Almost two weeks after free agency began, here’s how the Devils’ closest opponents have approached this offseason.
The New Jersey Devils have not been able to take a big swing this offseason, but a quiet offseason can inspire anxiety in fans. Fears that other teams are leapfrogging theirs, or that their team is going to waste another year of their core’s prime years are easy to come by. Fortunately for the Devils, the 2025 NHL Offseason, despite the promised crazy trades and wild movement, has turned into a snooze-fest. As the NHL Draft got underway, you might have heard some analysts opine that, because GMs around the league might be unwilling to be honest about the states of their teams, you would see fewer GMs shopping their players on the trade market.
The result is a league completely washed over in ostensible mediocrity. Some teams seem to be half-committing to rebuilds, and teams with aging cores are slow to admit they might be past their contending windows. While this type of league is less exciting for insiders trying to get clicks for trade rumors, it is probably better for fans who like a high-parity game and a lot of Wild Card fights down the stretch of the regular season.
This will be a four-part offseason series going over each division. Today, and most directly affecting the Devils, is about the Metropolitan Division.
The Carolina Hurricanes — The Ehlers and Miller Offseason
Some seem to be thinking that the Carolina Hurricanes are getting better in leaps and bounds over other Metropolitan teams. With their immense cap space after letting go of Brent Burns in free agency, they pivoted to making a blockbuster trade with the New York Rangers for K’Andre Miller. Days later, they signed coveted forward Nikolaj Ehlers to a six-year contract.
The big change that Carolina Hurricanes fans are excited about are the departures of Brent Burns of Dmitry Orlov. In their place, Alexander Nikishin and K’Andre Miller will take big roles for Rod Brind’Amour in October. For some bizarre reason, internet-surfing Hurricanes fans think that future Hall of Famer Brent Burns was a net negative for their team, and a drag on renowned shutdown defenseman Jaccob Slavin. Nothing I have seen, from HockeyViz’s data to Natural Stat Trick’s, has agreed with that sentiment. I certainly never felt like Burns was playing poorly when the Devils were facing Carolina. In HockeyViz’s data, shown below, Burns being on the ice with Slavin represented a large reduction in chances against and a moderate increase in Hurricanes scoring chances.
HockeyViz
I will give them that, while Dmitry Orlov’s regular season metrics were very good, as usual for him, he looked terrible in the playoffs. With Nikishin ready for a shot in the NHL, it was time for them to move on from the 33-year old Orlov, who signed with San Jose for $6.5 million per season. Where I will also give them a lot of credit is the K’Andre Miller trade. I will write more on Miller’s impact on the Rangers further down the article, but I imagine that Miller will be the exact kind of defenseman that Brind’Amour helps to perfect on the ice. Before Peter Laviolette arrived in New York, Miller looked like a sure 40-50 point defenseman with a strong defensive game, and I think he will reach that again in Carolina.
The best part of Carolina’s offseason has been the contracts they have handed out to their new forwards. After they got Taylor Hall to stay with a mere $3.17 million AAV contract for three seasons, which was signed a few months ago, they re-signed Logan Stankoven and signed free agent Nikolaj Ehlers. Stankoven, of course, was part of the large package the Hurricanes received for Mikko Rantanen, who apparently refused to negotiate in Carolina. Stankoven projects as a pretty good second line forward, but he is not a pure replacement for a scorer like Rantanen. Fortunately for Carolina, Stankoven is still in the last year of his entry-level contract, so they still have over $10 million in cap room to add to their roster. However, they have already signed him to an eight-year deal, averaging $6 million per season. This will probably prove to be a good value for the kind of player Stankoven is trending to be. In addition to Stankoven, they signed Nikolaj Ehlers to a six-year deal worth $8.5 million per season. Ehlers will add another level of speed to their top six, as he has the skill to produce while playing at a top pace.
The big concern for the Hurricanes is in net. Frederik Andersen, who will be 36 in October, is a good goaltender when he is healthy. However, he is not usually healthy. Pyotr Kochetkov, 26, has had a couple good seasons, but has yet to show that he can be a starter in the NHL. There’s also the question of how long Jordan Staal will be an effective third line center. Staal will be 37 in September, and the Hurricanes still rely on Staal for a many of their toughest matchups. If Staal begins to falter as a shutdown center, that would likely be a big disturbance to Brind’Amour’s forward deployment paradigm. This would mean more minutes for Jesperi Kotkaniemi, which might give Carolina a bit more offensive upside on the third line, though Kotkaniemi is less defensively sound than Staal (but still average or better), while he gets far fewer favors from officials, who do not call Staal for many penalties.
Carolina will be tough in 2025-26, but whether they are better depends on if Andersen, Staal, and Hall fight off father time, and whether Stankoven, Kotkaniemi, Miller, and Nikishin can play and produce at a high level.
The Washington Capitals — Standing Pat
The Washington Capitals are an odd team. They were a regular season monster in 2024, but poor goaltending down the stretch led to them stumbling a bit into the playoffs. They defeated Montreal in five games, giving Montreal some hope at points, but looked completely lost — more so than the Devils did — against Carolina. After last offseason, when they acquired Pierre-Luc Dubois, Jakob Chychrun, Logan Thompson, and Matt Roy, some pondered whether Washington would be able to create cap room to make a run at Nikolaj Ehlers. That contract never manifested, and the result is a team that largely looks the same in D.C. As Tom Gulitti writes for NHL.com,
The Capitals’ only additions so far this offseason were forward Justin Sourdif, acquired in a trade with the Florida Panthers on June 26 for a second-round draft pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and a sixth-round pick in 2027, and defenseman Declan Chisholm, acquired with a sixth-round pick in the 2025 draft in a trade with the Minnesota Wild on June 28 for defenseman Chase Priskie and a fourth-round pick in 2025.
Sourdif is expected to fill one of the spots on Washington’s bottom two forward lines created by the unrestricted free agent departures of Lars Eller (Ottawa Senators), Mangiapane (Edmonton Oilers) and Raddysh (New York Rangers). Chisholm replaces depth defenseman Alexander Alexeyev (Pittsburgh Penguins).
As Gulitti indicates, the hope for Washington seems to be in a possible youth infusion. Capitals fans are already rightly enamored with Aliaksei Protas, who scored 30 goals and 36 assists this season, jumping from six goals and 23 assists in the prior year. Protas, at 6’6” and about 250 pounds, is now one of the biggest scoring wingers in the NHL. His younger brother, Ilya, seems like a possible option for the NHL roster after scoring 50 goals and 74 assists in his first OHL season. Ilya was a third-round draft pick in 2024. The Capitals will definitely be trying to turn Justin Sourdif, who had one goal in one NHL game this year, into their next hidden gem. And as Gulitti mentioned in his article, they are also hoping that Sonny Milano returns from his long-term injury to be an impact player for them.
The Washington Capitals will be good this year on account of their great defensive group and a goaltending duo of Lindgren and Thompson. But they are, like Carolina, one year older in some very important places. John Carlson will be 36 in January, Nic Dowd just turned 35, Tom Wilson turned 31 in March, and Alex Ovechkin will turn 40 on September 17. If the Capitals want to go far in the playoffs, they need to make sure that none of those four break down towards the end of the regular season.
The New York Rangers — An Aimless Franchise
I am certainly happy that Jeff Gorton is up in Montreal. Chris Drury is making life easier for the rest of the Metropolitan Division. Yes, he did swap Mike Sullivan for Peter Laviolette, so that should help them perform better in the regular season. But Laviolette did a number on the team, stunting the development of multiple players while veterans saw their play slip more and more the longer Laviolette was behind the bench. Drury capitalized on that by alienating his team from being a regular contender in free agency, limiting himself to acquiring Vladislav Gavrikov with the money saved by trading Chris Kreider. So, at least they didn’t wait until after Kreider actually became captain to trade him.
But Chris Kreider scored 22 goals this season, while injured, and there is little evidence that Drury has planned to replace his third-most prolific goal scorer from the 2024-25 season. There may be hope that Alex Lafreniere or Will Cuylle take a step, but Lafreniere saw his play dip after signing his contract extension. They may also hope that J.T. Miller plays better, or that Mika Zibanejad remembers how to play defense at five-on-five. But after a year of missing the playoffs, I do not see enough offense in their group.
My big question is: why get older? Why trade Miller to Carolina in order to sign Gavrikov? Gavrikov is a great defenseman, but he is 30 years old, now signed to a seven-year deal worth $7 million a season. He should be a good partner for Adam Fox this season, but Drury won’t be able to force his contract to California, as Gavrikov has a no-move clause until 2030. The Rangers will have to hope that Scott Morrow, who had a pretty good year in the AHL, is ready for a real role in the NHL. That is the upside they got from that trade, but I would be pretty concerned that Morrow had not hit a next level in the NCAA. Seamus Casey tracked better through his NCAA years and has shown just as much in the AHL and NHL despite being a year younger. I don’t think that’s worth giving up on K’Andre Miller, who has been Adam Fox’s best partner in New York despite Laviolette’s refusal to keep them together.
HockeyViz
Aside from K’Andre Miller, the Rangers have given up on Zac Jones and Arthur Kaliyev. You can mark Jones as another solid prospect failed by the Rangers, who they let go for nothing in exchange for paying Will Borgen more than the Devils are paying Johnny Kovacevic, Jonas Siegenthaler, and Brenden Dillon. But they also no longer have Filip Chytil, who went to Vancouver with Victor Mancini in exchange for J.T. Miller. Kaapo Kakko had a decent year in Seattle. Braden Schneider, who was seen by many as a can’t-miss defensive prospect, seems to have hit a snag in his development. As a result, the New York Rangers are driven entirely by a bunch of guys in their 30s and Adam Fox. I do not see them being that good this season, so they should probably think about limiting Igor Shesterkin’s workload, so he doesn’t start declining too soon after turning 30 in December. But this may be a doubtful task with Jonathan Quick (who will be 40 in January) backing him. I would not be surprised to see Shesterkin drag them to the playoffs, but it probably does them more long-term harm than good at this point.
The Columbus Blue Jackets — A Deeper, But Still Unspectacular Team
The Columbus Blue Jackets have had a bit of a head-scratching offseason, but they might be competitive for a Wild Card spot in 2025-26. After trading Gavin Brindley and a couple of draft picks for Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood, the Blue Jackets have much-needed center depth and a reclamation project in Wood. But Brindley did not have a promising first AHL season, and the Jackets did not lose much draft pick value in the trade. You might see people dunking on that move because of Miles Wood’s poor analytic profile, but I think I see the vision. Coyle has been up-and-down in Boston over the years, but can still be a producer in the middle of the lineup. Miles Wood has not really worked out that well in Colorado, but he is still the fastest straight-line skater in the game, with a top speed that reaches an unfathomable near-25 miles per hour. If Dean Evason can find a role for Wood, I think he will have a bounce-back season.
The Blue Jackets also picked up fourth line center Isac Lundestrom, while re-signing Ivan Provorov to a massive overpayment at $8.5 million per season. But that is not where their hopes are. The Jackets are looking forward to watching the continued development of Kirill Marchenko, Kent Johnson, and Adam Fantilli, who had great seasons in 2024-25, almost taking Columbus to the playoffs in the absence of Boone Jenner, who had 19 points in 26 games. Sean Monahan also missed a lot of time, putting up 57 points in 54 games. Both veterans will look to lead their young forwards to the playoffs this season, and the team has little to worry about on the back-end with Norris contender Zach Werenski leading Damon Severson, Dante Fabbro, and Provorov in a rather solid group. Despite the tragic death of Johnny Gaudreau, Columbus has remained strong and has a bright future.
The Pittsburgh Penguins — Don’t Call it a Rebuild Yet
While the media keeps trying to pry Sidney Crosby out of Pittsburgh, the rumors that Pittsburgh would move any of their stars have largely proved to be premature. The Pittsburgh Penguins still have over $13 million in cap space after acquiring Matt Dumba from the Dallas Stars, and they can still add to their roster. I think they are satisfied with continuing to build around Crosby. But they do not have a lot of time with their current core. The youngest of their top players, Rickard Rackell, is 32 years old, and they have him under contract through 2028. Bryan Rust, Kris Letang, and Tristan Jarry are under contract through the same year. Next year, they will have to see whether Evgeni Malkin will continue his NHL career, while Sidney Crosby and Erik Karlsson will need new contracts two years from now.
Pittsburgh seems to understand where they’re at, for the most part. They have done well to acquire excess draft picks, with 14 combined second and third round selections to be made between 2026 and 2028. And there is evidence that they were a bit unlucky in 2024-25. They were 16th in the league in xGF%, but scored 22 goals below expected while allowing 16 goals above expected at five-on-five. They still had a good power play and decent penalty kill, though, indicating that improving their goaltending situation and converting at even a regularly below-average percentage at five-on-five may be enough to sneak them into the playoffs. And with plenty of cap space, they can still add to their roster with relative ease.
Players like Will Horcoff and Mikhail Ilyin might be a few years off (especially Ilyin with his KHL contract), but they might have some young players on the way in Avery Hayes, Joel Blomqvist, Ville Koivunen, and Vasily Ponomarev. They already had Rutger McGroarty in the NHL towards the end of last season, and I expect him to take a bigger role in the NHL this year. In my opinion, I think Kyle Dubas has done a poor job at targeting veteran depth, but he does have a good situation with a lot of under-23 year old players in that group, who could push some of that dubious older depth out of the lineup this season. If they do so successfully, the Penguins can make even more trouble than the Blue Jackets.
The New York Islanders — Is Darche Better?
Like every fanbase whose favorite team is run by Lou Lamoriello, Islanders fans seemed like they were having a party when Mathieu Darche took the reigns as general manager. But the New York Islanders are not a better team today than they were two months ago, and a lot of that stems from the Noah Dobson trade. Yes, they got to make the 16th and 17th picks in the 2025 Draft, and they got Emil Heineman, who hopes to be a third line player, in the trade. But my issues with this trade are similar to my issues with the K’Andre Miller trade. Dobson, despite the reputation that his online fanbase has put on him, is one of the best right-handed defensemen in the league. He is only turning 26 in January. If you think the Islanders are going to have a better season exchanging Dobson for Ryan Pulock (or Tony DeAngelo) as their top right-handed defenseman, be prepared for disappointment. See HockeyViz’s evaluation of their defensemen below:
HockeyViz
Matthew Schaefer can only do so much to help there, given how strong the Islanders’ left side is, and I imagine the Islanders will want to have him play in the NHL at 18 rather than send him back to the OHL. Playing with Noah Dobson would have given Schaefer a proven top-pairing partner to learn from, but he will have to settle for one of Pulock, DeAngelo, or Mayfield. To me, those are all third-pairing or press box guys. Pulock might be able to bounce back to form, but it’s always a question mark after guys turn 30.
No, I do not think the 16th and 17th picks are worth Noah Dobson. Victor Eklund and Kashawn Aitcheson are good prospects, but prospects are very rarely worth 25-year old top-pairing defensemen. Especially when Dobson could have been paired with Schaefer, I think failing to make space for Dobson will prove to be a really bad move over the next few years. Plugging the forward side with Jonathan Drouin and re-signing 34-year old Kyle Palmieri is just going to keep the team in limbo. Maxim Shabanov looks good, coming over from the KHL, but we will see how the 5’8” forward translates to the NHL.
The Philadelphia Flyers — Let’s See What Tocchet is Made of As a Coach
Like Lou Lamoriello with the Islanders, I think people were too hard on John Tortorella with the Philadelphia Flyers. Unlike most of Tortorella’s teams over the years, this one really had no business being even close to decent at any point of his tenure, but Tortorella had his group just four points out of the playoffs in 2024. So, naturally, Danny Briere made a few excellent moves in the 2024-25 season, including trading Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee to the Calgary Flames for Andrei Kuzmenko, Jakob Pelletier, a second round pick, and a seventh round pick. Farabee and Frost, both 25 at the time of the trade, could have factored into Philadelphia’s plans for years. Kuzmenko is now with the Kings, and Pelletier is now with the Lightning. No, the Flyers did not get anything for either player, so they effectively traded Frost and Farabee for a second and seventh round pick.
No wonder John Tortorella seemed so disinterested in being with the team down the stretch.
New Devils defensive assistant, Brad Shaw, wanted to be the next head coach of the Flyers despite seeing the end of Tortorella’s time there. His own defensemen seemed to want him for the job. But Briere looked elsewhere, hiring Rick Tocchet, fresh off a disappointing season in Vancouver that saw that locker room fall apart, to the job instead. So for all the comments Tocchet made about his ability to manage a tense locker room, he will now have to navigate a Philadelphia team that saw its own issues after Briere’s bad dealing helped to sink their group.
Of the eight teams in the Metropolitan Division, I have to imagine the Flyers in last place. They have lost one of the best defensive coaching duos in the NHL in Tortorella and Shaw. They were almost entirely reliant on Travis Konecny and Matvei Michkov for offense, and now hope that Trevor Zegras and Christian Dvorak will improve their numbers. And now they have to hope that Dan Vladar, who has never played more than 30 games, and has a career .895 save percentage, can be the starting goaltender that saves them from repeating last year’s disaster in net, as Sam Ersson, Ivan Fedotov, and Aleksei Kolosov combined for a team .879 save percentage.
So, yeah, let’s see what Tocchet is made of. But unless Michkov turns into a 120-point player this year, I don’t see Philadelphia being a threat to make the playoffs.
What All This Means for the Devils
Life in the Metropolitan Division is never easy, but I think the New Jersey Devils are comparatively in a very good spot. They have a top six center duo matched by no team in the Metropolitan, and the general age of their top players still has them in the beginning phase of their contention window. The only similar team in that respect is the Carolina Hurricanes, who do not rely too much on older veterans. I think New Jersey and Carolina are easy picks for Divisional playoff berths.
The Washington Capitals and New York Rangers are a little too old at this point. The Penguins may be as well, but four of their older players are future Hall of Famers. The same cannot be said about the veterans on the Capitals and Rangers. Unlike the Rangers, though, the Capitals have drafted and developed well enough to stay competitive through those aging processes, and I think they are still the most likely team out of the remaining six to capture a top-three Divisional Spot. The Rangers might not make the playoffs again, and I do not know how more Rangers writers are not ringing the alarm on Chris Drury’s tenure.
Columbus is a team to watch because of their youth. They are still on the upswing, and I expect them to be a very tough team in a year or two. But for now, I think they are still on the bubble, given their largely quiet offseason. I think Pittsburgh will continue to make moves, though, and they would be my sleeper pick for the 2026 playoffs.
I do not believe that the New York Islanders or Philadelphia Flyers are moving in the right direction, as I am not convinced that Darche or Tocchet are upgrades from their predecessors. Since hockey is unpredictable at times, I may very well regret writing this, but I am not worried at all about either team in the 2025-26 season. They will be seventh and eighth, unless the wheels really fall off in Druryland.
Whether the Devils are a good matchup for the Hurricanes and Capitals in the playoffs remains a matter of debate. I think they have the size to effectively deal with Washington, but the Hurricanes are still elusive. Jack Hughes is the game-changer, though, and the Devils have not had him at his physical best since the 2022-23 season. If Hughes’s shoulder holds up, I think that solves a lot of issues with Carolina, as Nico Hischier already showed he can fight through their hard matchups in the 2025 Playoffs. With Jack centering the next line, Carolina will have more issues playing their game.
But that’s really a problem for five months from now, when the Devils are weighing how to get better around the deadline. Their cap situation might make in-season moves difficult, but it could be worse. The Devils could be a team of fading players in their 30s. They could be a team without a good group of defensemen. They could be a team without two great goalies. But none of those issues describe the Devils, and they will have to hope that their youth provides them with the playmaking boost they desperately need to play a faster, better game in 2025-26.
Your Thoughts
What do you think of the teams around the Metropolitan Division? Do you agree or disagree with my takes on them? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.