NHL division previews: 2017-18 Metropolitan Division

1st in 2017-18 Metropolitan Division – Pittsburgh Penguins

The odds-on favorite to win the Metro in 2017-18 has to be the back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions. Without losing anything of significance in the off-season, the Penguins are going to challenge for the Metro title, and likely for the Stanley Cup for the third straight season.

It’s actually quite hard to find a significant weakness to pinpoint for the Penguins. They have arguably the best player in hockey today in Sidney Crosby, a fantastic supporting cast around him, a solid group in the back-end and a goaltender in Matt Murray who is young, experienced and has the ability to be a top ten goaltender in the NHL.

And even strength aside, they have what looks to be the tools to have a great penalty kill and a great power play as well.

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The biggest worry for them is whether or not Kris Letang can stay healthy for an entire season. If he can do that, and play to the level he has throughout his career, the Penguins are a tough team to beat to top them in the Metro.

Worst-case scenario, the Penguins finish second or third in the Metro and still likely make a deep playoff run to challenge for the Cup again.

Player to watch in 2017-18: Jake Guentzel. Guentzel had an impressive debut last season, 33 points in 40 games during the regular season and an impressive 21 points in 25 playoff games. The QOC (Quality of Competition) he faced was above average, so it will be interesting to see if he can replicate this type of production, or slightly below even, across a full season of NHL hockey.