While the Stanley Cup Final begins this week, the talk will be about the Edmonton Oilers looking to end a 32-year Cup drought for Canadian teams. But another long futility streak in underay. The Metropolitan Division last produced a finalist seven years ago: the 2017-18 Washington Capitals.
Back in 2018, the Capitals, well, capped a three-year Stanley Cup run for teams in the division. The Pittsburgh Penguins won the two titles before the Caps. But now, with the Atlantic Division placing a team in the final for those seven consecutive seasons – and even got another team in the COVID season of 2021 with the Montreal Canadiens qualifying to face the Tampa Bay Lightning – that streak means the Metro has been shut out every year since.
The only other division that has a Final-less streak is the Central Division, who last appeared in the final round in 2022 with the Colorado Avalanche winning their third Stanley Cup title. But since 2018, the Central has won a pair of Stanley Cups (Avalanche and Blues), and another Stanley Cup Final appearance (Stars), while the collective Metro has been on the golf course.
Which Metro team will break the drought?
So, which team in the division is most like to break the Atlantic’s lock on the Prince of Wales Trophy? With the Lightning and Panthers going on a pair of three-year runs to the Stanley Cup Final, and the Bruins beating the Hurricanes back in 2019, the closest any Metropolitan Division team has come was the 2021 New York Islanders, who lost Game 7 in Tampa Bay.
For much of the previous decade, the Metropolitan was one of the toughest in the NHL, winning three Stanley Cups and sending six teams to the Finals during the 2010s. but halfway through this one, the eight teams have been shut out completely.
So, which team could end the Metro’s Cup drought misery index? Let’s take a look at what the rest of the decade may hold for the eight clubs.
Washington Capitals
While Washington looked to be spending most of this decade in a rebuild after a run of success culminating in the 2018 championship, the team quickly rebounded from a non-playoff year in 2022-2023 to emerge as the division’s regular-season winner this past year, and with Alex Ovechkin near the end of his career, it’s expected the Capitals may be aggressive in trying to win another Stanley Cup before he returns to Russia.
The Capitals’ prospect pool has gotten much deeper in the last few years, as the team collected draft picks in recent seasons rather than shipping them off for rentals, and with Ryan Leonard on the scene, as well as Andrew Cristall, Ilya Protas and Lane Hutson on the horizon, Washington seems to be able to replace out aging veterans who will be departing the nation’s capital in the next few seasons. In addition, the team’s goaltending, which was a question mark after the 2018 Cup win, seems to have stabalized with Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren under contract for the next few seasons.
Biggest question is if Washington can out-Florida the Panthers, as while the Capitals like to play a bruising style to wear down their opponent, the Cats do that and do that well. Teams that have tried to match Florida’s physicality have mostly failed, and while the Caps are good at it, for now, the Panthers have proven to be better at that.
Washington seems to be in decent shape to threaten to make a playoff run again in the near future, and certainly are capable of doing so before Ovechkin retires – and after as well.
New York Rangers
The Prince of Wales Trophy runners-up two of the last three seasons, the Blueshirts certainly have the goaltending part of the playoff puzzle set with Igor Shesterkin in net, but the team really devolved into a mess under Peter Laviolette’s watch last season.
The Rangers hope Mike Sullivan, hired from the Penguins last month after winning two Stanley Cups in the Steel City, can turn New York’s collection of talent into a functional roster again. Certainly Sullivan did his best with what was left from Penguins’ aging core, and will have more to work with moving eastward. Uneven effort was the hallmark of last year’s season at Madison Square Garden, and Sullivan will be tasked to fix it quickly.
New York also figures to be busy in the offseason revamping their roster after last year’s collapse from Presidents’ Trophy winner to the Draft Lottery, and should the players buy in to what Sullivan is selling, the team could find themselves back deep in the playoffs.
The Blueshirts certainly seem to be capable of putting together a deep run, but it will also take some better roster management in order to reach hockey’s biggest stage again for the first time since 2014.
Carolina Hurricanes
While the Hurricanes have gotten themselves on a roll to start the playoffs, winning seven straight first-round series, the success in the later rounds has been harder to come by, with just one win in the Eastern Conference Final against the Atlantic bracket winner in three series since 2019. Carolina has proven themselves to be a very good team, it’s reaching that next level to greatness which has eluded them.
Carolina’s biggest drawback has been in net, as while their goaltending has held up against more offensively challenged opponents in the early rounds, it hasn’t been able to be successful when facing the likes of Sergei Bobrovsky or Shesterkin. Carolina’s game depends on pressuring the opposing netminder with a barrage of shots, but when their goaltending can’t match what’s in the opposite crease, it’s been a problem.
Should the Hurricanes make that uprgrade in net, their stock to at least break through the Eastern Conference goes up, but after signing Frederik Andersen to a one-year extension this spring, that would likely require a trade deadline upgrade this season with two NHL goalies under contract.
The Hurricanes are close to making that next step, but they have to really recognize their biggest Achilles Heel and make an upgrade to a netminder who is capable of winning four rounds. An upgrade in goal this summer or at the trade deadline in 2026 would really put Carolina on track to their third Stanley Cup Finals appearance.
New Jersey Devils
New Jersey, like their rivals across the Hudson River, have a healthy does of talent and even addressed their biggest need in goal this past summer, but injuries just ravaged the Devils’ chances in the playoffs after a quick start to the season. The team just was shredded by the time the playoffs rolled around, and really limited whatever chance the team had to even reach the second round.
Durability has been a major issue in Newark, as the team’s centerpiece, Jack Hughes, has missed 20 games each of the last two regular season and was out during this year’s first-round loss to Carolina, and while Nico Hischier was one of the few Devils to create offense in that series, certainly it wasn’t enough. New Jersey wants to play an up-tempo style, but that’s difficult to do without your biggest star, and while the team pivoted to playing more defensive after his injury, it was made more difficult by the team’s thinning blueline.
If the Devils can stay healthy – and that’s a very big if with their recent history – they certainly have the talent and goaltending to make a playoff run. But the team’s depth and durability have to be much better to threaten to return to their first Stanley Cup Final since 2012.
While New Jersey has threatened to make the next leap from a playoff participant to a Stanley Cup threat, they need some more depth – and some luck health-wise – to make that happen.
New York Islanders
While the Islanders led a charmed playoff existence for most of the start of the decade, reaching the third round in both the bubble and COVID season, New York’s roster really was left to play just one style by the time the team missed the playoffs this past season – hoping Ilya Sorokin could protect the limited offense the team would produce.
While Sorokin has been excellent at times, it became clear that he was suffering due to overuse, and that the team’s offense couldn’t produce enough to allow him more energy down the stretch the team needed to go anywhere. The change in management with Mathieu Darche replacing Lou Lamiorello certainly appears to be a shift in direction, but even with the top pick in this year’s draft, the Islanders have a long way to go with their prospect pool and will have to make decisions about some of the roster depth.
Clearly Sorokin is able to have the team ride on his back and go deep in the playoffs, as they did twice this decade. But the team has to recognize to go any further, they’re going to need some offense to make his job easier, and not be spent when the team really needs him.
It won’t be an easy task for Darche, as the team will have to build out the offense as well as looking to pair Sorokin with someone who can allow him to recharge during the regular season. To get to the last round for the first time since 1984 also would require the team to be able to adapt to different styles of play in the spring, something the current roster really doesn’t allow for.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins are another team that has seemingly run its course and needs a refresh. While Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Latang have been excellent in the Steel City, winning three Cups, the team’s depth and goaltending have faded badly from the Pens’ glory days.
No other example was the case of Tristin Jarry this past season, who was demoted to the AHL in January in what seemingly was the end of his NHL time in Pittsburgh, only to be recalled in March and playing 14 games down the stretch as the Pens missed the playoffs for the third straight season.
While a retool – including a reliable goaltender – could put the Penguins back in the playoff chase conversation, it’s hard to imagine Pittsburgh making another serious Stanley Cup run until there’s a massive shift in the roster. And while Kyle Dubas has been talking about a rebuild of the Penguins, clearly with Crosby, Malkin and Letang playing out their final seasons in black-and-gold, it’s a much more difficult reality than presented.
The sooner the Penguins get agressive about a rebuild the closer they’ll get to another Stanley Cup Final, but it’s going to be difficult when also trying to avoid bottoming out with their future Hall of Famers still in uniform.
Columbus Blue Jackets
One of the best feel-good stories of the past season was the Blue Jackets, who overcame the tragedy of the loss of Johnny Gaudreau in the off-season and nearly making the playoffs for the first time since the bubble tournament of 2020.
The Jackets will also be a blank canvas this offseason, with over $40 million of cap space to use if they wish, and should they play their cards right – and not get suckered into the trap of overpaying some of this year’s unrestricted free agents – they can bring themselves to end that drought next season and jump up the Metro ladder quickly.
But it will take some shrewd signings or trades from Don Waddell to take Columbus to that next level, as while the ample cap space can be a blessing, if you don’t use it right, it can be an albatross on your franchise for years.
The nearly blank canvas open up a myriad of possibilites, either one of finally breaking through to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in franchise history in the next few seasons, or looking to undo a mess of bloated contracts.
Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers had a very uneven campaign, finishing last in the Metro and ending up with former Flyer Rick Tocchet replacing John Tortorella behind the bench. Rookie Matvei Michkov was a very solid add for Philadelphia, scoring 26 goals despite not always meshing with the former coach’s more defensive priorities.
drTocchet brings a resume of making lesser rosters more competitive through hard work, and will be tasked to bring his former club back into playoff contention, something which they haven’t made the cut since the Toronto bubble.
To get another deep run into the playoffs, Philadelphia undoubtedly needs to address its depth and goaltending, as even with hard work and a good bench boss like Tocchet, it’s going to take work to manage the team’s first deep run since starting off the 2010s with a Stanley Cup Final berth.
While Philadelphia finally seems to have had no choice other than to accept a rebuild, doing it right will be the key for the Flyers to emerge back into a serious Stanley Cup contender in the next few seasons.
