation.
The Hurricanes have a great blueline from top to bottom. They might be the deepest d-corps in the league with the likes of Dougie Hamilton, Brent Peshe, Justin Faulk, Jabob Slavin, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Calvin De Haan.
But if a shot gets on goal, it’s probably going in. Scott Darling had a terrible year last year and it’s looking like he is never going to cut it as a starting NHL goalie. And he’s hurt to start the year. Petr Mrazek isn’t inspiring hope in anyone and now the team has gone so far as to claim Curtis McElhinney off of waivers.
The Canes won’t be winning many games 7-6 either. Carolina spends the least on forwards in the entire NHL at only $23 million a season. The Canes only have five forwards that make more than $1 million a season and two players that make more than $3 million a season.
Their leading scorer is an underrated stud, Sebastian Aho, should have another great year but their offensive celling will hinge on the play of rookies Andre Svechnikov and Martin Necas. These two will look to replace some of the scoring that left when the team traded Jeff Skinner to Buffalo this offseason.
Not an ideal scenario for the Canes who continue to be just on the cusp of their first playoff appearance since 2008. Much like the Devils, the team is very young and has a ton of cap space. Let the youngsters grow this year and make some moves with all that money next summer. This team should make the 2020 playoffs.
The Playoff Teams
4. Washington Capitals
A literal Stanley Cup hangover, a figurative Stanley Cup hangover, a new bench boss and no Philipp Grubauer. These ingredients don’t mix well for a team trying to defend it’s franchise’s first title.
The Caps will be slow coming out of the gate this season which will put them behind the eight ball. Also, at this point in the Ovi-Backstrom-Holtby era, the Caps don’t really care about the regular season. They won a Stanley Cup without competing for the Presidents’ Trophy. They know that they just need to get into the playoffs.
Losing Grubauer will hurt them though. For the last two season’s he was one of, if not the best backup goalie in the NHL. That will cost them a handful of games, which in the Metro, is the difference between winning the division, or coming in fourth.
More from Union and Blue
- Blaming Columbus Blue Jacket Players for Babcock Fallout is Unfair
- The Mike Babcock Experiment in Columbus Has Failed
- Blue Jacket Prospects Win Traverse City Tournament: Who Stood Out?
- Mike Babcock Resigns as CBJ Head Coach: Reaction
- New Claims Bring Higher Level of Concern to Babcock Situation
Still expect to see Ovi and the defending Cup champs in the playoffs.
3. Philadephia Flyers
Right where they finished last season. The Flyers are loaded on offense and defense again this season, especially after adding James van Reimsdyk. Ivan Provorov and Shayne Gosteshbeir are top flight defenseman and Claude Giroux is coming of a, somehow, quite 100 points season.
The classic Flyers anchor that will drag them down the standings is their goaltending. Michal Neuvirth, Brian Elliot and now Calvin Pickard will be the teams trio of stopgap solutions until they can get Carter Hart to the NHL.
The duo of Neuvirth and Elliot played just well enough to get the team to the playoffs and knocked out in six games. The trio will be tasked with doing the same thing while the offense is a top five scoring unit in the NHL this season.
The team is loaded and should make the playoffs easily this year.
2. Columbus Blue Jackets
Great but not elite. College football fans have heard that way to much this week but it’s a perfect phrase to describe this Columbus Blue Jackets squad. The difference is in the NHL, a great team can, and often does, win the Stanley Cup.
From top to bottom this is the most talented Columbus Blue Jackets team in franchise history. They will roll four lines that no team in the conference can counter top to bottom. Even with the Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky drama, this team will outperform most of the division.
Bread and Bob both want huge contracts so I don’t see their performance falling despite the negotiation drama. The Jackets third and fourth lines will scare other teams and once Seth Jones is healthy, the team will have the best defensive pair in the East.
If it wasn’t for the second best player in the league being incredibly pissed off, I would have the Jackets winning the division. But…
1. Pittsburgh Penguins
Sidney Crosby‘s dream of a three-peat was destroyed by Alex Ovechkin and the rival Caps. Sid spent the whole summer watching Ovi and the Caps gallivanting with his Cup. That will not sit well with a player who when motivated, will go to the ends of the world to win.
It may seem cliche or even simplistic but that is enough to terrify me and think that the Pens are going to take no prisoners this season. The core or Kessel, Malkin, Crosby, Letang and Murray are back and healthy and that’s enough for this team to run through the division.
It really doesn’t matter who is on Sid’s wing, that line will be the best in the division. Expect the Pens to be just a mean team this year and make a run at at Presidents’ Trophy.
Final Metro Standings
At the end of the season, it’ll be tough for the Metro to get five teams in the playoffs again. The Florida Panthers and the Buffalo Sabres will be much improved and Toronto, Boston, and Tampa are as close to locks as you can be in October.
Final Standings
- Pittsburgh Penguins*
- Columbus Blue Jackets*
- Philadelphia Flyers*
- Washington Capitals*
- Carolina Hurricanes
- New Jersey Devils
- New York Rangers
- New York Islanders
*Clinches Playoff spot
The national media will overlook the Metro because of Toronto and Tampa in the Atlantic and Winnipeg and Nashville in the Central. But the Metro has two teams that have been perennial Cup favorites, a deep Jackets squad and a Flyers team that if they find above average goaltending, might be the best team in the division.
Next. 5 Reasons to be Excited for 18-19. dark
Another tough year ahead for the Jackets in their division. Let us know how you think the Metro is going to play out in the comments below.