Taking stock of the Metro Division - Part 1

Where does each team stand as the off-season crawls to a close?

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NHL players report to training camp in just over a month.

While there is still time for teams to dot the i’s and cross the t’s, the vast majority of the heavy lifting has been done. The rosters you see now are very similar to what they’ll be when the games begin.

With that in mind, I wanted to share my thoughts on each Metro team’s off-season work and where they’re at.

I’ll cover four today and four in the next part of the mini-series.

Carolina Hurricanes

For the second year in a row, the Carolina Hurricanes were at the forefront of the off-season fireworks.

Last summer they walked away from Dougie Hamilton, signed Tony DeAngelo, traded for Ethan Bear, and completely revamped their goaltending room.

This summer they were equally as noisy, acquiring the likes of Max Pacioretty and Brent Burns via trade, signing Ondrej Kase, and moving on from Vincent Trocheck, Nino Niederreiter, Ian Cole, Brendan Smith, and DeAngelo.

Are the Hurricanes a better team? Maybe not in the regular season – losing Pacioretty until February is problematic – but I think they’re better equipped for the playoffs.

Pacioretty is getting up there in age but he was one of the sport’s most efficient goal scorers over the past two years.

He will really help a Hurricanes team that consistently generates chances in bunches but fails to convert on them.

The same can be said of Burns, a volume shooting defenseman who is generally good for double digit goals.

If healthy, which is a big if, Kase could be a sneaky-good pickup as well. He is an effective play driver and, at 5v5, has matched the likes of Brock Boeser, Anze Kopitar, and Jaden Schwartz in points per 60 over the last three seasons.

The loss of Trocheck leaves the Hurricanes a little thin down the middle but the continued emergence of wingers like Seth Jarvis and Martin Necas gives the Hurricanes enough talent to prop up whoever steps into a bigger role.

I don’t know that the Hurricanes will lead the Eastern Conference in points again but they should comfortably make the playoffs; and cause any opponent real problems.

Columbus Blue Jackets