The Eastern Conference is stacked! The Eastern Conference isn’t as good as many people think! The Metropolitan Division is guaranteed to improve after last season! The division has plenty of weak competition that good teams will take advantage of throughout the season!
Related: 5 Bold New York Islanders Predictions in 2024-25
Heading into the 2024-25 season, there are two alternate realities about the New York Islanders and their surrounding opponents. Depending on who is asked, the perception is that the Islanders are sure to fall out of the playoff picture or be a good not great team in the mix. Likewise, the opponents will either give them a tough time or allow them to pile up the wins.
The bottom line is that they look like a bubble team as they can sneak into the playoff or just miss it. The question is which teams will bump the Islanders from a playoff spot or pose the biggest threat? Assuming the top tier in the conference (Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, New York Rangers, and so on) is significantly better, there are a handful of teams after that to watch out for.
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are at the end of their rebuild and look ready to take a big step this season. It’s reflected in their offseason addition of Patrik Laine, a dynamic winger who is expected to take a good forward unit and take it to the next level. Suddenly, the Canadiens head into the season as a team that can easily sneak up on the rest of the league.
With Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach, and rising star Juraj Slafkovsky already in the top six, Laine is the cherry on top. Then there’s the great defensive unit that has a mix of veterans and youth, making it one of the deeper units in the NHL. Sure, goaltending is still a question mark but it’s an issue many teams around the league have.
The Canadiens will enter the playoff conversation and they will be a particularly tough matchup for the Islanders. They have the speed and skill to pressure the Islanders defensive unit and make games high-scoring. Ultimately, it will come down to great goaltending to save the day.
New Jersey Devils
There’s a good argument for the New Jersey Devils to be in a tier above the Islanders. They are considered one of the elite teams in the conference and last season was a one-off, one where everything that could go wrong did. One problem the Devils have is the injury bug. Specifically, they are a team that can’t…
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