A Look At The Competition As Flyers Return To Metropolitan Division

Last week, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman promised that the 2021-22 NHL schedule would be unveiled sometime in July.

First, the issue of the 2022 Winter Olympics must be settled. The league committed to doing everything it can to get players back on the big international stage when the collective bargaining agreement was extended last summer, but some difficult hurdles remain.

“We have worked through a lot of the more basic issues,” deputy commissioner Bill Daly said last week. “But we continue to be in uncharted territory to a certain extent, with respect to the Covid situation and what that means and what it will be like come February in Beijing. So, there’s a lot of uncertainty and unknowns that we’re trying to grapple with, and that takes time.”

The league is hoping to release the schedule before the 2021 NHL Draft on July 23-24. That’s also the opening weekend for the Summer Games in Tokyo. It’ll be impressive if the league, the NHLPA and the IIHF are able to get their ducks in a row with the clock now ticking loudly.

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Returning To The Metropolitan Division

Olympics or not, the NHL intends to return to its regular divisional alignment next season — with the Arizona Coyotes moving over to the Central Division in order to make room for the expansion Seattle Kraken in the Pacific. There’s talk that some of those baseball-style multi-game series between teams will live on, to cut down on travel. Otherwise, the regular schedule structure will be back, with teams facing opponents from all divisions over the course of the 82-game 2021-22 campaign.

Last year, of course, the Flyers faced new divisional rivals from Buffalo and Boston in their East Division, where they finished sixth out of eight with 58 points in 56 games.

Next season, the Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets will be back in the mix. With 80 points, the Hurricanes finished first in the Central Division and third overall in the NHL standings, three points ahead of the East Division-leading Pittsburgh and Washington. They were ousted from the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Blue Jackets tied Detroit for last place in the Central, with 48 points — 28th overall and better than New Jersey (45 points) and Buffalo (37 points) in the East.

With plenty of movement still on the horizon as teams head toward the expansion draft, the draft, and free agency later this month, here’s where the Flyers’ Metropolitan rivals currently stand:

Carolina Hurricanes – 80 pts in 2020-21

• re-signed head coach Rod Brind’Amour, who won Jack Adams Award as coach of the year
• defenseman Jaccob Slavin won Lady Byng Trophy
• goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic finished third in Calder Trophy voting
• pending UFA defenseman Dougie Hamilton finishes fourth in Norris Trophy voting
• offseason business: signing RFA Andrei Svechnikov; Nedeljkovic and Warren Foegele are RFAs with arbitration rights

Pittsburgh Penguins – 77 pts in 2020-21

• lost to New York Islanders in six games in Round 1 of playoffs
• Sidney Crosby was named a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award and finished fourth in Hart Trophy voting
• Mike Sullivan finished fifth in Jack Adams voting
• just $3.5 million in cap space with 19 players signed for next season, per CapFriendly
• only one pick in first four rounds of the draft

Washington Capitals – 77 pts in 2020-21

• lost to Boston Bruins in five games in Round 1 of playoffs
• Alex Ovechkin is a UFA — rumored to be set to re-sign after the expansion draft
• Evgeny Kuznetsov is rumored to be on the trade market
• Washington native T.J. Oshie is rumored to be a potential target for Seattle in the expansion draft
• no first-round draft pick

New York Islanders – 71 pts in 2020-21

• lost to Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games in Round 3 of playoffs
• Lou Lamoriello won Jim Gregory Award as general manager of the year for second straight season
• Semyon Varlamov finished fifth in Vezina Trophy voting
• 17 players signed, with $5.7 million in cap space
• UFAs include Kyle Palmieri, Travis Zajac, and Casey Cizikas
• RFAs with arbitration rights include Adam Pelech, Anthony Beauvillier, and Ilya Sorokin
• no first-round draft pick

New York Rangers – 60 pts in 2020-21

• promoted Chris Drury to general manager and team president
• hired Gerard Gallant as new head coach
• Adam Fox won the Norris Trophy as best defenseman
• Igor Shesterkin finished fifth in Calder Trophy voting; is an RFA with arbitration rights
• more than $23 million in available cap space
• nine picks in the draft

Philadelphia Flyers – 58 pts in 2020-21

• Oskar Lindblom won the Masterton Trophy
• rumored to be seeking significant roster overhaul; a right-shot defenseman is a priority and a backup goalie is also needed
• key RFAs are Carter Hart, Nolan Patrick, and Travis Sanheim, who has arbitration rights
• $13 million in available cap space

Columbus Blue Jackets – 48 pts in 2020-21

• brought back John Davidson as team president
• promoted Brad Larsen to head coach
• Seth Jones is on the market, one year away from unrestricted free agency
• Patrik Laine is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights, with a qualifying offer requirement of $7.5 million
• goaltending prospect Matiss Kivlenieks was tragically killed in a July 4 fireworks accident
• nearly $24 million in available cap space
• three first-round draft picks, nine picks in total

New Jersey Devils – 45 pts in 2020-21

• forward Yegor Sharangovich finished fourth in rookie scoring, with 30 points
• defenseman Ty Smith led all rookie defensemen in scoring, with 23 points
• more than $36 million in cap space, with 14 players signed for next season
• two first-round draft picks, eight picks in total