Keeping tabs on the rest of the Metropolitan Division

We know what the New Jersey Devils have been up to. Let's take a closer look at what their division counterparts have done.

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By JP Gambatese (@JP_Gambatese)

With the first couple weeks of free agency under wraps, I felt as though it would be important to keep up to date with what the rest of the New Jersey Devils’ division rivals have been up to.

As important as it is to gauge what the Devils are doing, it’s nearly equally as paramount to monitor the rest of the Metro.

Let’s take a closer look.

Carolina Hurricanes

The Devils’ biggest rival in terms of the top of the division has been quite active, making several large moves and a few supplementary ones. 

Their biggest move of the off-season so far has been signing stud forward Nikolaj Ehlers to a six-year, $8.5 million AAV contract. The 29-year-old Danish-born winger had been a force on the Winnipeg Jets’ top-six since entering the league back in 2015-16, amassing 225 goals and 520 points across 674 total games.

The speedster addresses a desperate need for the Hurricanes in goal-scoring aptitude. Since his rookie campaign, Ehlers has only logged one season below the 20-goal threshold, and that was an injury-plagued 2022-23.

He’s a clinical finisher, having never dipped below what his individual expected goals (ixG) totals are in actual goals scored throughout his 10-year career. 

Beyond that massive addition up front, the Hurricanes also made a big splash on the back-end, trading for 25-year-old left-handed defenseman K’Andre Miller from the New York Rangers and extending him to an eight-year, $7.5 million AAV contract.

Carolina gave up two 2026 draft picks – a second-rounder and a conditional first-rounder – and highly-touted defense prospect Scott Morrow in the deal.

While my initial reaction to the trade was that the Hurricanes got fleeced, upon further introspection, I have come to the conclusion that it was a subtly heady transaction for Carolina. 

Miller’s deficiencies lie in moving the puck up-ice while carrying the puck, but the Hurricanes’ system, which is completely reliant on dumping and chasing, fits the bill quite well for what Miller brings to the table.

Defensively, he’s rangey and extremely mobile, again, fitting quite well into Rod Brind’Amour’s neutral zone defensive scheme, completely reliant on keeping constant pressure and generating a ton of turnovers in central ice. 

Though the shell-shock face value of the trade gave the initial reaction of a Chris Drury masterclass, I now genuinely believe that it’s going to be a win-win for both organizations. 

Another huge move the Hurricanes made was extending 22-year-old Logan Stankoven to an eight-year contract worth $6 million annually.

While the production hasn’t matched the eye-test quite yet with the youngster, extending him to this contract was the perfect play by Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky.

It’s a smart bet on a player who both fits the character of Carolina’s system and who will likely far surpass the value of the contract production-wise down the line. 

Carolina also extended depth scorer Eric Robinson, fresh off a 14-goal, 32-point campaign, to a four-year deal worth $1.7 million a year.

Robinson, 30, ranked in the 76th percentile for overall offensive impact according to Evolving Hockey’s GAR/xGAR model in 2024-25, making him a solid value-get by the Hurricanes’ brass. Surprise, surprise… another smart signing by the most analytically-driven team in the NHL. 

The Hurricanes also traded a seventh-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens for who should be their third-string goaltender in Cayden Primeau.

Beyond that, they signed Tyson Jost to a one-year, league-minimum contract and inked puck-moving savant Mike Reilly to a one-year deal worth $1.1 million. 

The Hurricanes are looking as threatening as ever. I would be shocked if they weren’t the frontrunners for the division title.

Columbus Blue Jackets

The Blue Jackets have been surprisingly quiet for a team that many believed to be one of the more active organizations in the NHL. 

Their biggest move came on June 27th, when they traded away prospect Gavin Brindley and a couple of draft picks (a 2025 third-rounder and a 2027 second-rounder) to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for veteran center Charlie Coyle. Miles Wood also came to Columbus in the deal.

Coyle should be the Blue Jackets’ third-line center behind Sean Monahan and Adam Fantilli, and is a strong two-way center with a physical edge. To me, this signifies that the Blue Jackets are largely content to let their core grow and develop rather than rushing into playoff contention, which I thought was a likely endeavor considering how close they came in 2024-25. 

Smart, methinks.

Beyond that, the only notable transactions to happen for the Blue Jackets are a handful of contract extensions. 

Principally, veteran minute-muncher Ivan Provorov was handed a seven-year deal worth $8.5 million annually. That’s far and away the worst contract doled out in recent history, as the only redeeming quality of Provorov’s game is that he has the stamina to eat minutes.

He provides neither offensive value nor defensive stalwartness, and will be an anchor on an otherwise tidy Blue Jackets cap sheet. 

Beyond the albatross, Columbus handed solid deals to 24-year-old sniper Dmitri Voronkov and 27-year-old two-way defender Dante Fabbro.

Voronkov, signed to a two-year contract with an AAV of $4.175 million, took a small step forward in 2024-25, sporting a 23-goal, 47-point statline across 73 games. He looks the part of a breakout candidate this upcoming season with increased opportunity, and it’s a solid deal for both sides.

On one hand, Voronkov is smartly betting on himself to take another step forward before the cap explodes, and on the other hand, the Blue Jackets will get two productive seasons out of a player firmly in his prime years. 

Fabbro’s deal, which came in at four years and with a $4.125 million AAV, is immaculate.

After being plucked from the Nashville Predators early in 2024-25, he provided Columbus with sturdy two-way play in the largest role he’d ever received in the NHL.

Averaging over 21 minutes a night, the British Columbia native generated 26 points in 63 games and held a 53.13% xGF% on a relatively weak team. Locking him up was a savvy move. 

Outside those relatively few moves, the Blue Jackets have stuck to depth acquisitions and signings, and still have over $16 million in cap space.

New York Islanders