With another NHL season rapidly approaching, we're continuing our 2019-2020 preview week. We'll be taking a look around the league, division by division, and providing a snapshot of all 31 teams. In addition to top-to-bottom rankings, we'll give you reasons to believe in every team and, for the pessimists, reasons to doubt them as well. 

Here's a breakdown of what might be the toughest division to project -- the Metropolitan.

1. Carolina Hurricanes

(Last season: 99 points, 4th in Metro)

Reason to believe: The Hurricanes turned a corner last year under the leadership of Rod Brind'Amour. They made the playoffs for the first time in a decade and advanced to the Eastern Conference Final. They have a talented group of forwards led by Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen. They'll get a full season out of Nino Niederreiter, who flourished after going to Carolina mid-season. Andrei Svechnikov is a great young player heading into his second season. They added Ryan Dzingel this offseason.

The front end of their forward group is very good, but the Hurricanes' biggest strength lies in their back end. They have a tremendous defensive corps and replaced Calvin de Haan with Jake Gardiner this offseason, and Gardiner should fit in very well with their style of play. Their mobile, swarm-style of defense excels at putting pressure on the opposition while pushing play the other way. The Hurricanes finished as the best possession team in the Eastern Conference last year. 

Reason to doubt: There are some question marks surrounding their depth and power play, but the biggest concern comes in net. They got surprisingly strong goaltending from Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney last year, but is it sustainable? They've replaced McElhinney with James Reimer but It wouldn't be all that surprising if their goaltending took a step back because a Mrazek-Reimer tandem isn't exactly great. Then again, it may not have to be considering the quality of defense in front of them. 

2. Washington Capitals

(Last season: 104 points, 1st in Metro)

Reason to believe: They've won the Metro in each of the last four seasons and there hasn't been enough turnover to think they can't make a run at doing it again. They've still got Alex Ovechkin and he's still basically a lock for 40 goals. They've still got very good secondary producers like Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, Jakub Vrana and Tom Wilson. They'll score goals and do well on the power play. 

They did do some tinkering and added a bit more bite and physicality to their lineup on the back end with the acquisitions of Radko Gudas and Garnet Hathaway. 

Reason to doubt: Their core, while still very good, isn't getting any younger. Their fourth line is a bit of a question mark and the defense isn't overly impressive. Their penalty kill (78.9 percent) ranked 24th in the league last year. Their xGF percentage (47.6) was seventh-worst in the league. On top of that, Braden Holtby's numbers have been rather pedestrian the past few years. He's going to need to prove that he's capable of returning to Vezina-caliber form. 

3. Pittsburgh Penguins

(Last season: 100 points, 3rd in Central)

Reason to believe: They've still got Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin leading the charge, and those two guys are usually going to give you a chance. They added some depth on the right side with the additions of Dominik Kahun and Brandon Tanev. Kris Letang bounced back in a big way last season and was a legitimate Norris candidate. Matt Murray returned to impressive form last season after a down year in 2017-2018. 

Reason to doubt: They seem to be trending in the wrong direction, especially because they've put so much emphasis on prioritizing big bodies and grit over the past year or so. They have a tendency to look rather porous defensively, which probably won't be helped by the fact that they seem intent on running a third defensive pair of Jack Johnson and Erik Gudbransson. They finished sixth in offense last year but it wouldn't be surprising to see them slide this year. They traded Phil Kessel for Alex Galchenyuk, who probably won't match Kessel's offensive productivity. Jake Guentzel went from 22 goals to 40 goals last year but did so while shooting 17.6 percent, so that output probably isn't sustainable.

4. New Jersey Devils

(Last season: 72 points, 8th in Metro)

Reason to believe: They had an incredibly exciting offseason that saw them add first overall pick (and potential franchise-changing talent) Jack Hughes, as well as P.K. Subban, NIkita Gusev and Wayne Simmonds. Add in the fact that former MVP Taylor Hall will be returning to the lineup after missing more than half of last season...well, the Devils will, at the very least, be a lot more fun to watch. They also have plenty of wiggle room on the cap so don't rule out this team's potential of improving mid-season.

Reason to doubt: Hughes is an incredible talent who should get plenty of chance to shine in New Jersey next season, but he'll likely have to navigate some growing pains as an undersized first-year center. But how far the Devils go this season will most likely hinge on goaltending. Cory Schneider is 33 years old and he's looked like a shell of his former self for most of the past three seasons. The question is whether he can stay healthy and good enough to help the Devils be taken seriously. If not, the team will have to turn to MacKenzie Blackwood, who had a strong rookie campaign last year but is still largely unproven. 

5. Philadelphia Flyers

(Last season: 82 points, 6th in Metro)

Reason to believe: They may have overpaid for Kevin Hayes, but his addition makes them a better team both at five-on-five and on special teams. They have a strong front-six that can be trusted with 200 feet of ice, and the addition of Hayes pushes down Nolan Patrick. Carter Hart hit the scene last year and had a good rookie campaign, giving the Flyers some faith in the prospect of long-term goalie stability -- something they've sorely missed for quite some time. 

Reason to doubt: They gave up the third-most goals in the league last year and though Matt Niskanen and Justin Braun were added to their defensive corps, neither of those guys should be considered major difference-makers on a back end that has struggled with consistency over the past few years.Their depth scoring options aren't fantastic and they'll probably have to rely on at least one rookie (Joel Farabee?) to help them improve in that area. Their power play ranked 23rd in the league last season. 

6. New York Islanders

(Last season: 103 points, 2nd in Metro)

Reason to believe:  They're coming off a tremendous first year under Barry Trotz in which they not only survived the loss of John Tavares, but advanced to the second round of the playoffs. Their defensive structure was very sound and they made a stunning turnaround, going from the league's worst defensive team to the league's best defensive team. They'll likely continue to be strong defensively this year as they retain a lot of the same personnel -- plus promising defensive prospect Noah Dobson.

Reason to doubt: The defense will be there, but will the scoring and goaltending? The Isles ranked 22nd in offense and had the third-worst power play in the league last season, and they haven't done much of anything this offseason to provide confidence it will be better. Mat Barzal went from an 85-point rookie campaign behind Tavares to a 62-point sophomore season as the No. 1 center. Robin Lehner had a career year and was a Vezina candidate in net, splitting the Jennings Trophy with Thomas Greiss. But Lehner has since been replaced by Semyon Varlamov, who has struggled with consistency issues during his career. If the Isles don't continue to get top-notch goaltending, they may not be able to score enough to overcome.

7. New York Rangers

(Last season: 78 points, 7th in Metro)

Reason to believe: Their rebuild has accelerated thanks to some major additions on both ends of the ice. The lottery balls bounced their way to allow them the right to draft Kaappo Kakko with the No. 2 overall pick in this year's draft, and Kakko has the potential to be an elite offensive force in the NHL. They also signed another elite offensive force in Artemi Panarin, who was the prize of this year's free agent class. Vitali Kravtsov -- the team's first-round pick in 2018 -- should also crack the lineup this year.

On the back end, they scored a top-pairing defenseman at a bargain when they acquired Jacob Trouba from the Winnipeg Jets. They also traded for the rights to Adam Fox, who is a highly touted blue line prospect entering his first season. 

Reason to doubt: While the future is taking shape, they're probably not ready to be legitimate competitors yet. They're depending on a lot of young players and new faces who will need time to develop and establish their footing. They also have Henrik Lundqvist approaching his age 38 season in net and Hank has become pretty unpredictable over the past few years. 

8. Columbus Blue Jackets

(Last season: 98 points, 5th in Metro)

Reason to believe: John Tortorella seems very pissed off that a bunch of their best players left in free agency and wants to use that as a chip on the shoulder for this year's club. Their defense is still very solid

Reason to doubt: They went all-in last year and are now paying the price. The top end of their roster was decimated by free agency departures (Artemi Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky, Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel) and it's just too much to replace. They're also heading into the season with Joonas Korpisalo as their starting goaltender. He's never served in a starting role and has finished each of the last two seasons with a sub-.900 save percentage as a backup.