One player who has to deliver for each team in NHL’s Metropolitan Division

Less than a month stands between these off-season doldrums and opening night, when the game’s best will take the ice, under the lights, and begin a new campaign.

But on the other side of the glass, a new season brings new pressures too, new expectations. For some, it’s the weight of a hefty new contract sitting on their shoulders — for others, the chance to earn a new one. Players on the fringes will be scratching and clawing for a spot in the lineup, while the mainstays work to pull their teams forward.

Ahead of the NHL’s 2024-25 season, Sportsnet is taking stock of each of the league’s four divisions, and who among each of the 32 squads will be leaned on most heavily this season. Here’s a closer look at one player who must deliver for each Metropolitan Division club to find progress in the new season.

Note: In the wake of the tragic loss of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, the focus in Columbus at this moment is not on hockey. Out of respect for their time of healing, the Blue Jackets have not been included in this series.

New York Rangers: Jacob Trouba

It’s been a tumultuous off-season for the Rangers captain. After a lacklustre 2023-24 campaign, the 11-year big-league vet found himself on the trade block this summer, with GM Chris Drury looking to move Trouba’s hefty $8-million cap hit out of a defence corps that’s already well-stocked with top-end talent — and led by one of the game’s most dominant rearguards, Adam Fox. But the deal never came, the new season is here, and now all eyes turn to No. 8 in blue.

After three seasons of this Rangers team looking like a bona fide contender, like they have all the pieces, and coming up short of their lofty goals, there’s a growing sense something needs to change in New York. It was well within Trouba’s rights to lean on his modified no-trade clause and avoid winding up as that change. But that choice also comes with renewed pressure — to prove he’s worth his $8-million price tag, and that his cap space wouldn’t have been better spent elsewhere.

Carolina Hurricanes: Andrei Svechnikov

On the doorstep of the 2024-25 campaign, the Canes find themselves in a tough spot. After seeming primed for a deep post-season run five months ago, the club now heads into a new year with key losses both up front (Jake Guentzel, Teuvo Teravainen) and on the blue line (Brady Skjei). With no marquee name brought in up front to bolster the offence, the pressure falls on the club’s current stars to raise their level if they hope to keep Carolina among the league’s best. And a resurgent season from Andrei Svechnikov is key to that effort.

After a promising 2021-22 that saw the young Russian reach the 30-goal plateau for the first time and flirt with 70 points, the ascent seemed to be coming. But injuries have held him back over the past two seasons, while his production has dipped. With a point-per-game performance in the post-season showing his level, the Canes will need a continued run of form from Svechnikov to make up for losses elsewhere on the roster.

New York Islanders: Mathew Barzal

The new season figures to be a more difficult test than the one the Isles faced in 2023-24. After a strong run down the stretch and a third-place finish in the Metro, the club enters 2024-25 with the division’s best still looking elite, and a number of clubs who finished below them looking better than they did a year ago. Still, the Islanders do have one undeniable game-breaker at their disposal, in Mathew Barzal.

The Coquitlam, B.C., native’s skill has been evident from the jump. And yet, even after a season of improved health and performance in 2023-24, Barzal’s best showing in the league remains his very first one, back in 2017-18, when he put up 85 points as a rookie. He’s fresh off his first point-per-game effort since, which is welcome news for the Isles given it came in the first year of Barzal’s hefty eight-year, $73.2-million extension. In Year 2 of that deal, the question is how much the 27-year-old can build on that progress, and reach further towards his potential to join the game’s elite.

Washington Capitals: Pierre-Luc Dubois

Pierre-Luc Dubois’ turn with the Caps marks his fourth big-league organization in five years, a humbling run for a player tabbed third-overall back in 2016. Of the three previous stops, the most telling in terms of where Dubois’ career is at right now was the spin with the Kings — who traded for him in 2023, signed him to a $68-million extension soon after, and traded him away a year later.

Now, coming off a difficult 2023-24 effort in Los Angeles, Dubois gets a clean slate and a fresh opportunity in D.C., where he’ll have a shot at being a key contributor for the veteran Caps. The club made clear this summer that they aren’t ready to throw in the towel on the Alex Ovechkin Era, bringing in Dubois and Jakob Chychrun, among others, to help revive the team’s chances in the East. Central to achieving that big-picture goal will be a resurgence from Dubois himself.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Evgeni Malkin

Father Time has caught up with the Pens over the past few seasons. After a string of first-round post-season exits since their back-to-back Cup wins in 2016 and 2017, the past two campaigns have seen Pittsburgh finish fifth in the Metro and miss the dance altogether. New president and GM Kyle Dubas has shaken up the roster some, bringing in Erik Karlsson last summer, and top prospect Rutger McGroarty this time around. Still, with the Penguins set to start a season without Jake Guentzel on Sidney Crosby’s wing for the first time in nearly a decade, the onus will be on the rest of the club’s top six to be at their best.

The captain has proven he can still do that with ease, Crosby entering the new season fresh off a dominant 42-goal, 94-point effort at age 36. For the club’s other future Hall of Famer up front, Evgeni Malkin, the hope is 2024-25 will bring the type of timeless production he showcased a year ago, when he finished 2022-23 above the 80-point plateau. A late-season surge in production that nearly pulled Pittsburgh into a wild-card spot should give the Penguins faithful hope on that front.

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Philadelphia Flyers: Sean Couturier

Big-picture, the Flyers are surely glad to simply see Sean Couturier back on the ice, back in the squad, leading the charge. After injuries derailed the former Selke Trophy winner’s career, the 2023-24 campaign marked an important step in the long-time Philly leader finding his form. But that journey seems ongoing at the moment. After returning to the lineup last season, the 31-year-old endured something of a tumultuous campaign, looking not quite himself, and winding up in the press box down the stretch as a healthy scratch from time to time.

All eyes will be on rookie Matvei Michkov, but entering what’s hopefully a healthier 2024-25, with the ‘C’ stitched to Couturier’s chest and six years remaining on the weighty $62-million extension he just began, the key question in Philly will be whether the captain can reassert himself as one of the game’s premier two-way talents.

New Jersey Devils: Timo Meier

Rewind back to late February 2023, and the Devils seemed on top of the world. A dominant campaign had them sitting among the league’s best, the Metro’s power balance seemed upended, and Jersey had beefed up its offence courtesy of a blockbuster swing that landed Timo Meier. The 13-piece swap saw four players and three picks go out the door for the package highlighted by the ex-Sharks sniper, and through the early goings of his time in a Devils sweater, Meier seemed worth the price.

But after potting nine goals through 21 games in that first post-deadline spin (taking his season total to 40 even), the Swiss talent took a step back in 2023-24. Less than a week into the campaign, he was being benched by former head coach Lindy Ruff. Injuries complicated his season further. And the Devils’ campaign as a whole finished as one to forget. A new coach in Sheldon Keefe, and a season of improved health across the lineup, could turn New Jersey’s fortunes around. But there’s no question a revival of Meier’s old form will speed up that process.

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