Stanley Cup Windows 2025-26: Metropolitan Division
Where is every NHL franchise in its current championship contention timeline? Welcome back to Stanley Cup Windows, an annual series in which I plot each team’s progress. Who’s trending up, who’s trending down, and who’s holding on tight hoping for one last Stanley Cup push?
We opened the series with the Atlantic Division and Central Division teams. We continue with the Metropolitan Division teams.
WINDOW WIDE OPEN
Carolina Hurricanes
Not only have the Canes been a consistent Stanley Cup threat for pretty much all seven seasons of the Rod Brind’Amour era, but GM Eric Tulsky has managed to make the team’s core younger, having acquired Logan Stankoven, 22, at the Trade Deadline and then traded for defenseman K’Andre Miller, 25, this summer. Core forwards Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis are 27, 25 and 23, respectively. The Canes’ D-corps, led by Jaccob Slavin, is a bit longer in the tooth overall but is now ready to break in top prospect Alexander Nikishin. Carolina is the East’s answer to the Dallas Stars as a consistently competitive club on which so many of the key contributors are still in their primes and signed to long-term deals. Expect many more seasons as a top-two team in the division.
New Jersey Devils
Last season ended flaccidly with superstar center Jack Hughes suffering a season-ending injury and missing the playoffs altogether, while the Devils also watched in horror as one defenseman after another got hurt during their five-game defeat to Carolina in the first round. But the Devils are quietly still positioned to stay competitive for years to come. Hughes is still just 24. He wouldn’t be the first player to get slapped with an injury-prone label early in his career only to unlock durability at a later age. His brother and teammate, defenseman Luke, is 21. Top-scoring winger Jesper Bratt is 26, as is New Jersey’s captain, elite two-way pivot Nico Hischier. Power forward Timo Meier is 28. There’s still time for Dawson Mercer to level up at 23. Shutdown blueliners Johnathan Kovacevic and Jonas Siegenthaler remain in their 20s, too. The Devils’ goalie tandem of Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen ranks among the league’s oldest, and No. 1 defenseman Dougie Hamilton’s body appears to be breaking down on him as the years pass. But the majority of New Jersey’s core players are smack in their primes. It feels like the enthusiasm for this group has dampened as the fans have been beaten down by the injuries in back to back years, but the Devils are capable of recapturing their powerhouse form of 2022-23.
WIN-NOW WINDOW
Washington Capitals
Whether this coming season is Alex Ovechkin’s last or not, we can all agree he doesn’t have many left in the NHL given he turns 40 in September. The Caps actually do have a nice prospect crop rising up, led by Ryan Leonard and featuring other high-upside players such as Andrew Cristall and Cole Hutson, but that next wave isn’t ready to be Washington’s core just yet, with only Leonard seeing NHL action so far. The Caps are mostly fuelled by late-prime veterans between the ages of 27 and 35: forwards Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome, and Pierre-Luc Dubois, defensemen Jakob Chychrun, John Carlson and Matt Roy and goaltender Logan Thompson. They rode a slew of career years to finish first in the Eastern Conference last season and will have a hard time repeating the feat. They still look like one of the better teams in the league, but it feels like this group needs to win a Cup in the next season or two before the window closes for a couple years.
WINDOW OPENING
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Jackets came oh-so close to making the playoffs last season, and I’d bet on them to break through this coming year. They’re a rising power in the division. Defenseman Zach Werenski is a horse, but he’s not carrying the team on his own now. Kirill Marchenko broke out as excellent offensive and defensive winger last season, while Adam Fantilli’s torrid second half helped him crest 30 goals as a 20-year-old sophomore. With Kent Johnson, another one of Columbus’ first-round picks, finding his groove last year too, offensive defenseman Denton Mateychuk graduating to the NHL and goaltender Jet Greaves making a push for starting duty, the Jackets are trending upward. They are the youngest team in the Metro by average age. Within another year or two, they could have their top prospect, center Cayden Lindstrom, in the NHL steamrolling opponents as well.
WINDOW CLOSING
New York Rangers
It feels like the Blueshirts are in a transition period. The fact Artemi Panarin doesn’t have a contract for 2026-27, and that GM Chris Drury has declined to discuss negotiations, is telling. The Rangers are likely prepping to reload and chase the younger top-tier UFAs next summer. They also understand they’re coming off a playoff miss and, if they aren’t back in the hunt this time, will have a hell of a rental chip to shop in Panarin. Between him, Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck, they have almost $34 million in 2025-26 cap space committed to forwards 32 or older. If this team couldn’t get past the Eastern Conference Final a couple years ago and missed the postseason altogether last year, signing Vladislav Gavrikov won’t magically reverse their trajectory. It feels like the Stanley Cup window has been missed…for now. The Blueshirts still have Alexis Lafreniere, 23, and Will Cuylle, 23, as forwards to build around, with Gabe Perreault arriving. They have good years to go from top defenseman Adam Fox, 27, and elite goaltender Igor Shesterkin, 29. So I could see a scenario in which the Rangers dip in the standings for another year, reload in free agency and begin 2026-27 with a new identity, post-Panarin.
WINDOW UNDER CONSTRUCTION
New York Islanders
After night 1 of the 2025 NHL Draft, new Isles GM Mathieu Darche made a point of stating he was not rebuilding this team. It makes sense to a point. You can only do so much when you still have top forwards Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat, not to mention star goaltender Ilya Sorokin, signed long term. But also…c’mon. You just traded your No. 1 defenseman, Noah Dobson, in his prime at 25, and got two first-round picks in return, meaning you did not replace him in your present lineup. The Islanders crushed Round 1 of the Draft, landing Matthew Schaefer at No. 1, then Victor Eklund and Kashawn Aitcheson at 16th and 17th overall. And that was a few months after trading stalwart center Brock Nelson to the Colorado Avalanche for a package that netted another top prospect in Cal Ritchie. This team is obviously comfortable taking a step or two backward in name of constructing a new foundation long term. If it’s not a rebuild, it’s at the very least a major renovation.
Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers have been inching closer to the end of their rebuild phase. The trade for Trevor Zegras this summer represented GM Danny Briere dipping his toe in the water. The Flyers aren’t forcing the issue, however. They’re going to build this team around Matvei Michkov and Porter Martone as their primary pillars. If new coach Rick Tocchet helps Philadelphia reach the playoffs ahead of schedule, it’s gravy. But while the Flyers may not be selling off pieces anymore, they’re not big-time buyers yet. Maybe their real window of competitiveness opens a year from now.
Pittsburgh Penguins
In one of the odder league-wide landscapes in recent offseason memory, the Pens are widely acknowledged as the only team in the NHL truly accepting a rebuilder posture. Sidney Crosby’s presence be damned, they’ve finally seen the light after missing the playoffs three consecutive seasons. It’s possible their current roster is thinned out further between now and October, too, as contenders sniff around forwards Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell and defenseman Erik Karlsson on the trade market. Given the hockey gods ordain a generational superstar landing in Pittsburgh every two decades, winning the 2026 NHL Draft lottery and selecting Gavin McKenna feels inevitable.
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