The Metropolitan Division was rocked this week from the news that the New Jersey Devils have added Connor Hellebuyck in a trade from Winnipeg. Hellebuyck has finished in the top-4 of Vezina voting for the top goalie of the league six times in the last nine seasons, winning it three times.
Oh, just add him to the pile of elite goalies in the divisionlike Ilya Sorokin, Logan Thompson and the injured Igor Shesterkin. The Devils pushed some chips in to be a big deal – and they still have multiple first
round picks this year and all of their top prospects, so they might not be done yet. (Hello, Quinn Hughes?)
Here’s how the standings look as of this morning, let’s take a swing around to see how all the teams have been doing over the last week.
Carolina (2-1-1): The Hurricanes ended a long road trip this week on a high note, shutting out St. Louis 4-0. They dropped a barnburner of a 6-5 game in Edmonton in a shootout earlier in the week. Pretty much still all systems go for the defending champs, who now have Seth Jarvis back in the lineup from offseason surgery.
NY Rangers (1-2-0): Is the dam starting to burst in life after Igor? NYR is just 1-3-1 in their last five, giving up 5+ goals in three of the five games. The good news for the Blueshirts? They only have one game next week, and it’s at Madison Square Garden where they’re a perfect 6-0-0 this season
NJ Devils (3-0-0): Perfect week on the ice for the Devils, and as mentioned above, they should be riding high as a team after going out and bringing in a top netminder to shore up their biggest weakness. If they were a stock, the market would have already reacted by now but it might be time to buy, buy, buy on Jersey.
Washington Capitals (1-1-0): As we mentioned last week, the Caps have been brutalized by illnesses so bad it was sending players to IR and keeping them off the ice to as much as skate on their own for a week. The tide might have turned on that, though Logan Thompson is on IR with what’s believed to be a minor injury. The Caps look like they’re in grind mode for now to wait out these maladies, lucky for them they don’t play again until Wednesday and only have two upcoming games this week.
NY Islanders (1-0-1): I feel like the Islanders do this thing every year where they kinda hang around the middle, tease with some decent results but you’re never quite sure whether or not to believe in them or not. This week should be telling, NYI goes on a road trip that will take them to places that include Dallas and Minnesota before heading back home to see the Oilers by next Saturday.
Pittsburgh (2-1-0): Was this week a rock bottom for the Pens? They ended a winless four-game road trip (and 1-6-1 stretch beyond that) and had to deal with the Ben Kindel medical situation on Tuesday. Two wins since that point have pulled the nose up a little bit. They’re not close to out of the hole just yet but have at least bought themselves a little more time before lots of external panic and pressure sets in.
Philadelphia (2-1-0): Naturally since the Flyers either play like absolute trash or completely inspired, they ended up going on a three-game winning streak following their long season-opening losing streak. That included taking down Colorado and Buffalo in the last week! So, of course, Philadelphia followed that by turning a 2-0 lead last night into a 5-3 deficit and ended up dropping a 5-4 game in regulation last night at home to Anaheim.
Columbus (1-2-0): Huge win for the Blue Jackets last night, taking down Vegas 2-1 in OT, courtesy of an Adam Fantilli goal. They needed that big time after Kirill Marchenko scored for Toronto in his return to Columbus earlier in the week and the Maple Leafs ended up with a 6-2 blowout win. (Also, not to be mean but Matthew Knies has no goals since opening night and no points in his last seven games. Oof).
