In his introductory press conference after being named Penguins director of hockey operations, Kyle Dubas explained how he evaluates his team against its opposition.
“I think that the major focus, No. 1, is inside our division. That’s the way I always looked at things,” Dubas said. “Rather than try to stack ourselves up against all 31 other teams, let’s focus on our division. Let’s focus on trying to win our division. We play the most games there. That’s what’s going to set our playoff seeding. We’ve got to be inside the top three to lock ourselves in, and our goal is going to be to win the division.”
Last season, the Penguins finished fifth in the Metropolitan Division, just two points behind the fourth-place New York Islanders but 16 points behind the New York Rangers, who held down the third guaranteed playoff spot behind Carolina and New Jersey.
How much has the division changed in the offseason? The Trib is offering a team-by-team look this week:
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals were mostly inert in terms of any significant additions to their roster this offseason. The most notable names they added were unrestricted free agent forward Max Pacioretty (one year, $2 million) and defenseman Joel Edmundson, who they acquired in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens on July 1.
2023 finish: 35-37-10, 80 points, missed the playoffs
Key additions: Defenseman Joel Edmundson (61 games, two goals, 11 assists, 13 points), forward Max Pacioretty (five games, three goals, zero assists, three points), forward Matthew Phillips (two games, zero goals, zero assists, zero points)
Key departures: Forward Connor Brown (four games, zero goals, zero assists, zero points), defenseman Matt Irwin (61 games, two goals, three assists, five points), forward Conor Sheary (82 games, 15 goals, 22 assists, 37 points), forward Craig Smith (64 games, nine goals, seven assists, 16 points)
What it means: Pacioretty is a low-risk/high-reward signing. A former 30-goal scorer, he missed nearly all of the 2022-23 season due to Achilles tendon injuries. Should he be able to get past that impairment, Pacioretty could easily slot into the Capitals’ group of skilled top-six forwards. As for Edmundson, he can be a steady, albeit unspectacular, fit on the Capitals’ bottom defensive pairings.
