Don't Mess With The Metro

After a disappointing season, which can be attributed to the stars underperforming, whether that be to injury or to decline, the Flyers struck gold. Preparing to pick at pick number 13, the definition of mediocrity in a weak draft, the outlook still looked bright for the Flyers, with their farm system that general manager Ron Hextall transformed from a laughing stock, to a force that he env...

I watched the 2016-17 WJC, I don’t need the “BU BU BUT JEERRMEEYY BRRRRAACCCOOO” bullshit and don’t you dare think “BUT GRREEENNWAYYY”. Yes I also am aware that Ryan Gropp “only put up just over a point per game in an overage year!1!1!1” but please just hear me out here. Yes, I am the kid that is about to write an article about how Ryan ...

Last summer, the former Hobey Baker winner from Harvard, Jimmy Vesey, opted to not sign with the team that drafted him, the Nashville Predators. The talk of the entire 2016 offseason was, “Where will Jimmy Vesey Land?” On August 15, a month and a half after his rights were traded to the Buffalo Sabres for a 3rd Round Pick just before the NHL Draft, Vesey stuck to his word and ...

Philadelphia Flyers

Outlook: The Flyers didn’t really get to select their 2nd Overall pick this past draft they kinda just got handed the player New Jersey did not want. That player was Nolan Patrick not a generational talent but a potential top line center if he can put injuries behind him. After being the projected 1st overall pick since the age of 16 a leg...

Pittsburgh Penguins

Outlook: After winning back to back Stanley Cups you could imagine how this would go for the Penguins. Their best prospect (excluded from this list), you may have heard of him, Jake Guentzel probably should have won the Conn Smythe this past playoffs. Derrick Pouliot is another guy not included on this list due to his minor contributions to t...

A Dark Horse is a candidate or competitor about whom little is known but who unexpectedly wins or succeeds.

Training Camp for most sports teams is not only a great showcasing for both young and aged talent, but an event that manages to surprise people every year, especially the fans. It seems like just the other day the New York Rangers signed coveted free agent defenseman Kevin Shattenk...

Washington Capitals

Outlook: For a team who has been regular season dominant and picking at the tail end of many rounds for the past 5+ years the Capitals are equipped with a decent farm system. Ilya Samsonov is the crown jewel, he’s the best goalie prospect in Russia and probably the world at the moment, he projects as a franchise goalie at the next level. Jakub Vrana was a top prospect however after ending the season with the big club he has been excluded fr...

Columbus Blue Jackets

Outlook: The Blue Jackets don’t have many top prospects, their system really consists mostly of wingers that should be ready either to start this year or to next year however the prospects they do have look like they can jump right into a key role right from the first puck drop. Pierre-Luc Dubois has the highest ceiling of any Jackets prospect, tempting comparisons to Anze Kopitar, after...

The characteristics of a good defenseman in the modern-day NHL; physical, nimble, good with the puck, and a hell of a slapshot. Yes, today’s top defensemen are more valued on their ability to score, like other Metro division players Kevin Shattenkirk of the New York Rangers or Nick Leddy of the New York Islanders, and outside of the Metro, Brent Burns, Victor Hedman, Erik Karl...

Here is my weekly Prospect Profile. Few days off on “weekly”, but I can work on that.

This week we are doing it on the rising star, and number 1 overall draft pick in the NHL Draft, Nico Hischier.

Nico Hischier, 18, is a Swiss born hockey player. He played for the Halifax Mooseheads in the QMJHL, before being drafted by the New Jersey Devils first overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. He pos...

I’m here for two things: drop hot takes and chew bubble gum.

And I am all out of bubble gum.

You see, trying to argue a point is no fun without an “outrageous” statement sometimes, and that’s why I am here to state and defend why the Carolina Hurricanes make a legitimate case for having a better top 4 than the New York Rangers.

I know ...

This is going to be a weekly series by me in which I release a prospect profile for 1 player on each Metropolitan team. The first Prospect Profile I will be doing is on Columbus prospect Vitaly Abramov.

Vitaly Abramov, 19, posted incredible stats for the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL. Abramov was drafted to Columbus in the 3rd round (65th overall) i...

The Columbus Blue Jackets, have made some….interesting moves so far this offseason. The addition of Artemi Panarin in a blockbuster of a trade, the signings of some free agents, and the other additions from the NHL Entry Draft play a big role in what is forthcoming for the Jackets. The trade to acquire Artemi Panarin was a shock to the hockey world and myself included. On the day of the draft just hours before many NHL s...

Two years, Two Cups, 49 goals, 80 assists and 213 Games Played. Phil Kessel boasts an impressive resume while playing in Pittsburgh however could the 29 year old need that resume for a job search sometime this offseason? The answer: quite possibly. Although the famed “HBK’ line carried the Penguins to the 2016 cup, Phil Kessel and Co. struggled to have the same chemistry on the ice this year. Sidney Crosby was ...

When writing about the Penguins it’s hard to forget about Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the two superstar centers of the Pittsburgh Penguins, but after those two, their depth at center drops harder than the Detroit Red Wings in the past three seasons. You can break it down 30 different ways, but Carter Rowney and Greg McKegg, who had a combined fourteen points in seventy-three games isn’t Cup Champion calibe...

After a dreadful 2016-17 season the Hartford Wolf Pack have started their road to recovery, and we’re hoping this will go a little better than Johnny Manziel’s (No disrespect to Money Manziel it’ll happen one day brother). After a quite terrifying 54 point season the Wolfpack politely asked Head Coach Ken Gernander to get as far away from central Connecticut as possible, promoted Assistant Coach Keith McCa...

Hey pals, time for our first installment of this series, where we, the crew behind this website, vote upon the power rankings of the Metro division. Keep in mind we all think the metro will be very deep this year so just becuase we have your team ranked 7th does not mean we think they will be the 2016-17 Avalanche. However, we are overeager and can’t wait UNTIL THE ACTUAL SEASON STARTS TO START THESE RANKINGS. So, with that being sai...

First of all, hello to all of our readers. I’m Tyler and I’m a new writer for Don’t Mess With the Metro. You may know me from my design account on Twitter (@stbvisuals) but little did you know I have capabilities of actually forming sentences with words instead of just placing pictures together! Crazy, huh? Well, I’m the new guy on this website and hopefully you’ll like what I have to contribute. Just know if you don’t like it, you’re a delicate littl...

Let me spoil 2 things for you right off the bat. Mika Zibanejad will resign with the New York Rangers this summer and Mika Zibanejad will play 1C minutes for the Rangers this season. After being acquired from Ottawa in a swap for Derick Brassard with picks going both ways, Zibanejad had gotten off to a great start scoring 15 points in the first 19 games. However unfortunately on November 20th in overtime vs Florida, Mika broke his fibula a...

With the top free agent Kevin Shattenkirk going to the rival New York Rangers, the Devils needed to make some moves. With over $25 million in cap space after signing Brian Boyle, Ray Shero had to bring on a contract or two to bring the team above the cap floor. Washington, on the other hand, had $4.6 million in cap space, and still had to sign Andre Burakovsky, Phillip Grubauer, and five others. Ray Shero came to the re...