Welcome back! For part one of this story where we look at the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils, click here! Now, we look at other NHL teams that could threaten the Penguins for the playoffs.

Washington Capitals — Staying Put

Notable Additions: Rako Gudas, Richard Panik, Garnet Hathaway

Notable Subtractions: Matt Niskanen, Andre Burakovsky, Brooks Orpik, Brett Connolly

Other Notable Remaining RFA’s: Jakub Vrana

After they failed to capture back to back Stanley Cup titles, the Capitals went into this offseason and made little to no changes. They swapped overpaid mediocre defenseman with the Flyers, finally got rid of Andre Burakovsky and said goodbyes to Brooks Orpik and Brett Connolly. During free agency, they added depth players in Richard Panik and Garnett Hathaway. Most of these moves are made to look towards next offseason where both Braden Holtby and Niklas Backstrom will need re-signed.

Just because they didn’t make any team-altering move doesn’t mean the Capitals will fall out of the NHL playoff race anytime soon. Alex Ovechkin isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Meanwhile, Backstrom and Holtby in their contract years are going to tear it up. Look for the Capitals to continue to be a top-three team in the Metro this season. They could likely win the division yet again.

New York Islanders — Staying Put

Notable Additions: Semyon Varlamov

Notable Subtractions: Valtteri Filppula, Robin Lehner

Other Notable Remaining RFA’s: Anthony Beauvillier

The biggest surprise in the Metro last season was the New York Islanders. The Islanders not only managed to finish second in the division, but they were able to sweep the Penguins. Comparing rosters, there isn’t too much change. Andres Lee, Josh Bailey and Jordan Eberle all re-upped with the Isles and will return. However, one name is missing. Vezina candidate Robin Lehner signed with the Chicago Blackhawks after having the best NHL season of his career.

To replace Lehner, general manager Lou Lamirello fetched Semyon Varlamov in free agency. However, Varlamov struggled all of last season with the Colorado Avalanche. So, this leaves us with a team unchanged in basically every area except for the most important one being goaltending. Goaltending coach Piero Greco has had success in the past with Tomas Griess and, of course, Lehner. However, only time will tell if this change in net will cost the Islanders at all.

Philadelphia Flyers — Trending Down

Notable Additions: Kevin Hayes, Matt Niskanen, Justin Braun, Tyler Pitlick

Notable Subtractions: Rako Gudas, Ryan Hartman

Other Notable Remaining RFA’s: Ivan Provorov, Travis Konecny

This is a Pittsburgh based website so we’re obligated to make fun of Philadelphia. 

The Flyers made a lot of head scratching moves this offseason. First on the list was trading to acquire Kevin Hayes’ rights from the Jets so that they could overpay a second to third line center a seven million plus deal. The next move they made was the Gudas for Niskanen swap. This gave the Flyers arguably the worst player of the two, who has a bigger and longer contract.

They also traded two picks that could have ended up becoming decent players for second pairing defenseman Justin Braun. On top of all this, the team that set an NHL record of eight different goaltenders used, decided that this was good enough and re-signed Brian Elliott to an extension. The Flyers will likely roll with Hart/Elliot as the goalie tandem.

Look, I understand that was a little mean. However, you have to admit that the Flyers are looking to have yet another mediocre season. They barely did anything to improve any areas that they needed to improve on and when they did, they made the wrong call. But who am I kidding? Watch the Flyers prove me wrong and make the playoffs over the Penguins by one point.

Carolina Hurricanes — Staying Put

Notable Additions: Erik Haula, James Reimer

Notable Subtractions: Calvin De Haan, Scott Darling, Curtis McElhinney, Micheal Ferland, Justin Williams*

Other Notable Remaining RFA’s: Brock McGinn

The biggest NHL offseason story for the Hurricanes didn’t involve any player movement. This is, of course, the Sebastian Aho offer sheet. The Hurricanes were able to re-sign Aho and match the offer sheet. Also, they put together a very similar roster to the one that took them to the final four last year. Many trades were made by the Hurricanes. However, most of them were salary cap related, such as the Patrick Marleau, Erik Haula and James Reimer deals.

The Hurricanes were able to take advantage of their cap space this offseason as well as lock up their franchise center albeit in a strange manner. Meanwhile, they are on their way towards re-signing captain Justin Williams. There is no reason to think that this team won’t be as strong as the “Bunch of Jerks” they were last year. Look for the Hurricanes to push for a divisional playoff spot this year rather than a wild-card slot.

Columbus Blue Jackets — Trending Down

Notable Additions: Gustav Nyquist

Notable Subtractions: Ryan Dzingel, Sergei Bobrovsky, Matt Duchene, Artemi Panarin

Other Notable Remaining RFA’s: Zach Werenski

The team that took the biggest hit this offseason was the Columbus Blue Jackets. Really, we all knew this was coming. The Jackets lost franchise cornerstones Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky, as well as rental pickups Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel. On top of this all, they walked into the NHL Draft with only two picks. Those picks were in the later rounds of the draft. So, this all means the Blue Jackets will be out of the hunt for this year’s playoffs right?

Wrong!

The Blue Jackets, like the Hurricanes, have proved us wrong many times before. Honestly, they will no doubt be looking to make it back into the playoffs with the pieces they have left over. With the addition of Gustav Nyquist, Columbus has a solid core with players such as Cam Atkinson, Zach Werenski and Seth Jones — along with a lot of excess cap space. With Bobrovsky gone, it looks like Joonas Korpisalo will take the reigns as starter. If he can prove to be as good as Bobrovsky, Columbus may not take as far of a step back as we thought they would.

No one can predict what this upcoming NHL season has in store for us. However, looking on paper, the Penguins might just be the odd team out here. You have to assume Tampa, Boston and Toronto are your three Atlantic teams. Also, the Panthers can make it as a wildcard after having the offseason that they did. That leaves only four spots left in the East. Meanwhile, the Capitals, Islanders and Hurricanes all look like they are playoff bound again.

Now only one spot remains for the struggling Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers, the on the rise New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils and the remains of the back-to-back Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

Maybe come this year’s trade deadline we see the Penguins become sellers and trade off guys like Schultz or even Hornqvist. The window is not closed yet on the Penguins. Crosby and Malkin are still in town. However, the window is slowly shutting even more every year, while other teams’ windows are opening up.

PHOTO: Gustav Nyquist featured for the Detroit Red Wings and San Jose Sharks last season, but is now heading to Columbus. Photo courtesy of Paul Sancya/Associated Press.

The post Could the Penguins miss the 2020 NHL playoffs? Part II. appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Castle.