PFHL 2024-2025 Season Preview - Metropolitan Division
Sept 8, 2024 15:32:54 GMT -6
Pittsburgh Penguins and Anaheim Ducks like this
Post by San Jose Sharks on Sept 8, 2024 15:32:54 GMT -6
Carolina Hurricanes:
General Manager: Wes Mucyk
Head Coach: Paul Maurice
Star Player: Dylan Cozens
Starting Goalie: Laurent Brossoit
20 Man Roster Average OV: 73.5
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 75.8
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 75.5
23-24 Regular Season Record: 35-39-8
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 12th
23-24 Playoffs: None
23-24 Recap:
There hasn’t been much to cheer for in Carolina with the Hurricanes in a perpetual rebuild having never made the playoffs. Last season was no exception to this with the team slumping to a 0.476 win percentage and GM Mucyk heading to the draft podium once again inside the first 10 picks. We did start to see glimpses of that pipeline of youth shining through, most notably with forward Dylan Cozens who finished the season with 22 goals and 77 points, but it feels like it will be a while longer before this team is ready to fight for playoff contention.
24-25 Predictions:
The Canes had a couple of late season arrivals last year with forwards Casey Mittelstadt and Philip Danault. They’ve added to this in the off-season by signing Anthony Beauvillier to 4 year $7.85million contract alongside defenseman Jonas Brodin. The assumption here is that GM Mucyk is trying to gradually improve his team, and give his young core and rookies some talent and experience to play with in order to aid their development. I wouldn’t expect to see much of a leap forward in terms of success for the team overall though with a similar outcome to last season likely. My guess is we might be seeing Mucyk back on that draft podium within the first 10 picks yet again.
TL; DR: Draft Lottery
Columbus Blue Jackets:
General Manager: Matt Sullivan
Head Coach: Martin St. Louis
Star Player: Anthony Mantha
Starting Goalie: Elvis Merzlikins
20 Man Roster Average OV: 71.4
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 73.5
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 72.5
23-24 Regular Season Record: 23-58-1
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 16th
23-24 Playoffs: None
23-24 Recap:
The Columbus Blue Jackets were the kings of tanking last season, finishing with the worst record in PFHL history. This set them up nicely to go after potential franchise center Macklin Celebrini after winning the draft lottery, but instead GM Sullivan opted to hedge his bets and traded the pick to the Vancouver Canucks for multiple 1st rounders. It may prove to be a master stroke as Columbus landed highly touted forwards Cayden Lindstrom and Tij Iginla, alongside defensemen Sam Dickinson and Carter Yakemchuk. These four could join up with existing talent and prospects to form the future backbone of the Jackets and set them up to be competitive for many seasons to come.
24-25 Predictions:
Columbus will be hard pressed to be as bad as they were last season. Anthony Mantha was a signing out of necessity, but the focus will all be on rookies Connor McMichael and Cole Perfetti, as well as defenseman Evan Bouchard. The hope is that these three will be able to continue their development on a moderately improved Columbus team, who in all likelihood will find themselves selecting near the top of next year's draft again.
TL; DR: Draft Lottery
New Jersey Devils:
General Manager: Stephane Boudreau
Head Coach: Lindy Ruff
Star Player: Akira Schmid
Starting Goalie: Akira Schmid
20 Man Roster Average OV: 72.5
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 75
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 73
23-24 Regular Season Record: 29-48-5
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 14th
23-24 Playoffs: None
23-24 Recap:
A bad team had a bad season, but they didn’t have their own 1st so didn’t get to pick a top prospect. That about sums that up.
24-25 Predictions:
The bad team is still bad, but this time they have their own and many other 1st round picks so hopefully should be able to pick a top prospect this time. That about sums that up as well.
TL; DR: Draft Lottery
New York Islanders:
General Manager: Lennart Westman
Head Coach: Dave Tippett
Star Player: J.T Miller
Starting Goalie: Ilya Sorokin
20 Man Roster Average OV: 74
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 79
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 77.5
23-24 Regular Season Record: 47-27-8
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 4th
23-24 Playoffs: First Round Exit
23-24 Recap:
As far as the regular season goes, it was a similar situation to the season before. Second in the division behind the Flyers but ahead of the Rangers, with a slightly better record of 47-27-8 vs 44-28-10 the year before. The departure of John Tavares left a hole in the scoring, but JT Miller, Filip Forsberg and Anthony Beauvillier all upped their game to help plug the gap and made the former captain’s absence barely noticeable. Miller in particular stood out with a 44 goal, 104 point season – a career year and franchise scoring record.
The Islanders came into the 23-24 season looking to improve after being swept by the Detroit Redwings in the second round of the playoffs, but unfortunately, they fell one short of last season with a first-round exit. This was made all the more painful as it was delivered by the hands of close rivals the New York Rangers, in game seven, at home. The Islanders will be looking to bounce back from that and get some revenge this season.
24-25 Predictions:
General Manager Lennart Westman promised change over the off-season. There was talk of a needing to get “tougher, faster and more resilient” in order to build a team that would “thrive in the intense environment of the playoffs”. Well, Westman has clearly never heard of under-promising and over-delivering. The New York Islanders for the 2024-2025 season are the same New York Islanders that were knocked out of round one by the Rangers in the 2023-2024 playoffs. 17 out of their top 19 skaters and the same goaltending tandem return this year for another go around. Brayden McNabb is the first and only real name that jumps out as meeting the GM’s supposed new philosophy with a high intensity defence focused game. As a result, I struggle to see this team improving much if at all over last year.
TL; DR: Top 3 in the Metro Division
New York Rangers:
General Manager: Dean Richter
Head Coach: David Quinn
Star Player: Brayden Point
Starting Goalie: Stuart Skinner
20 Man Roster Average OV: 74.8
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 78.7
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 75.8
23-24 Regular Season Record: 47-31-4
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 5th
23-24 Playoffs: Second Round
23-24 Recap:
All in all, the New York Rangers had a pretty successful season last year. They just slightly bettered their regular season record from the year before, finishing 3rd in the division once again, and they beat rivals the New York Islanders in round one of the playoffs. I think most Rangers fans would consider that job done for the most part. They got revenge for the 22-23 playoffs and denied their closest rivals a chance to better them in the process. What more can you ask for? Probably not being swept in the second round by the Ottawa Senators I guess. It was a pretty lacklustre showing in round two for the Rangers, scoring just 8 goals to the Sens 17 and not the kind of exit GM Richter would have wanted. I don’t think anyone expected the Rangers to go all the way, but the hope would have been that they at least put up a bit of a fight on their way out the door.
24-25 Predictions:
The Rangers core is largely unchanged over the off-season, with last years fourth highest points scoring skater Brayden Point returning to lead the team from the front, with the young guns of Farabee, Wahlstrom, Zegras and McLeod all still there to back him up. Jake Muzzin was a nice pickup on defence during free agency and he’ll be expected to lead the powerplay and penalty kill whilst eating big minutes in front of Stuart Skinner in net.
The big headline for the Rangers will be all about their new rookie contingent though. Mason McTavish, Ronald Attard, Noah Cates, Thomas Harley and Peyton Krebs all look set to earn promotions to the pro’s this year and all will be eager to make an impression. GM Richter will have to be careful how he uses them so as to keep their confidence high and development on track, but things are definitely looking up for the Rangers this year. I think it'll be close between them and the Capitals for that final top 3 spot in the division with both relying heavily on rookies, but I think the Rangers might just about pip them at the post.
TL; DR: Top 3 in the Metro Division
Philadelphia Flyers:
General Manager: Gary Gosel
Head Coach: Alain Vigneault
Star Player: Seth Jones
Starting Goalie: Philipp Grubauer
20 Man Roster Average OV: 75
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 80.5
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 80.8
23-24 Regular Season Record: 48-25-9
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 2nd
23-24 Playoffs: First Round Exit
23-24 Recap:
The Philadelphia Flyers were fairly dominant in the East last year, recording an impressive 0.640 win percentage that was good for 2nd in the conference. This was despite a bit of a revolving door of comings and goings including eventual scorecard leaders Seth Jones, Mark Scheifele and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The Flyers way of putting points on the board is fairly unique in comparison to most teams, with a very healthy chunk of their scoring coming from the blue line courtesy of Jones, Ekman-Larsson, Hughes and Faulk. Another team that comes to mind who were good at doing things the same way was the Vegas Knights, so not bad company to be sharing.
It didn’t seem to matter where the scoring came from come the playoffs though, as the Flyers were unable to prevent a shock exit at the hands of the Ottawa Senators in seven. A massive disappointment for the organisation and its fans, and something they’ll be looking to forget in a hurry next season.
24-25 Predictions:
Much like the Detroit Redwings, the Flyers were a top-heavy team dominated by star power last season. Unlike the Redwings, the Flyers have made some moves to address this. Most notably, future star defenceman Quinn Hughes was traded in a blockbuster deal that saw Alexander Romanov, Morgan Frost, and futures coming back the other way. This should help the team address an imbalance in the roster, whilst filling an offensive hole left by the departure of Brad Marchand who tested free agency and was signed by the Sharks. They also landed veteran presence Vladislav Namestnikov, using one of the futures they received for Hughes as part of the deal.
The Philadelphia Flyers look like the real deal again this season. They’ve coupled one of the stronger offensive packages with arguably the second-best defence in the league, and a top goalie to go along with them. The main concern for the team will be the same as last season which is goal scoring. Of all the teams to qualify for the playoffs last year, only Nashville had a worse goal scoring record so this will need to be improved. It won’t be helped by the fact last years leading scorer for the team (Brad Marchand) is no longer around, but the hope is the new and remaining forwards can plug the gap and take things to another level.
TL; DR: Top 3 in the Metro Division
Pittsburgh Penguins:
General Manager: Matt Swackhammer
Head Coach: Travis Green
Star Player: Zach Hyman
Starting Goalie: John Gibson
20 Man Roster Average OV: 74.7
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 77.7
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 75
23-24 Regular Season Record: 30-49-3
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 13th
23-24 Playoffs: None
23-24 Recap:
I don’t think Pittsburgh can be disappointed with their season last year. They never really looked like a team that would challenge for a playoff spot and they stayed true to that. The plan here has always been that of a hold position and wait, allowing time for young prospects to develop and draft picks come good. Swackhammer kept those diamond hands steady with only one addition made during the regular season with Lars Eller joining up with the team mid-way through the season. It was at the draft where his best work took place, adding top defenseman Artyom Levshunov, alongside highly touted two-way European forwards Konsta Helenius, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Emil Hemming. A pretty impressive selection of prospects who could compliment franchise center Connor Bedard nicely in the future if things pan out.
24-25 Predictions:
Boom, Pittsburgh makes their move. With rookie Connor Bedard coming into the lineup the GM dropped the hammer (see what I did there) and made things happen in the off-season to bring in a star goal scoring winger with Zach Hyman signed to a 4 year, $9million contract. It’s an expensive move to make, but it was clearly necessary to give the teams playmakers someone to aim for, and Connor Bedard a potential partner in crime once he’s had some time to bed into the pros. The team isn’t completely transformed of course and big question marks will still surround goaltender John Gibson after his very poor performance last year, but I feel like the Penguins could be a sneaky underdog story this season and a potential contender for a wildcard spot in the East.
TL; DR: Wildcard Contender
Washington Capitals:
General Manager: Jay Williams
Head Coach: Sheldon Keefe
Star Player: Mitchell Marner
Starting Goalie: Pyotr Kochetkov
20 Man Roster Average OV: 74.7
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 80
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 74.3
23-24 Regular Season Record: 39-35-8
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 10th
23-24 Playoffs: None
23-24 Recap:
The Washington Capitals have to be disappointed with last season. It wasn’t all that surprising given the goaltending situation, but any team that boasts a lineup of Marner, Hischier, Svechnikov (the good one), Debrusk, Sandin and Jarvis has to be expecting to make the playoffs. Maybe it was just one year too early for this team either way, but a 0.524 win percentage with a positive away record is something that can definitely be built upon next season.
24-25 Predictions:
Goaltending, goaltending, goaltending. It was the biggest issue with this team last year and the most important thing to address this year. Well, it turns out it was rather easy to do. Last year two rookie goaltenders stood out more than any other in the minors, and one of them was Pyotr Kochetkov. With a 0.897 save percentage (2nd overall) and 3.30 goals against average (2nd overall), Kochetkov’s time has come and a promotion to the pros is on the cards. Throw in rookie defenseman Alexander Alexeyev and a sprinkle of depth skaters and you have a pretty handy team with some solid improvements. But that’s before we talk about the real star for this season ahead.
Last year a 20 year old rookie forward came into the minors and broke the league record for goals (70) and points (149) in a single season. That same rookie forward will now be lacing up for the Capitals, potentially as their second line center and second powerplay unit leader. If him and Kochetkov have a season even half as impressive as the one they both had in the minors, Washington could blow the Metropolitan division wide open.
TL; DR: Wildcard Contender
2024-2025 Standings Prediction:
1. Philadelphia Flyers
2. New York Islanders
3. New York Rangers
4. Washington Capitals
5. Pittsburgh Penguins
6. Carolina Hurricanes
7. New Jersey Devils
8. Columbus Blue Jackets
General Manager: Wes Mucyk
Head Coach: Paul Maurice
Star Player: Dylan Cozens
Starting Goalie: Laurent Brossoit
20 Man Roster Average OV: 73.5
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 75.8
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 75.5
23-24 Regular Season Record: 35-39-8
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 12th
23-24 Playoffs: None
23-24 Recap:
There hasn’t been much to cheer for in Carolina with the Hurricanes in a perpetual rebuild having never made the playoffs. Last season was no exception to this with the team slumping to a 0.476 win percentage and GM Mucyk heading to the draft podium once again inside the first 10 picks. We did start to see glimpses of that pipeline of youth shining through, most notably with forward Dylan Cozens who finished the season with 22 goals and 77 points, but it feels like it will be a while longer before this team is ready to fight for playoff contention.
24-25 Predictions:
The Canes had a couple of late season arrivals last year with forwards Casey Mittelstadt and Philip Danault. They’ve added to this in the off-season by signing Anthony Beauvillier to 4 year $7.85million contract alongside defenseman Jonas Brodin. The assumption here is that GM Mucyk is trying to gradually improve his team, and give his young core and rookies some talent and experience to play with in order to aid their development. I wouldn’t expect to see much of a leap forward in terms of success for the team overall though with a similar outcome to last season likely. My guess is we might be seeing Mucyk back on that draft podium within the first 10 picks yet again.
TL; DR: Draft Lottery
Columbus Blue Jackets:
General Manager: Matt Sullivan
Head Coach: Martin St. Louis
Star Player: Anthony Mantha
Starting Goalie: Elvis Merzlikins
20 Man Roster Average OV: 71.4
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 73.5
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 72.5
23-24 Regular Season Record: 23-58-1
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 16th
23-24 Playoffs: None
23-24 Recap:
The Columbus Blue Jackets were the kings of tanking last season, finishing with the worst record in PFHL history. This set them up nicely to go after potential franchise center Macklin Celebrini after winning the draft lottery, but instead GM Sullivan opted to hedge his bets and traded the pick to the Vancouver Canucks for multiple 1st rounders. It may prove to be a master stroke as Columbus landed highly touted forwards Cayden Lindstrom and Tij Iginla, alongside defensemen Sam Dickinson and Carter Yakemchuk. These four could join up with existing talent and prospects to form the future backbone of the Jackets and set them up to be competitive for many seasons to come.
24-25 Predictions:
Columbus will be hard pressed to be as bad as they were last season. Anthony Mantha was a signing out of necessity, but the focus will all be on rookies Connor McMichael and Cole Perfetti, as well as defenseman Evan Bouchard. The hope is that these three will be able to continue their development on a moderately improved Columbus team, who in all likelihood will find themselves selecting near the top of next year's draft again.
TL; DR: Draft Lottery
New Jersey Devils:
General Manager: Stephane Boudreau
Head Coach: Lindy Ruff
Star Player: Akira Schmid
Starting Goalie: Akira Schmid
20 Man Roster Average OV: 72.5
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 75
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 73
23-24 Regular Season Record: 29-48-5
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 14th
23-24 Playoffs: None
23-24 Recap:
A bad team had a bad season, but they didn’t have their own 1st so didn’t get to pick a top prospect. That about sums that up.
24-25 Predictions:
The bad team is still bad, but this time they have their own and many other 1st round picks so hopefully should be able to pick a top prospect this time. That about sums that up as well.
TL; DR: Draft Lottery
New York Islanders:
General Manager: Lennart Westman
Head Coach: Dave Tippett
Star Player: J.T Miller
Starting Goalie: Ilya Sorokin
20 Man Roster Average OV: 74
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 79
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 77.5
23-24 Regular Season Record: 47-27-8
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 4th
23-24 Playoffs: First Round Exit
23-24 Recap:
As far as the regular season goes, it was a similar situation to the season before. Second in the division behind the Flyers but ahead of the Rangers, with a slightly better record of 47-27-8 vs 44-28-10 the year before. The departure of John Tavares left a hole in the scoring, but JT Miller, Filip Forsberg and Anthony Beauvillier all upped their game to help plug the gap and made the former captain’s absence barely noticeable. Miller in particular stood out with a 44 goal, 104 point season – a career year and franchise scoring record.
The Islanders came into the 23-24 season looking to improve after being swept by the Detroit Redwings in the second round of the playoffs, but unfortunately, they fell one short of last season with a first-round exit. This was made all the more painful as it was delivered by the hands of close rivals the New York Rangers, in game seven, at home. The Islanders will be looking to bounce back from that and get some revenge this season.
24-25 Predictions:
General Manager Lennart Westman promised change over the off-season. There was talk of a needing to get “tougher, faster and more resilient” in order to build a team that would “thrive in the intense environment of the playoffs”. Well, Westman has clearly never heard of under-promising and over-delivering. The New York Islanders for the 2024-2025 season are the same New York Islanders that were knocked out of round one by the Rangers in the 2023-2024 playoffs. 17 out of their top 19 skaters and the same goaltending tandem return this year for another go around. Brayden McNabb is the first and only real name that jumps out as meeting the GM’s supposed new philosophy with a high intensity defence focused game. As a result, I struggle to see this team improving much if at all over last year.
TL; DR: Top 3 in the Metro Division
New York Rangers:
General Manager: Dean Richter
Head Coach: David Quinn
Star Player: Brayden Point
Starting Goalie: Stuart Skinner
20 Man Roster Average OV: 74.8
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 78.7
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 75.8
23-24 Regular Season Record: 47-31-4
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 5th
23-24 Playoffs: Second Round
23-24 Recap:
All in all, the New York Rangers had a pretty successful season last year. They just slightly bettered their regular season record from the year before, finishing 3rd in the division once again, and they beat rivals the New York Islanders in round one of the playoffs. I think most Rangers fans would consider that job done for the most part. They got revenge for the 22-23 playoffs and denied their closest rivals a chance to better them in the process. What more can you ask for? Probably not being swept in the second round by the Ottawa Senators I guess. It was a pretty lacklustre showing in round two for the Rangers, scoring just 8 goals to the Sens 17 and not the kind of exit GM Richter would have wanted. I don’t think anyone expected the Rangers to go all the way, but the hope would have been that they at least put up a bit of a fight on their way out the door.
24-25 Predictions:
The Rangers core is largely unchanged over the off-season, with last years fourth highest points scoring skater Brayden Point returning to lead the team from the front, with the young guns of Farabee, Wahlstrom, Zegras and McLeod all still there to back him up. Jake Muzzin was a nice pickup on defence during free agency and he’ll be expected to lead the powerplay and penalty kill whilst eating big minutes in front of Stuart Skinner in net.
The big headline for the Rangers will be all about their new rookie contingent though. Mason McTavish, Ronald Attard, Noah Cates, Thomas Harley and Peyton Krebs all look set to earn promotions to the pro’s this year and all will be eager to make an impression. GM Richter will have to be careful how he uses them so as to keep their confidence high and development on track, but things are definitely looking up for the Rangers this year. I think it'll be close between them and the Capitals for that final top 3 spot in the division with both relying heavily on rookies, but I think the Rangers might just about pip them at the post.
TL; DR: Top 3 in the Metro Division
Philadelphia Flyers:
General Manager: Gary Gosel
Head Coach: Alain Vigneault
Star Player: Seth Jones
Starting Goalie: Philipp Grubauer
20 Man Roster Average OV: 75
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 80.5
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 80.8
23-24 Regular Season Record: 48-25-9
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 2nd
23-24 Playoffs: First Round Exit
23-24 Recap:
The Philadelphia Flyers were fairly dominant in the East last year, recording an impressive 0.640 win percentage that was good for 2nd in the conference. This was despite a bit of a revolving door of comings and goings including eventual scorecard leaders Seth Jones, Mark Scheifele and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The Flyers way of putting points on the board is fairly unique in comparison to most teams, with a very healthy chunk of their scoring coming from the blue line courtesy of Jones, Ekman-Larsson, Hughes and Faulk. Another team that comes to mind who were good at doing things the same way was the Vegas Knights, so not bad company to be sharing.
It didn’t seem to matter where the scoring came from come the playoffs though, as the Flyers were unable to prevent a shock exit at the hands of the Ottawa Senators in seven. A massive disappointment for the organisation and its fans, and something they’ll be looking to forget in a hurry next season.
24-25 Predictions:
Much like the Detroit Redwings, the Flyers were a top-heavy team dominated by star power last season. Unlike the Redwings, the Flyers have made some moves to address this. Most notably, future star defenceman Quinn Hughes was traded in a blockbuster deal that saw Alexander Romanov, Morgan Frost, and futures coming back the other way. This should help the team address an imbalance in the roster, whilst filling an offensive hole left by the departure of Brad Marchand who tested free agency and was signed by the Sharks. They also landed veteran presence Vladislav Namestnikov, using one of the futures they received for Hughes as part of the deal.
The Philadelphia Flyers look like the real deal again this season. They’ve coupled one of the stronger offensive packages with arguably the second-best defence in the league, and a top goalie to go along with them. The main concern for the team will be the same as last season which is goal scoring. Of all the teams to qualify for the playoffs last year, only Nashville had a worse goal scoring record so this will need to be improved. It won’t be helped by the fact last years leading scorer for the team (Brad Marchand) is no longer around, but the hope is the new and remaining forwards can plug the gap and take things to another level.
TL; DR: Top 3 in the Metro Division
Pittsburgh Penguins:
General Manager: Matt Swackhammer
Head Coach: Travis Green
Star Player: Zach Hyman
Starting Goalie: John Gibson
20 Man Roster Average OV: 74.7
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 77.7
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 75
23-24 Regular Season Record: 30-49-3
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 13th
23-24 Playoffs: None
23-24 Recap:
I don’t think Pittsburgh can be disappointed with their season last year. They never really looked like a team that would challenge for a playoff spot and they stayed true to that. The plan here has always been that of a hold position and wait, allowing time for young prospects to develop and draft picks come good. Swackhammer kept those diamond hands steady with only one addition made during the regular season with Lars Eller joining up with the team mid-way through the season. It was at the draft where his best work took place, adding top defenseman Artyom Levshunov, alongside highly touted two-way European forwards Konsta Helenius, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Emil Hemming. A pretty impressive selection of prospects who could compliment franchise center Connor Bedard nicely in the future if things pan out.
24-25 Predictions:
Boom, Pittsburgh makes their move. With rookie Connor Bedard coming into the lineup the GM dropped the hammer (see what I did there) and made things happen in the off-season to bring in a star goal scoring winger with Zach Hyman signed to a 4 year, $9million contract. It’s an expensive move to make, but it was clearly necessary to give the teams playmakers someone to aim for, and Connor Bedard a potential partner in crime once he’s had some time to bed into the pros. The team isn’t completely transformed of course and big question marks will still surround goaltender John Gibson after his very poor performance last year, but I feel like the Penguins could be a sneaky underdog story this season and a potential contender for a wildcard spot in the East.
TL; DR: Wildcard Contender
Washington Capitals:
General Manager: Jay Williams
Head Coach: Sheldon Keefe
Star Player: Mitchell Marner
Starting Goalie: Pyotr Kochetkov
20 Man Roster Average OV: 74.7
Top 6 Offense Average OV: 80
Top 4 Defence Average OV: 74.3
23-24 Regular Season Record: 39-35-8
23-24 Regular Season Finish: 10th
23-24 Playoffs: None
23-24 Recap:
The Washington Capitals have to be disappointed with last season. It wasn’t all that surprising given the goaltending situation, but any team that boasts a lineup of Marner, Hischier, Svechnikov (the good one), Debrusk, Sandin and Jarvis has to be expecting to make the playoffs. Maybe it was just one year too early for this team either way, but a 0.524 win percentage with a positive away record is something that can definitely be built upon next season.
24-25 Predictions:
Goaltending, goaltending, goaltending. It was the biggest issue with this team last year and the most important thing to address this year. Well, it turns out it was rather easy to do. Last year two rookie goaltenders stood out more than any other in the minors, and one of them was Pyotr Kochetkov. With a 0.897 save percentage (2nd overall) and 3.30 goals against average (2nd overall), Kochetkov’s time has come and a promotion to the pros is on the cards. Throw in rookie defenseman Alexander Alexeyev and a sprinkle of depth skaters and you have a pretty handy team with some solid improvements. But that’s before we talk about the real star for this season ahead.
Last year a 20 year old rookie forward came into the minors and broke the league record for goals (70) and points (149) in a single season. That same rookie forward will now be lacing up for the Capitals, potentially as their second line center and second powerplay unit leader. If him and Kochetkov have a season even half as impressive as the one they both had in the minors, Washington could blow the Metropolitan division wide open.
TL; DR: Wildcard Contender
2024-2025 Standings Prediction:
1. Philadelphia Flyers
2. New York Islanders
3. New York Rangers
4. Washington Capitals
5. Pittsburgh Penguins
6. Carolina Hurricanes
7. New Jersey Devils
8. Columbus Blue Jackets
