Metropolitan
Islanders. I was so very close to picking the Rangers here, but their defense is comprised of more trash than an episode of ‘Hoarders.’ Pittsburgh managed to upgrade defensively with Christian Ehrhoff while the Capitals took Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen off their hands for an absolutely laughable amount of money, but the Pens’ offensive depth is still pretty shaky. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are otherworldly and make everyone around them better but, man, they don’t have much around them.
Meanwhile, the Islanders are young and talented on offense and, while they’re still not great defensively, their back end has improved with the additions of Johnny Boychuk (from Boston) and Nick Leddy (from Chicago). They’ve also finally got some decent goaltending with the addition of Jaroslav Halak, who was solid last year between the Blues and Capitals. Without any draft picks for the next decade or so, the Islanders have no choice but to be good.
