The true dog days of the NHL offseason are here. Only a handful of impactful players remain unsigned, and the rumor mill has slowed to a crawl.
As July comes to a close, it’s a good time to look back on what teams have done so far this offseason.
We all know what the Flyers have done, but how have the rest of the teams in the Metropolitan Division fared this summer?
Let’s take inventory of each team’s biggest additions and subtractions in an attempt to figure out where the Flyers stand. We’ll go in order of last year’s standings to keep things simple.
Carolina Hurricanes
After winning the Stanley Cup, the Hurricanes have had one of the quietest offseasons in the NHL.
They announced a two-year extension for Nic Deslauriers as he stole the show during Carolina’s Cup celebrations, but that was about it.
The Canes did make an effort to sign John Carlson, trading for his rights prior to July 1, but the defenseman ultimately signed in Tampa Bay.
The Hurricanes also didn’t have many players leave this offseason. The only key one is goaltender Frederik Andersen, who played 35 games last season after 22 and 16 the two years prior. At 36 years old, the Canes are probably smart to turn the page.
All in all, this is still a stacked roster with plenty of room to grow, and the cap space and draft capital to make moves when needed. The Hurricanes are the rightful favorites in the Metropolitan Division.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins, much like the Flyers, overachieved last season by finishing with 98 points. Unlike the Flyers, though, they’re hanging on with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin leading the way, while Philadelphia is ushering in a New Era of Orange.
Pittsburgh did lose a pair of key names this offseason in Anthony Mantha and Stuart Skinner. Mantha scored 33 goals in the regular season before disappearing in the playoffs, and Skinner was average at best with an .885 save percentage in 27 games with the Penguins. Noel Acciari, Parker Wotherspoon, Ryan Shea, and Connor Clifton joined Mantha and Skinner in leaving the Burgh.
The Penguins replaced Mantha with Andrei Kuzmenko and, less so, Nick Robertson, but neither of those wingers has 30-goal potential, and more like 20-goal potential. They also added some depth with Kaedan Korczak and Trevor van Riemsdyk.
Ultimately, the Penguins have Father Time working against them, and although Kyle Dubas may have room to build a contender in the coming years, Pittsburgh is largely hoping that Crosby and Malkin can keep it up for another year.
It would be surprising if the Penguins made the playoffs in 2027, even more so to replicate last season’s finish of second place in the division. The Flyers should be better than the Penguins this season.
Washington Capitals
While the Penguins should take a few steps back, the Capitals should take a few steps forward.
Alex Ovechkin is back for another year, and Washington has loaded up their forward group around him.
The Capitals have been one of the big winners of the offseason. They traded for Jordan Kyrou and signed Alex Tuch and Boone Jenner in free agency.
Washington had to trade Connor McMichael in the Kyrou deal, but that’s still an upgrade for the Caps.
The good news for Flyers fans is that the Capitals aren’t necessarily built to last. While they’re likely going to be better than Philadelphia this season, their core is aging with a few contracts that could turn sour. Ryan Leonard and Ilya Protas will continue to improve, but the Caps might be declining in the next few years while the Flyers are on the way up.
At this point, it’s hard to see the Flyers finishing ahead of the Capitals this season.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Who even knows what the Blue Jackets are doing?
They’ve avoided disaster, at least for now, with Zach Werenski staying in Columbus this offseason. However, the Kirill Marchenko talks are ramping up, with every rumor being feasted upon at this point in the summer.
The Jackets lost their captain in Boone Jenner and also Mason Marchment, replacing them with Valeri Nichushkin. If he can stay healthy, that’s a big upgrade for Columbus.
But that’s … about it.
The Blue Jackets and Flyers will probably both be on the playoff bubble for large portions of the year, and this may be the orange-tinted glasses, but Philadelphia should finish ahead of Columbus yet again.
New York Islanders
The Islanders also lost their captain as Anders Lee opted to sign with the Utah Mammoth. They replaced him with Matias Maccelli, but only in the loosest sense of the word.
New York also made a negligible change at the backup goalie position with Vitek Vanecek in and David Rittich out.
The Islanders are in a similar enough position to the Flyers. Their future is bright with Matthew Schaefer leading the way, and they have a good prospect pipeline after trading Noah Dobson to Montreal last summer.
Oh yeah, Ilya Sorokin is always able to steal a game to keep the Islanders in contention.
The Isles feel like the opposite of the Capitals. They’re not going to be a problem this season, but they will be in the coming years.
New Jersey Devils
Did the Devils go ahead and win another offseason?
Bringing in Sunny Mehta as general manager should get them going in the right direction, and he made some good moves to try to get New Jersey back on track.
Anthony Mantha was a good signing late into free agency, and the additions of Evan Rodrigues and Jesper Boqvist should add some depth to a forward group that was severely lacking after Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt.
Another big change came in goal, with the Devils moving on from Jacob Markstrom. While Markstrom can be viewed as an addition by subtraction, relying on a 36-year-old Jake Allen as the starter is quite the gamble.
The Devils really are a mystery, though, and one of the teams in the division — and maybe across the entire league — with the widest range of outcomes. It wouldn’t be surprising if they put it all together and give the Hurricanes a run for their money, but they could also flame out as they did last season.
In relation to the Flyers, the Devils are still ahead of them on paper — at least for now.
New York Rangers
The Rangers are another team that has improved a ton this offseason, but at what cost?
They traded two first-round picks to land Pavel Dorofeyev, who they then signed to a seven-year, $77 million contract. The Blueshirts also signed Oliver Bjorkstrand, who could provide some depth scoring.
Those two forwards will try to replace the production of Vincent Trocheck. He was traded to the Mammoth for Sean Durzi.
Marcus Pettersson and Durzi should help shore up the Rangers’ defensive depth that they lost by trading K’Andre Miller last summer.
It feels like the Rangers are so fragilely put together, though. They have top-end potential simply by having Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox leading the way on the back end, but we’ve already seen a J.T. Miller-led team implode.
At this point, I would still expect the Flyers to finish above the Rangers this season, although New York may have a higher, narrower ceiling simply due to the Shesterkin factor.
