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The Metro Division is home to the top two seeded teams in the NHL and four of the top seven overall. In this edition of the hotstove we discuss which Metro team we think is best of the bunch.
Todd Cordell
Pittsburgh probably has the slight edge but I have a good feeling about the Caps this season.
Following a sluggish start to the year, at least by his standards, Alex Ovechkin is starting to heat up having tallied 11 points in his last nine games. Evgeny Kuznetsov is catching fire, too, as he's registered nine points in his last five.
There is a ton of firepower up front, obviously, their blueline has four players averaging at least 1.00 5v5 point per 60 (only 38 defensemen with 400+ minutes can say that) and Braden Holtby has been excellent in goal.
The Penguins are fantastic, too, but one of these years things have to go Ovechkin's way. He's too good, as is his team, to consistently get the short end of the stick.
James Tanner
The best team is the Penguins.
They have a minimum of 2 first line worthy players on each of their first three lines, they have a strong, mobile, puck moving defense designed for today's NHL, and they are one of the only teams that doesn't seem beholden to the idea of dressing dedicated checkers, face-off guys or penalty killers.
Their fourth line is likely the best in the league- Scott Wilson, PPG in the AHL, Matt Cullen, an under-appreciated source of offense for only slightly less time than Jagr, and Eric Fehr....as decent as a 12th F option as you're likely to find.
Also, Phil Kessel is either their third or fourth best forward, depending on how view Patrick Hornqvist, which is insane.
The Penguins have an amazing roster with at least three, probably four, Hall of Famers, who are deep, well coached, and experienced.
They are the best team in the NHL by a significant amount. I don't even think they care about the regular season, otherwise they'd probably be ten points ahead of everyone else.
The crazy thing is that if you gave them the goalie that Washington, Columbus or New York have, they'd be even better.
Goaltending is the only reason those teams are close to Pittsburgh and if Matt Murray comes back and even comes close to entering that stratosphere of goalies then the Penguins will be unbeatable.
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