NHL: Eastern conference season preview

The NHL season is quickly approaching, so let's take a look at the Eastern Conference and how it will shape out this year.

Metropolitan Division

Starting in the Metropolitan division, we should see a similar Idea to kinda what happened last year. The Washington Capitals will be making one more push with Alex Ovechkin, and should be a team that easily makes the playoffs.

The Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils will also be in the hunt in the Metropolitan Division. Although the Devils still have not signed defenseman Luke Hughes is a major part of their team.

I’m really high on the Hurricanes as they have one of the deepest rosters in hockey. If they can finally put it all together, they will make a run at the playoffs.

The New York Rangers struggled last season, missing the playoffs by six points. For a team with so much talent, they will look to bounce back this year.

The other New York team, the Islanders, is looking to take the next step. Last season, they had 82 points. Now they add first overall pick Matthew Schaefer.

Although the Columbus Blue Jackets had a good year last year, I think they overperformed, and we will see them take a step back this year and be at the bottom of the division with the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins, who are both rebuilding.

Atlantic Division

The Atlantic Division was much better than the Metropolitan Division last season, as they took the two wildcard spots in the Eastern Conference. It is the toughest division in hockey to play in.

The Florida Panthers won their second straight Stanley Cup and will continue to be on top of this division. They didn’t lose much talent, but one thing to watch is that Aleksander Barkov will miss a lot of time after undergoing Knee Surgery.

The Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs should continue to play top-tier hockey as both have high-end talent such as Auston Matthews and Jake Guentzel. They have great success in the regular season but struggle in the postseason.

The Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings all were fighting for a Wild Card spot last season. The Senators and Canadians got the two Wild Card spots, but the Red Wings were close behind.

I think the Canadiens continue this and could even be better with the addition of Noah Dobson.

Finally, the Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins find themselves at the bottom. I think the Sabres could surprise this year as their young talent comes into its own.

I don’t think the Bruins will do much as they are in a rebuild.

It is going to be a great season for hockey and the Eastern Conference has an insane amount of skill that will be on display.

Andrew Matz is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email atm5759@psu.edu