Recently I had a series of blogs where I tried to come up with the best team a single division could provide. Each team was represented by a single player and the players had to play their “natural” position as stated by the website Cap Friendly.

This next series is going to focus on the opposite. I am going to try and select the worst team each division could submit under the same guidelines. If you were trying to tank and secure a high draft pick these would be the teams to assemble. I will try to use players who play on a regular basis and I will be refraining from using backup goaltenders.

The rules

My parameters are that you can only take one player from each team in the division.

You need to have a regular starting lineup with a center, right wing, left wing, right defense, left defense, and goalie.

There will be two bench positions for an eight team division. I’m going to take one forward and one defenseman.

I am using cap friendly to guide me on the positions.

Today we start with the Metropolitan Division

Brandon Dubinsky, Center

He’s a shell of his former self. He was a decent NHL player once upon a time. That time is over. There is going to be a theme with the players selected and that is their lack of ability to create offense and a lot of their “positive” attributes being closely related to grit and intangibles.

Matt Martin, Left Wing

Never an offensive pulse to speak of. Only 56 goals in 637 games. At times has some decent enough defensive metrics however when you are consistently defending and have no ability to counterstrike you are never going to win games. You can't be near the top of the league in hits if your team has the puck most of the time. The fact is Martin's team doesn't have the puck most of the time. He is a perfect selection for a team not trying to win.

Brock McGinn, Right Wing

Probably not very deserving to being on a list like this, but Carolina has an ever declining number of bottom feeding players. McGinn is on here because of the necessity of position and having every team represented. His impact on driving play is largely negative. He does have some offensive attributes as it pertains to a depth role. However, being on a team with incapable puck movers will neuter that.

Marc Staal, Left Defense

Listen, Jack Johnson could easily be here, but Marc Staal is just as bad and makes more money. Staal has been a net negative player for quite some time. He has no ability to create offense and does nothing to facilitate transition or possession. If his last name wasn't Staal he'd be out of the league.

Erik Gudbranson, Right Defense

We have an incredibly small sample of Gudbranson not being a terrible NHL player. We have close to 500 games saying otherwise. His strengths aren’t going to move the needle and overcome the shortcomings of being on a roster like this. there is plenty of evidence ie: Vancouver/Florida. He does very little to help forwards to get up ice in control of the puck. Despite having a hard shot his offensive results are underwhelming.

Cory Schneider, Goaltender

Schneider’s career was sadly wasted. He was a legit #1 goaltender for a long time, but spent a large amount of time being stuck behind Roberto Luongo and Martin Brodeur. He was one of the best. Unfortunately, that time is in the rear view mirror and he has really struggled in the most recent sample. The Devils should have traded him away a few years ago when he was still good and before they were ready to compete for a playoff spot again.

Chandler Stephenson, Forward Reserve

The Capitals were a tough team to pick a player from. Overall they have a lot of players who can contribute something. Stephenson does not seem to provide any kind of positive impact with the ice time he has been given. In a sheltered role only his shooting percentage and penalty differential sticks out as a positive.

Justin Braun, Defense Reserve

Braun is one of the better players on this team. He is the victim of usage that is probably too difficult for him. He is also a victim of the Flyers not having a ton of candidates for this list and my need for a reserve defenseman. He makes the list because of his lack of ability to contribute offensively. A key component in how I selected defensemen for an all-division team was a defenseman’s ability to do just that.

Martin-Dubinsky-McGinn
Staal-Gudbranson
Schneider
Stephenson
Braun

Thanks for reading!

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