NHL Power Rankings: Previewing the Flyers’ Metropolitan positon

The Metropolitan Division will once again be the most competitive division in the National Hockey League. The Philadelphia Flyers will be in the thick of things for a playoff berth, but the top of the division projects to be crowded with plenty of Stanley Cup hopefuls.

With the Philadelphia Flyers‘ regular-season debut right around the corner, it’s time to take a look at the Metropolitan division and see how the eight teams stack up coming into the 2018-19 season. With the Washington Capitals returning as reigning Stanley Cup champions, and the Pittsburgh Penguins having won two out of the last three, it would be hard to argue that there is a division in the NHL better than the Metro right now.

The Flyers will enter this season with heightened expectations, having trimmed the roster by letting players like Valtteri Filppula and Brandon Manning walk in free agency. They’ll possess a more balanced and mature roster this season, one of the reasons why many fans and some experts are expecting them to take a step forward, possibly fighting for a spot in a semi-final playoff round.

The road is seldom easy in today’s NHL, and the Flyers will need contributions from all 19 players on the ice every night. If they get that and can stay healthy, Philadelphia could surprise a lot of people. But there will be plenty of teams standing in their way, with quite a few of them lurking in the same division.

Anthony Maiorana and I take a look at each team’s predicted finish in the Metropolitan Division, as well as their chances of earning a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.