S8 Metropolitan Division Preview

I am back with some more write-ups just like I did last season, but a little more rushed this time as I just decided I was going to do this again. After seeing some other media posts, I figured I would churn some out as I always like seeing what other people think, and I like to get the league talking about some shit. If you dont like my opinion I want to read all about it in the comments, though I dont really care what you have to say, Its always fun to read. This is all my opinion, and none of it should be taken to heart. Enjoy!



STANDINGS:


1.) New Jersey Devils

2.) Washington Capitals

3.) New York Rangers

4.) Carolina Hurricanes

5.) Columbus Blue Jackets

6.) Philadelphia Flyers

7.) New York Islanders

8.) Pittsburgh Penguins



New Jersey Devils


@Gour_x_71 returns as Owner and builds yet another contender that looks to conquer the Metro, and the East in its entirety. Starting with the forwards, they spent 8.25m on top VS player @rickchel , who returns to LG for the first time since S5. Lining up down the middle will be @Akonvict21 , @Labrat , and @sloanertw which makes for very very good center depth. Akon has been a top C in this league for a few seasons now, and I expect him to continue that trend. They also picked up @Polgz for 5m, and while he comes with a certain amount of aids, you cannot deny his button skill. He should be a perfect fit here. They also have @Kernsy on forward, not sure about that but it’s Kerns so its a good pick-up. A whole lot of depth here.


On the back end they have GM @Curi0sity leading the way, and while he is known as a solid top pairing Dman, they dont have much in ways of top end talent behind him. @Chislett 19 and @The Gr8 Haxby are both originally XBox forwards, and now they are switching to PSN D, but I am sure they will be able to hold their own on the 2nd pairing where I expect them to be. Also on the back end is @xGianTx who had a spectacular season in S7 (will he do the same? Idk we’ll see I guess) , and draft bust @djunreal2010 who has now switched to D.


The goalies here have skill, thats for sure as both have been near the top in SV% in past seasons, but they are also the two most high-risk high-reward goalies in the league. @lx JoneZ xl is one of the best goalies on either console, and @Back342 is a good starter as well. As long as these two dont quit or get banned, not alot of pucks should be entering the net against NJ.



Washington Capitals


Strictly based off of star power this team could be 1st in the division, @P t P 10 FINALLY got his Caps and came home to PSN where he brought @Aye Keeks back with him to form easily the most skilled management duo in the league. The offense here is absolutely deadly, BBK and @ScaryJoeyy are the headliners here, and if paired together they could easily hit 100+ points. They also picked up @AgentSooksta008 (fuck you I was bidding on him) , and @x_ReAcTiiOnz_71 for 2nd line duties I will assume, and with that they form a truly scary top 6. @MonGee___ is not to be slept on and is a steal at 1.25m, and the only good thing left over from that god awful Caps team of S7.


Now we get to the reason I dont see this team is capable of finishing 1st in the division, the defense. They do have PTP, who used to be a top 5 LD on PSN, but has spent alot of time at forward over the past few seasons. Im sure he will be as good as his former self with defense being easier in NHL18, but after him it looks like a mix of hardly 2nd liners and 3rd liners rounding out the defense. I dont much about any of them, and a quick look at stats shows me nothing, so we are moving on. This team will be counting on its offense to win the games.


Another thing that may hold this team back is the goaltending, @sparkplug87 nic was really good on bad teams in the past, so with a pretty good supporting cast around him (albeit the weak defense) he should be able to post good enough numbers. @Mattdisney111 was never really good, but I have high hopes for him and think he should be a fine backup.



New York Rangers


A lot of people see this team as one of the top contenders coming out of the East, and with good reason. Led by returning owner, and previous Norris winner @Bo-Dangles10 and former 10m C, and now GM @aREAP__ they have one of the best management duos in the league. Starting on offense they have 3 solid lines, which is hard to get these days. @Charmop82 / Reap / @Weapon-C-181 will likely be the 1st for this team and with that much French on one line pretty things are bound to happen. While I think 4m for both @FrenchMoron and @Bealer 12 is a tad much for a D turned Fwd and a 45ish point scorer respectively, I think Bo has his reasons for spending this much and it will probably pay off. @scyther808 is a good contract at 1m, and @miviens is a great contract at 750k, so they made up for some seemingly bad contracts with some awfully good ones.


The back-end here is solid, Bo is a former Norris winner, and while he hasnt been as strong his past 2 seasons he is still a good 1st line option. @Dallas1262x and @habsdan18 are some really good 2nd pairing options, I expect them both to have pretty good seasons. @Malkin71_- is pretty bad but should be able to handle the 3rd line. @DrFurryNips has a pretty sick username so I hope he does good.


Manning the pipes in NY will be @XGeneral420X and @xi_Goldy . General is famous for starting over @o R E C K I o in ESHL Playoffs Game 7 (smh), and comes with a 2m price tag this season. I have seen him play and can say he is pretty great at times, but not what I would consider “elite”. Goldy should be a solid backup just as he was last season. Overall, a solid duo, but not top tier.



Carolina Hurricanes


I think a lot of people are underestimating the management on this team, maybe its because they have so many X’s in their names, or maybe it’s because they have been CHL and AHL up until now. @XxToMMy6926xX and @Beast are good players, very capable of handling 2nd lines in the NHL where I expect them to be playing. The forwards on this team are good, obviously headlined by @JClaus33 after he was signed to a whopping 15m this bidding (let this man be management my goodness). You can stick two @premierplayer ’s on Josh’ wing and he will still get 20 wins and at least 75 points, so who cares who his linemates are (probably @Faytal_Flow and @FullyDynamic ). Faytal is coming off 2 outstanding seasons at G where we have seen his ego multiply each and every week. He plays alot of 2s and will likely get to be on Josh’ wing so now I can only imagine what the shoutbox is going to look like. Moving on they also have @TheRealDudester who plays well with the guys on this team, expect him to be a nice depth scorer.


The defense here is underwhelming, that usually happens when you spend 15m on one guy, but the money they did spend probably could have spent a little better. @JaY_SnIpEz77_91 returns after a few seasons off, he was a forward before, but is defense now, and they spent 3.75m on him so lets hope that works out. They also got LGs most attractive male @Kipperboy33 , who is an absolute takeaway machine, but also absolutely lost with the puck on occasions. Hes going to be tasked with 1st line duties which he is not skilled enough for as he would be better suited on a 2nd, but if he plays with Josh enough he will be fine.


Goaltending shouldnt be a problem for this team, looking at the names many probably dont know these guys but I’ve heard good things. @DrNasty415 is the second coming of Jesus in goalie pads, he will surprise alot of people this season. @Krok-o-dill wont have to play much but should be a solid backup, the weak defense might expose these guys a little, but overall they should be fine.


Sidenote: Claus has never missed playoffs, and I actually think hes never missed a conference final in all of his seasons, so yeah thats why they are where they are.



Columbus Blue Jackets

I know @Nick_x_98 is going to absolutely dismember me in the comments or my DMs for this but I feel the Metro has alot of good teams and I am just not a fan of his. Led by the management team of Nick and @XxJusT4TheShoWxX , this teams management is top notch. The forwards on this team are uninspiring in my opinion, They have Franky and @GallyChucky who should form a really solid 1st line, I’m sure @Hilary_Knight will be their LW or else he would have a heart attack. With that 1st line stacked it leaves very little depth on the team, the next best forwards are unknowns, @Jasono79 and @Diirty_Triix_13 (whom I’ve heard good things about) , and @meka DVA meka who is okay at forward. Overall not an offense that should worry many teams outside of their 1st.


Now the defense on this team is another story, as it has one of the best top 4s in the East for sure. @Trio x 4 and @TheKaner_88 are two very good frenchies, both of whom can shut down a majority of teams. Alongside them are Nick and @BigintheBurgh , formerly ChrisTastik, both of whom are also capable of shutting down most of the players they face. With a good defense like this its tough for me to rank them 5th, I feel they could jump up any number of spots really, but based on roster this is where I see them.


The goaltending here is another thing that doesnt impress me, while @mikemoran19 is surely a solid tendy, I dont have faith in him and @your_dad_i_am to win enough games to propel this team ahead of some of the other teams ranked above them. I think Mike will be good, but I dont know how many he will be able to steal when the offense isnt firing.



Philadelphia Flyers


The Flyers led by @Mathdouble2 enjoyed a surprise playoff appearance last season, a season in which many of them had them finishing at the bottom of the league. I was one of those people, and I am going to be one of those people again, as I am just not impressed by the team built here by Math and new GM @Jumps x 66 (lol). Starting with the forwards, the signing of @B-Bunny for 10mil makes next to no sense when you consider the other/cheaper options that were on the board. Thats not a knock on Bunny, but the Flyers management. Signing @JCoul for 8.25m in his first season back was a good pickup though, as Coul is really good, and I was hoping to get him myself. After those two however it drops off significantly, with Jumps and @Marner93 making up the 2nd line which should be able to compete somewhat. They also have @iTsKingJayDee returning after a monster season, will he do as good without Reap? Probably not but if hes playing with Coul and Bunny he may do better.


The defense here is what I would call “trash”. They only spent 6m total on defense and it shows, but maybe I just dont anything about how these guys play. @Kann0n_42_ had a pretty good season in S7 so maybe he will be a steal for these guys, but the rest are NHL 3rd liners at best, at least based off of stats.


Goaltending was thin in bidding this season, and its thin on this team. @Proxolol has been around for a few seasons and has put up average numbers. @xKLuTchDoLphiNx has been sick in the AHL way back in the day but not sure what he brings to the table anymore. Lets hope they prove me wrong here.



New York Islanders


Its going to be an exciting race for the bottom of the Metro between the Islanders and Pittsburgh, but I think the Isles find a way to push ahead. New Owner @oriolerules44 steps in to take over an Islanders franchise that hasnt tasted success since I have been apart of this league, and that trend will not stop in S8. He made headlines in the offseason by picks a goalie as his GM, having him quit, and then picking another goalie as GM, yikes. They picked up @RiseOfTheNinja and @TMills61_ for forward, and they should be able to win all the games for this team because after that there isnt anything.


On defense they got @Sedinpower aka Niner for 7.75m, and slapped him with the AGM tag essentially sealing his fate, sorry man. He should be good , but with no help around him he will likely have a rough go. Not much else here.


In net they have GM @WestSideHockey , who is my pal actually but would probably go for 500k in the AHL, so uh yikes. They also have @ses-DRAGON-ses who is another pal whos actually pretty decent, but again this team sucks so whats it matter.



Pittsburgh Penguins


My beloved Pens are in for a very long ride this season, with former Calder Cup winning GM and infamous Mr, Game 7 FFer @SKILLEDPYTHON taking over the team. Players must be prepared to see Skilled typing in the team discord for hours but never actually sending anything, or typing up an essay only to delete it. He’s also been known to unadd you on PSN for random reasons (@Double_brah and I are victims from S3) so look out for that. Moving on to the team, they got @ll_Larkin_71_ll at 7m and some change, which is possibly a bit of an overpay, but Larkin is pretty sick on the sticks so its alright. They also picked up @EPICxSKILLZY as there only other notable forward and hes hardly notable anymore, sorry pal.


On defense they have GM @JSILVERS , who I would say is a capable 2nd liner, @ImSikBoi who was on Skilled’ S3 Calder Cup winning team, and @L3iggy13iggs who used to be good, but isnt really good anymore. Overall a lackluster defense on a lackluster team.


They picked up @DoubleZERO33 who was (surprise surprise) on the S3 Calder Cup winning team that Skilled GM’d. He was absolutely unreal back then, and while not his former self he is still a damn good goalie, and one of my personal favorites (trade him to me). They also have @Breezy5457 who they were hoping could play some RD for them, but that didnt work out and he will be tending the goal. Solid goalies on a bad team. DZ probably quits or uses TR by end of week 1.


That wraps up my Metro preview, I will be banging the rest of the divisions out before Sunday’s season opener so look out for those!

Cheers,
JT

 

great write up jtresetti. i totally agree with you that the caps defense and goal tending is complete dog shit. only thing i would change in this amazing write up is putting the caps a little lower maybe 6th or 7th in their division.

Cheers,
RR

 

Great write up JT.

Looking forward to getting in the Claus Backpack for the first time.

 

Good write up. Is it possible to do atlantic? There was already a metro thread haha. Just saying would be much appreciated to read about others teams then the metro.

 

I like

 

“DrFurryNips has a sick username so I hope he does good.” Love it

 

As usual another good write up.

More please

 

Why would I tear into you when it’s true. Some of my forwards are unknown. I can promise you though Jasono and Baris are better than you give them credit. Jasono I truly believe could be in the Calder race at the end of the year.

 

Always love JTs writeups. Good stuff, bud.

Do our division before this Sunday, bb!

 

@XxToMMy6926xX might approve of this write up more.

Like I said in mine - even without captaindube I think CBJ will be up there. Defense is incredible.

 

I love it when a writeup looks like someone actually did a little bit of research. Great job @JTresatti

 

@scyther808 is a good contract at 1m

Thanks for the shout-out but I'm only 500k

I love reading these and the amount of work you put into this is awesome.


@Malkin71_- is pretty bad but should be able to handle the 3rd line.

I agree 100%

Great job.

 

"@Malkin71_- is pretty bad but should be able to handle the 3rd line."

Good one Princess

 

With myself being on vacation currently, this will take longer than anticipated. Atlantic will be out tonight, as no one has done that division yet. Stay tuned

 

I JUST DID Sorry bro. But still do it. I wanna compare.