The National Hockey League's Metropolitan Division (often referred to simply as the "Metro Division") was formed in 2013 as one of the two divisions in the Eastern Conference as part of a league realignment.[1] It is also a successor of the original Atlantic Division and one of the two successors to the Southeast Division. Six of its teams were previously together in the Patrick Division from 1981 to 1993 (one joined in 1982). It is the only NHL division without a Canadian team, with five of the division's clubs located in either the New York City area or in Pennsylvania and the other three in North Carolina, Ohio, and Washington, D.C.
| Conference | Eastern Conference |
|---|---|
| League | National Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Founded | 2013 Suspended in 2020–21 2021 (reactivated) |
| No. of teams | 8 |
| Most recent champion(s) | New York Rangers (2nd title) |
| Most titles | Washington Capitals (5 titles) |
The Metropolitan Division contains some of the most historic and intense rivalries in the NHL, including Flyers–Penguins, Devils–Rangers, Capitals–Penguins, Islanders–Rangers, Capitals–Rangers, Capitals–Islanders, Flyers–Rangers, Capitals–Flyers, and Devils–Flyers. Three of its teams (Rangers, Islanders, and Devils) are within the league's largest market (New York), the Flyers are in the fourth largest market (Philadelphia), and the Capitals are in the seventh largest (Washington, D.C.). Games involving Metropolitan Division teams are frequently shown on U.S. national television.
Division lineups
edit2013–2020
edit
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- New Jersey Devils
- New York Islanders
- New York Rangers
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Washington Capitals
Changes from the 2012–13 season
edit- The Metropolitan Division is formed due to NHL realignment
- The Northeast and Southeast Divisions are dissolved due to NHL realignment
- The New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins come from the original Atlantic Division
- The Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals come from the Southeast Division
- The Columbus Blue Jackets come from the Central Division
2020–2021
edit- Division not used for the 2020–21 NHL season
Changes from the 2019–20 season
edit- Due to COVID-19 restrictions the NHL realigned into four divisions with no conferences for the 2020–21 season
- The Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets move to the Central Division
- The New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals move to the East Division
2021–present
edit- Carolina Hurricanes
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- New Jersey Devils
- New York Islanders
- New York Rangers
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Washington Capitals
Changes from the 2020–21 season
edit- The league returned to using a four division and two conference alignment
- The Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets come from the Central Division
- The New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals come from the East Division
Division champions
edit- 2014 – Pittsburgh Penguins (51–24–7, 109 pts)
- 2015 – New York Rangers (53–22–7, 113 pts)
- 2016 – Washington Capitals (56–18–8, 120 pts)
- 2017 – Washington Capitals (55–19–8, 118 pts)
- 2018 – Washington Capitals (49–26–7, 105 pts)
- 2019 – Washington Capitals (48–26–8, 104 pts)
- 2020 – Washington Capitals (41–20–8, 90 pts)
- 2021 – Division suspended for season
- 2022 – Carolina Hurricanes (54–20–8, 116 pts)
- 2023 – Carolina Hurricanes (52–21–9, 113 pts)
- 2024 – New York Rangers (55–23–4, 114 pts)
Season results
edit| (#) | Denotes team that won the Stanley Cup |
| (#) | Denotes team that won the Prince of Wales Trophy, but lost Stanley Cup Finals |
| (#) | Denotes team that qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs |
| ‡ | Denotes winner of the Presidents' Trophy |
| Season | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013–14 | (1) Pittsburgh (109) | (2) NY Rangers (96) | (3) Philadelphia (94) | (WC1) Columbus (93) | Washington (90) | New Jersey (88) | Carolina (83) | NY Islanders (79) |
| 2014–15 | (1) NY Rangers (113)‡ | (2) Washington (101) | (3) NY Islanders (101) | (WC2) Pittsburgh (98) | Columbus (89) | Philadelphia (84) | New Jersey (78) | Carolina (71) |
| 2015–16 | (1) Washington (120)‡ | (2) Pittsburgh (104) | (3) NY Rangers (101) | (WC1) NY Islanders (100) | (WC2) Philadelphia (96) | Carolina (86) | New Jersey (84) | Columbus (76) |
| 2016–17 | (1) Washington (118)‡ | (2) Pittsburgh (111) | (3) Columbus (108) | (WC1) NY Rangers (102) | NY Islanders (94) | Philadelphia (88) | Carolina (87) | New Jersey (70) |
| 2017–18 | (1) Washington (105) | (2) Pittsburgh (100) | (3) Philadelphia (98) | (WC1) Columbus (97) | (WC2) New Jersey (97) | Carolina (83) | NY Islanders (80) | NY Rangers (77) |
| 2018–19 | (1) Washington (104) | (2) NY Islanders (103) | (3) Pittsburgh (100) | (WC1) Carolina (99) | (WC2) Columbus (98) | Philadelphia (82) | NY Rangers (78) | New Jersey (72) |
| 2019–20[a] | (3) Washington (69 gp 90 pts. .652 ppct.) |
(4) Philadelphia (69 gp 89 pts. .645 ppct.) |
(5) Pittsburgh (69 gp 86 pts. .623 ppct.) |
(6) Carolina (68 gp 81 pts. .596 ppct.) |
(7) NY Islanders (68 gp 80 pts. .588 ppct.) |
(9) Columbus (70 gp 81 pts. .579 ppct.) |
(11) NY Rangers (70 gp 79 pts. .564 ppct.) |
New Jersey (69 gp 68 pts. .493 ppct.) |
| 2020–21 | Division suspended for season; temporary realignment | |||||||
| 2021–22 | (1) Carolina (116) | (2) NY Rangers (110) | (3) Pittsburgh (103) | (WC2) Washington (100) | NY Islanders (84) | Columbus (81) | New Jersey (63) | Philadelphia (61) |
| 2022–23 | (1) Carolina (113) | (2) New Jersey (112) | (3) NY Rangers (107) | (WC1) NY Islanders (93) | Pittsburgh (91) | Washington (80) | Philadelphia (75) | Columbus (59) |
| 2023–24 | (1) NY Rangers (114)‡ | (2) Carolina (111) | (3) NY Islanders (94) | (WC2) Washington (91) | Pittsburgh (88) | Philadelphia (87) | New Jersey (81) | Columbus (66) |
- Notes
- a The 2019–20 NHL season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the imbalance in the number of games played among teams, the regular season standings were determined by points percentage.
Stanley Cup winners produced
edit- 2016 – Pittsburgh Penguins
- 2017 – Pittsburgh Penguins
- 2018 – Washington Capitals
Presidents' Trophy winners produced
edit- 2015 – New York Rangers
- 2016 – Washington Capitals
- 2017 – Washington Capitals
- 2024 – New York Rangers
Metropolitan Division titles won by team
editTeams in bold are currently in the division.
| Team | Wins | Last win |
|---|---|---|
| Washington Capitals | 5 | 2020 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 2 | 2023 |
| New York Rangers | 2 | 2024 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 1 | 2014 |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 0 | — |
| New Jersey Devils | 0 | — |
| New York Islanders | 0 | — |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 0 | — |
References
edit- ^ "NHL introduces new division names with schedule". National Hockey League. July 19, 2013. Retrieved March 11, 2016.