It’s a rainy day at work which means I’m going to have some downtime. So let’s take a look at the Metro.

The Metro Division might be the closest race in the NHL this year. Might be. I think the Central will be closer even though they have two “gimme” teams, but I’ve been wrong more than once today already. I fully expect a very close and competitive division, with the top and bottom team being less than 35 pts apart. So let’s start with the unsurprising first place team.

The Penguins….. Yeah, I don’t like them at all, but you can’t deny that they have a very strong team in the regular season. Crosby and Malkin on any team, with a decent goalie and mediocre teammates will make some waves. They wouldn’t make a Cup contender, because it takes more than two big names to win a Cup (see the Gretzky trade to LA.) The only variable I see that might hamper the Pens this year is health. I know that every team has to worry about that, but Malkin is wounded starting the season, and last year was Crosby’s first year playing more than 3/4 of the season since 2009-2010. Marc-Andre Fluery is another variable, as I don’t think their backup, Thomas Griess, is anything but average in his numbers. If Flower slips or gets injured, there will be some trouble in the Pitt. Another large variable is coaching. Dan Bylsma (former player and assistant coach for the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the AHL) was relieved of duty by the new GM Jim Rutherford. Mike Johnston was picked as the new head coach. At one time, Johnston was the GM and assistant coach of the Canadian national team, but that was almost ten years ago. Since then, he’s been the head coach of a major junior team, and assistant coach at a few NHL teams. This is his first venture into NHL head-coaching. Will coaching make that big of a difference? We shall see. Personally, I think a team built like the Pens would succeed, albeit to a lesser degree, with an actual penguin as their coach.

Finishing second, I pick the Rangers. I know, a boring pick, but I think last years Finals losers might return to the Playoffs. They finished last season under 100 points and I’m expecting them to finish about the same this year. They haven’t made a whole lot of changes in the off-season, so I expect to see a lot of the same game out of them this time around, but maybe with a little more fire in them. With King Henrik in goal and a very capable Cam Talbot backing him up, a good defense, and the veteran smarts from the likes of St. Louis, Nash, and the young hands of Duclair on a second line with a lot of potential, they will have a good season. The other storyline to follow is head coach Vigneault. He was fired from Vancouver (his second firing as a head coach) at the end of the 12-13 season, and after a less-than-mediocre start to the 13-14 season, the Blue Shirts lit up and finished strong. I think AV will make a decent fit in the Rangers organization for the regular season, but that remains to be seen. How he will be in the playoffs is another story. He has a history of first and second round losses, even when his team finishes first overall in the NHL points race. His shinning moment was leading the ‘Nucks to the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, which was his only venture past the second round in his career. Last year marks his second trip to the Finals with no hardware to show for it. Of all my picks in the East, this one is my least confident. If I had to do it all over again, I might pick the Flyers to play strong and finish second, or Schnieder to lead the Devils into a solid playoff spot. But we will see.

Last season, the Flyers took the third and final playoff spot in the Metro. Who takes it in the 14-15 season? The Columbus Blue Jackets. The youngest team in the NHL, with an average age of barely over 25.5 years old, has a lot to prove to the main stream NHL media. They have an absolute primo tender in Sergei Bobrovsky (read: BOBROVSKY!!!) and a solid backup in McElhinney (McBackup.) A formidable defense team led by Jack Johnson (Banana Pancakes, I like nicknames, get off me.) and a young forward core holding the talent of Alexander Wennberg, Ryan Johansen, and sophomore grit provided by Boone Jenner, watch the youth of Columbus hockey make some moves this year. Brandon Dubinsky and Boone Jenner will be out of the lineup for a while with injuries, as will HALF OF THE REST OF THE TEAM it seems like. The pre-season was not gentle on the Jackets, but it shouldn’t hold them back. One of the biggest players missing in their lineup is Nathan Horton. Horton had a solid career in Florida, being drafted 3rd overall, before moving to Boston, where he helped the Bruins get the Cup in the 2011 Playoffs, recording 53 points in 80 regular season games. He would get 32 points in 46 games in his injury shortened 2011-2012 season, and his production falls from there, averaging less than half a point per game since, while being in and out of the lineup with injuries and surgery recovery. He is likely to miss the majority of the 2014-2015 season as he was diagnosed with a degenerative back condition. If he returns to the ice to play or not remains to be seen.

So, here is where I peg the Metro to end up.

Penguins – 102 pts

NYR – 95 pts

CBJ – 94 pts

NJD – 91 pts

NYI – 90 pts

PHI – 87 pts

CAR – 70 pts