Stanley Cup Windows 2024-25: Metropolitan Division

Vincent Trocheck, Adam Fox and Sebastian Aho

Credit: May 13, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho (20) skates against New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox (23) and center Vincent Trocheck (16) during the first period of game five of the second round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

During the NHL offseason, as teams scramble to improve their rosters via trades and free agency, they recalibrate their fans’ expectations. In the fog of war, it isn’t always easy to assess what your favorite team has become. Is it now a Stanley Cup contender after signing that big-ticket UFA, or did it just delay the inevitable for a group heading in the wrong direction? Should you be nervous if your team did nothing, or does the inactivity reflect confidence from a management group that knows it has a juggernaut?

I’m here to help by mapping out where I believe each NHL team is in its contention window. The term ‘window’ matters a lot in the salary-cap era, when each team has a limited juncture in which its top young players mature into their primes while still carrying reasonable AAVs. Where does your team sit in its Stanley Cup timeline?

We continue the four-part annual series with the Metropolitan Division.

WINDOW WIDE OPEN

Carolina Hurricanes

Are we sure the Canes aren’t in more of a win-now window? They’ve been dominant for six seasons under coach Rod Brind’Amour without a Stanley Cup Final berth to show for it. They went all in at the Trade Deadline with their Jake Guentzel acquisition. But their top two forwards, Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov, are 26 and 24, signed for eight and five more seasons, respectively. Jaccob Slavin, 30, just inked an eight-year extension, so the NHL’s best shutdown blueliner will continue anchoring Carolina’s D-corps for years to come. The Canes just added Sean Walker to their D-corps on a five-year pact. They have good young goaltender in Pyotr Kochetkov under contract three more years as Frederik Andersen’s 1B.

And most importantly: they’re a unicorn among top contenders in that they…actually have a really good pipeline of prospects. From Alexander Nikishin and Scott Morrow on defense to forwards such as Jackson Blake and Bradly Nadeau, the Canes have a lot of help coming from within – enough to keep their contention window open for a while. That offsets the offseason exodus of Guentzel, Teuvo Teravainen, Brady Skjei and more. I could see the Canes taking a small step backward this season as they turn over their roster and break in some of their young players, but they’re set up to remain a threat for many seasons.

New Jersey Devils

Throw 2023-24 in the garbage. The Devils’ unbelievably bad injury luck, coupled with goaltenders Vitek Vanecek and Akira Schmid going from above average to the worst tandem in the league, represented an anomaly. The team that posted the NHL’s third-best record one season prior is the real one. From Jack Hughes to Jesper Bratt to Nico Hischier to Timo Meier to Dawson Mercer, the Devils have an enviable group of core forwards aged 22 to 27. Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec, two of the game’s most promising young defensemen, are just 20. The long-term ceiling remains extremely exciting. In the short to medium term, the Devils have fortified their D-corps with veterans Brett Pesce and Brenden Dillon and plugged their goaltending hole with a safe duo of Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen. This team should return to real Stanley Cup contention immediately and has many more years to take runs under new coach Sheldon Keefe.

WIN-NOW WINDOW

New York Rangers

It was an exciting development to see Alexis Lafreniere bust out last season. He’s just 22. Big, mobile blueliner K’Andre Miller is only 24, and perennial Norris Trophy threat Adam Fox is 26. But the majority of the Blueshirts’ key contributors are in their late 20s to early 30s. Forwards Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck are between 31 and 33. Captain and trade candidate Jacob Trouba is 30. Goaltender Igor Shesterkin is 28, which is young in goalie years, but he is a year away from free agency and expected to command a salary in the $12 million range. So there’s a sense of uncertainty – and urgency – in Manhattan. This team has reached two of the past three Eastern Conference Finals and is still good enough to win a Stanley Cup, but the time to do so is now.

Washington Capitals

Can’t say I saw this coming. A year ago, I confidently placed Washington in the ‘Window Closed’ section on the grounds that the Caps were an aging team coming off a playoff miss and more committed to Alex Ovechkin’s goal record chase than winning. After they defied the odds and made the 2023-24 playoffs, led by some great goaltending from Charlie Lindgren, a philosophical shift seemingly occurred within the organization. Washington bought low on center Pierre-Luc Dubois and winger Andrew Mangiapane; acquired a strong tandem partner for Lindgren in Logan Thompson; signed excellent shutdown defenseman Matt Roy; and traded for offensive blueliner Jakob Chychrun. Talk about a facelift. Not only are the Caps seemingly committed to providing a better supporting cast to help Ovechkin catch Wayne Gretzky in career goals, but they also look like a team trying to squeeze out some competitive seasons while Ovechkin is still around. I’m not saying it’s the right move, but the Caps are undeniably one of the league’s most improved teams this offseason. This is probably the fourth-best team in the Metro now.

FOGGY WINDOW

New York Islanders

The Isles (a) haven’t won a playoff series in three years; (b) have made one pick in the first round of the past five drafts; and (c) can count Anthony Duclair as their biggest offseason signing of the past three summers combined. To put it as bluntly as possible: what the hell is this franchise doing? Does anyone understand GM Lou Lamoriello’s plan? You’re not amassing a significant pool of prospects, yet you’re also not adding anything to build around your big-ticket veterans in Matt Barzal, Bo Horvat, Noah Dobson and Ilya Sorokin. While Cole Eiserman offers major long-term potential, the current roster has no forward younger than 27 expected to contribute meaningfully to the top nine. You just iced the NHL’s second-worst penalty kill of the past 38 years. Isles fans, if you’re reading this, I get it if you think I’m consistently harsh with my takes on this team. But can you blame me? Are you confident in the franchise’s direction? This team is doomed to perpetual limbo, battling for low Wildcard spots, until Lamoriello steps aside.

WINDOW SMASHED

Columbus Blue Jackets

This franchise was put through the ringer in the past calendar year. The ill-advised Mike Babcock hire was over before it really began. The aggressive defensive upgrades from GM Jarmo Kekalainen last summer didn’t foster significant improvement, and he was fired in the winter. Patrik Laine ended up in the player assistance program. The injuries piled up. As Don Waddell takes over as president and GM…who are the Blue Jackets? On one hand, they’re a rebuilding operation with forwards Adam Fantilli and Cayden Lindstrom and defenseman David Jiricek among their foundational pieces. On the other, they’re paying Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan more than $15 million combined for the next five years. They have seven seasons of defenseman Damon Severson left at $6.25 million per. Top blueliner Zach Werenski earns $9.58 million for four more seasons. Is this team trying to retool and level up? Or is it content to start over? The Monahan contract in particular was confusing, as it refuted the idea that Waddell was simply carrying the mistakes of the previous regime.

Pittsburgh Penguins

It wasn’t necessarily a good plan, but at least we understood GM Kyle Dubas’ actions last summer. You bring in Erik Karlsson, Reilly Smith, Ryan Graves and Noel Acciari because you’re committed to putting a competitive team on the ice in hopes of getting Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang back into the playoffs. This summer…woof. Kevin Hayes and Matt Grzelcyk are the top additions for a team coming off two consecutive playoff misses that happens to be the oldest in the Eastern Conference and isn’t expected to have anyone from its modest-at-best prospect pool contributing significant help this season. Crosby will dutifully sign an extension in the coming days or weeks, as he’s a Pen for life. But it’s so over. Given the improvements some other Eastern Conference teams have made, the Pens are more likely to slip into lottery territory than claw back into contention. Even though Crosby defies the aging curve like few players in NHL history, that hasn’t been enough to get them into the playoffs since 2022 or to win a playoff series since 2018.

WINDOW UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Philadelphia Flyers

It’s been a pindrop-quiet summer for Flyers GM Danny Briere, as expected. The Flyers remain early in their rebuild. They’ll break in a potential franchise-altering superstar with Matvei Michkov coming to North America and likely to make the team as a major Calder Trophy candidate. If the Flyers make the playoffs this coming season – which can never be ruled out given coach John Tortorella’s history of getting his teams to overachieve – it’s merely a bonus. The most important question this season: what happens to Travis Konecny? The feisty scoring winger is a pending UFA. At 27, he’s juuust young enough to still potentially be part of the long-term plan (think Chris Kreider in New York when he signed his extension in 2020). But Konecny’s skill set is so tailored to the playoffs that he could attract a bidding war and bring Philly a nice return at the Trade Deadline.

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