Metropolitan Division
National Hockey League division
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. 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.
The Metropolitan Division contains some of the most historic and heated 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 fifth largest market (Philadelphia), and the Capitals are in the eighth largest (Washington, D.C.). Games involving Metropolitan Division teams are frequently shown on U.S. national television.
Division lineups
2013–2020
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
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
Division not used for the 2020–21 NHL season
Changes from the 2019–20 season
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
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
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
Season results
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.
Metropolitan Division titles won by team
Teams in bold are currently in the division.
The public source identifies “Metropolitan Division” as national Hockey League division. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Metropolitan, Division and National.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q14116323. The first chronological checks are 2013, 1981, 1993 and 1982.
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This entry incorporates text from “Metropolitan Division” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.