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Over the last couple of Ramblings, we have looked at a weakness from each team as they head into the offseason and how they can help remedy that weakness via free agency or trades. The Western Conference was covered (the Pacific Division here and the Central Division here) and today we're moving to the Eastern Conference's Metro Division. Data is from Natural Stat Trick unless otherwise indicated.

Carolina Hurricanes

PuckPedia has Carolina with $28.4-million in cap space. They have some depth forwards that are free agents – notably Eric Robinson and Jack Roslovic – and can extend all of Logan Stankoven, Jackson Blake, Alexander Nikishin, and Scott Morrow, but they aren't due for raises for another year. Both Dmitry Orlov and Brent Burns are free agents, but Burns is over 40 years old now and it seems very possible that Orlov moves on. Carolina has a lot of money they can spend this offseason but also have to factor in the raises coming for Stankoven, Blake et. al. Theoretically, they should be in play for Mitch Marner, but their experience with Mikko Rantanen might make them a bit shy.

The reality is that the team needs to improve the blue line, particularly defensively, to help out goalies Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov. While the Hurricanes had the second-lowest rate of shots against at 5-on-5 (Los Angeles was just slightly better), they had by far the highest rate of high-danger shots against as a percentage of all shots against (29.5%). It led to their goalies facing the eighth-most high-danger shots against per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, nestled between Montreal and Buffalo:

Over the last two years, Vladislav Gavrikov was among the top-20 defencemen for allowing the lowest rate of high-danger shots against as a percentage of all shots against (16.7%, in line with names like Jonas Brodin and Erik Cernak). He was in a great defensive system in Los Angeles, but he can help limit the quality of the shots the Hurricanes goaltenders face, and that would be helpful for us fantasy owners.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Columbus needs to extend Dmitri Voronkov this summer, is a year away from a big raise for Adam Fantilli, two years away for Kirill Marchenko and Kent Johnson, and need to fill out the depth, but they have a one forward with a cap hit over $4M AAV, and it's Sean Monahan at $5.5M. The Blue Jackets have over $40M in cap space, so they can sign several key free agents, if they so choose.

If the Blue Jackets want to make a real push towards the playoffs in the spring of 2026, they need to fix the blue line. Ivan Provorov, Dante Fabbro, and Jack Johnson are all unrestricted free agents. Zach Werenski is signed for three more years, but the blue line is him, Erik Gudbranson, Damon Severson, Jake Christiansen, and Denton Mateychuk. If they want to help out their goaltenders (and us fantasy owners), the team has a lot of improvements to make defensively, but they also need to insulate the non-Werenski minutes offensively. While the team scored well with Werenski off the ice at 5-on-5, a lot of it was percentage-driven:

To put that 11.6% shooting at 5-on-5 without Werenski on the ice into context: The 2024-25 Washington Capitals just set the Analytics Era record (since 2007-08) for a team's 5-on-5 shooting percentage at 10.6%. Either the non-Werenski time from Columbus is by far the most efficient group of players the NHL has seen in a generation, or they got fairly lucky. I know which I would be banking on.

There have been reports about Buffalo making Bowen Byram available and it's someone the Blue Jackets should check in on. Maybe they can do a 'hockey trade' and swap someone like Cole Sillinger straight up, or ship some picks and prospects. Byram won't need to play top-pair minutes like he did for the Sabres and can help be a puck-mover the team needs on the second pair.

New Jersey Devils           

New Jersey is in a tight spot. They have about $12M in cap space, but Luke Hughes needs a new RFA contract, and they have only 10 NHL forwards signed (including Kurtis MacDermid which, well…). There really isn't a lot of cap space to work with so any meaningful improvements besides turning over the bottom-6 forwards while have to be via trade.

If there's one thing New Jersey should look for that would help fantasy managers, it's a playmaking winger to have opposite Timo Meier. Jesper Bratt plays most often with Jack Hughes, and that leaves the likes of Dawson Mercer or Stefan Noesen to play with Meier and Nico Hischier. Neither are strong playmakers, and it might be why Meier has seen his 5-on-5 goals rate decline each season in New Jersey compared to the end of his San Jose tenure:

It is a wonder if someone like Mercer or Simon Nemec isn't traded to a rebuilding team for a roster piece that can help now. Maybe a reunion with former Devil Pavel Zacha could be something that would add a playmaking dimension to the Meier line and get him going scoring-wise?

New York Islanders        

If the Islanders want to be a team that can consistently threaten the opposition offensively, they need to create more dangerous shots. To do that, they need more dangerous passes, as their rate of high-danger passes at 5-on-5 from their forwards, via All Three Zones, was fifth-lowest in the league and in mostly poor company:

Columbus is there, and they were great offensively, but they also have Zach Werenski, and the Islanders do not. A healthy Mathew Barzal would help, but they need more than just him, especially with Brock Nelson gone from the franchise.

It also depends on whether the Islanders are going to reload or fully rebuild. If it's the latter, they may not address this problem. If it's the former, maybe they look at someone like Mikael Granlund, take a big swing with Nikolaj Ehlers, or try to see if they can get production from Andrei Kuzmenko.

The Islanders have both Noah Dobson and Alexander Romanov as RFAs approaching unrestricted free agency in a year or two, rookie Maxim Tsyplakov who needs a new deal, Tony DeAngelo as a UFA, and Nelson is gone. They have $26-million in cap space, but if they bring some of those key names back, they might not have a lot to spend. They do have the first overall pick, though, so this could be an improved roster. It just depends if they want to make those improvements now, or reload and make a push in a couple years. 

New York Rangers

Another New York-area team facing their own crossroads is the Rangers, going from the best record in the league to missing the playoffs. They have a little over $8-million in cap space with K'Andre Miller and Will Cuylle as restricted free agents (at time of writing, the Chris Kreider trade is pending). Unless they move out a lot of money (and Alexis Lafreniere is the only player making over $2.2-million who doesn't have some form of trade protection), improvements will be through trades. And, again, many of their key players have full no-move clauses while Vincent Trocheck has a partial no-trade clauses.

The Rangers need to shore up defensively, and every Igor Shesterkin fantasy manager is screaming the same. The reality is that the blue line allowed a lot of controlled entries against by the opponent, and denied entries at a very low rate, when compared to the league average:

Turnstile defence like this leans heavily on getting great goaltending from Shesterkin, and he can only do so much.

The biggest improvement defensively will have to be internal. Acquiring an actual defensive stalwart who can help here would be costly in a trade. Maybe they can add someone like Brian Dumoulin as a modest signing, but it's doubtful, so this is a situation where a new coach with the same blue line will have to get much better results. Good luck!

Philadelphia Flyers        

A lot has been made about the Philadelphia goaltending, and some of it is fair. What has to be highlighted here, though, is that how the Flyers play on offence could be greatly hurting their goaltending. When looking at the tracking data mentioned earlier, the Flyers were the only team in the league to create more off the rush at 5-on-5 than they did off the cycle/forecheck, and when looking at teams with the lowest differential between rush offence and cycle/forecheck offence, it isn't exactly a who's-who of elite defensive play:

Being able to counter-attack off turnovers is great. Looking only for that type of offence could leave your goalie hung out to dry, though, and successful teams tend to do both while creating very well on the cycle/forecheck. That type of change should come with a new coach and, yes, Rick Tocchet's Vancouver Canucks teams focused very little on rush offence.

The Flyers may want to have a full season with their young players under Tocchet before making a big free agent signing, so it's a wonder if they look to add middle-6 help with the forecheck from names like Reilly Smith or Ryan Donato.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The good news: Pittsburgh has a lot of cap space. The bad news: their entire core is over 30 years old, if not over 35 years old. They have started re-tooling with some younger players like Rutger McGroarty and Philip Tomasino, but they are caught between giving Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang one true final kick at the can or trying to really bottom out for Gavin McKenna in next year's draft. Spending to the cap could give them a shot at a playoff appearance with the team's franchise core, but it could also preclude them from having a chance at the next superstar. That doesn't seem like a fun choice.

If they do decide to hit free agency, one name that makes a lot of sense is Matt Duchene. Yes, he's also in his mid-30s, but he's a second-line centre that can play alongside Malkin, can take Malkin's spot in 2026 if Malkin retires or moves on after his contract expires, and if the Penguins can get Duchene on a two-year deal (that is the predicted term from Evolving Hockey's contract projections), he can be a bridge between today and the next era of the Penguins. It would help with their secondary scoring problems, though it is a risk because if age-related decline kicks in, it could be another anchor of a contract.

Washington Capitals

Looking for weaknesses from Washington is kind of moot because of how their contracts are set up. Even if they don't bring back names like Anthony Beauvillier, Lars Eller, or Andrew Mangiapane, they have nine returning forwards (including their entire top-6 group), their three defence pairs, and both goalies.

If they do decide to go after someone in free agency, someone who can help on the power play would be a nice addition. It doesn't have to be an elite player, just someone who can help offensively in a secondary role for cheap. At the higher end, maybe Donato or Kuzmenko, or down to Jack Roslovic at the lower end.

Washington has a little over $9-million in cap space but needs to fill out the roster with three forwards (plus a spare) while extending Alexander Alexeyev, who is an RFA. If they bring back Beauvillier and Alexeyev, they might have $5- to $6-million in cap space for a pair of roster spots. It isn't a lot, so any improvements that come (a better power play would be nice) will be from the players already on the roster. That may be asking a lot from a team that finished second in goals-for and eighth by goals against in 2024-25.