Metro & Atlantic Division Odds: Surprises and Predictions

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00:00You want to say wide open Metro this year, George?

00:02I don't know.

00:02Maybe.

00:03Maybe you both talked last week.

00:04We don't think Carolina is as good as advertised,

00:06but that's a nice finish for the Islanders schedule-wise.

00:10It is at their closure.

00:12And the Islanders want to make UBS that home ice advantage anyway, right?

00:16You want to set the tone for that,

00:18even if it's not this year for the next couple of years,

00:20when you do theoretically get better and better here

00:22with all the draft picks they have coming up.

00:24So, yeah, 10 or less, 10 or 13 is nice here.

00:27The Metro, you mentioned, I don't.

00:29The Carolinas are a playoff team, no doubt.

00:31I think they're a runaway team.

00:32For a while there, they were the number two team in the NHL

00:35as far as the Stanley Cup odds.

00:36I don't know how that made any sense to anybody.

00:39The team I'd watch in the Metro, by the way,

00:40I think if we're in value, would be the Devils.

00:42I think the only problem with the Devils, Mike, is health.

00:44They keep getting, you know, they keep getting the snot banged out of them

00:47when they're not the same team come April and May playoff time here.

00:51I think the Rangers could be a – this hurts to say.

00:53I think the Rangers could be a decent team too,

00:55but once again, can they get their act together?

00:57I don't know.

00:57What happened in the locker room last year with the Kreider and Zibanejad

01:00and all of that.

01:02But I think they're also another interesting team for me here.

01:06I don't believe in the Washington Caps.

01:08I said it last year.

01:09I thought they were the Minnesota Vikings of the NHL last year.

01:12You know, good regular season.

01:13They were going to fold during the playoffs.

01:15Well, it sounds like then, George, that maybe you're thinking,

01:17you know, the Caps were a surprise.

01:19I don't have in front of me the numbers of what the Caps were preseason

01:23to win the Metro, but I can guarantee you they were not one of the top two

01:28or three favorites to win the Metro, and they ended up winning it going away.

01:33Is the Metro the kind of division that could be ripe for, again,

01:37someone in that middle?

01:39You know, you saw Columbus play better last year.

01:41I know a lot of that maybe was emotion with what they were dealing with,

01:44but could this be, again, a division where someone from the middle

01:48kind of surprises and wins it?

01:50Yes.

01:51I think if we're picking Stanley Cup teams, you're not picking anybody from the Metro.

01:55All right?

01:55We got every – I don't know if they're going to be moving three playoff teams

01:58from the Metro.

01:58I don't know if any of the wild cards are coming from the Metro.

02:01Florida, Tampa, you know, you look at them.

02:04Toronto is still a playoff team no matter what you think about them.

02:06Montreal and Ottawa are coming up here.

02:08Boston should be terrible.

02:09But, you know, so I don't think they're going to get more than three.

02:12We know in the West, those divisions are stacked.

02:14So, yeah, the Metro, I don't think it's all that great here.

02:16I don't think there's a team like, oh, that's a Stanley Cup contender.

02:19I don't see Carolina being that team.

02:21I just don't.

02:22So, yeah, I think that is the most wide-open division.

02:24If you told me right now, Mike, are the Philadelphia Flyers going to win

02:28the division in Philadelphia, I wouldn't doubt it.

02:31I think it is because something crazy like that could happen.

02:34I actually – looking at the Atlantic, Josh,

02:36I know that Boston obviously went in the tank last year.

02:40I didn't realize they got so bad down the stretch that Buffalo finished ahead of them.

02:44The Bruins did end up finishing last in the Atlantic.

02:48And I agree with one thing you said.

02:50I think the Atlantic top to bottom is probably a little bit stronger than the Metro,

02:57especially if you think that Montreal and Ottawa are going to take some more steps here.

03:03Both teams obviously making the playoffs last year and be even better than they were.

03:07I don't think we could think that Toronto is as good.

03:10I think we know that Florida is going to take the regular season off.

03:12So, I don't know if we should play them to win that division.

03:16But those Ottawa and Montreal numbers could be sneaky in the Atlantic.

03:21If Montreal can get the goaltending, that's the only thing I worry about them

03:25is the goaltending.

03:25I think Montreal is a solid NHL goalie, but I don't know if he's that guy, Mike.

03:31But if he is, they're a threat.

03:33It's a good young team.

03:34We know they got Dobson from the Isles here.

03:36We know they have offense.

03:37They can score with Suzuki, Caulfield here.

03:39If they could just get good, solid goaltending, I think it's a playoff team either way.

03:44But, yeah, I think they could be a bigger threat.

03:45But goaltending is so important,

03:47and I just don't know if they have that to be a Stanley Cup threat.

03:49I don't know if they have that to be a player.

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