As the middle of January transitions into the end of January, the NHL is at the midpoint of its 2021-2022 campaign.
With the holiday break and the Winter Classic in the books and the All-Star break and trade deadline lurking, this is the natural point in the NHL season where teams begin to determine how to proceed for the remainder of the year.
Some teams have Stanley Cup championship aspirations, while some just want to get into the playoffs, and others are simply seeking improvement over what they accomplished a season ago. Whatever the case may be, each team can be assessed based on expectations, and what better way to do that than with report card grades?
Where do things stand in the NHL’s Metropolitan Division?
I’ll go division by division to gauge how teams have faired this season, and the next group on the list is the Metropolitan Division. Let’s start with the standings as they appear entering action on Friday, January 28:
- Carolina Hurricanes (29-9-2, 60 points)
- Pittsburgh Penguins (27-10-6, 60 points)
- New York Rangers (28-12-4, 60 points)
- Washington Capitals (23-12-9, 55 points)
- Columbus Blue Jackets (19-21-1, 39 points)
- New York Islanders (15-15-6, 36 points)
- New Jersey Devils (15-22-5, 35 points)
- Philadelphia Flyers (13-22-8, 34 points)