Feel that cool chill in the air? That's the faint signal that hockey will be played later this month.

Teams are about ready to report to training camp after a long offseason. As always, there are plenty of questions around the league, including our roundtable topic this week: Which NHL teams will win their divisions?

Will the Rangers win the Metropolitan again? Are the defending Cup champion Panthers going to top the Atlantic? Is it set in stone the Oilers will win the Pacific? And will the Central see a battle at the top?

Our B/R NHL staff answers those questions and more as they pick their division winners.

Disagree with the team's predictions? Sound off now in the B/R comments section of the app!

Metropolitan Division: New Jersey Devils

The Metropolitan Division has been notoriously tough to pin down for a few years. It's not a situation like the Western Conference, where the best of the best are absolutely top-tier, but it's more like majority of the teams are hovering around the playoff bubble.

That partially explains why teams that look so dominant, like the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes, end up falling in the Conference Final, and why a team like the Devils has felt like such a massive letdown.

If we've learned anything from the last decade or so of Stanley Cup lore, though, it's that every team to rise above has had to face its fair share of letdowns for a few years, tweaking the roster along the way until the formula and vibes finally click.

The Devils not even making the playoffs last season was a huge shocker, but it's obvious why in hindsight. The goaltending didn't pan out and key players were hurt. We could belly-ache about individual performances and slightly down years for some offensive producers if the team were to make a legit run, but goaltending and health were absolutely the difference between making the playoffs and not.

This time around, incoming goalie Jacob Markstrom is looking to make a statement, the roster is healthy (at least for now), and the Devils have signed Brett Pesce and added more defensive depth.

If all goes well, and if 21-year-old defenseman Luke Hughes takes a big step, we're looking at the Devils emerging in the Metro. Part of me says this because of the nature of the division—the Devils are the best team with the most room for improvement, even if the Rangers and the Canes have seen more recent success.

—Sara Civian

Atlantic Division: Toronto Maple Leafs

What we know about the Atlantic Division this season is that it's going to be extremely competitive. The top four teams will be fighting for the division and trying to stay out of the wild-card battle that will be completely bonkers. The bottom four teams will all be trying to be somewhere in a wild-card position to get back to the playoffs for the first time in a long time.

Call it the haves and want-to-haves but the delineation that's been obvious for the past few years remains the same. Florida, Boston, Toronto and Tampa Bay are the class of the division, and Detroit, Buffalo, Ottawa and Montréal all wish they were where the top four teams are.

That idea of comfort in the standings has been a dream for all of them for a while now and the wait for one or more of those teams to come back to earth is probably going to have to go on for another year, especially after Florida became a playoff staple a few years ago.

The fun part about those top four teams this year is they all have a lot of questions surrounding them.

You'd like to think the Panthers can repeat as the division winner given that they have already done it and are extremely good, but seven players who were in the lineup for Game 7 against Edmonton in the Stanley Cup Final are either on other teams or still yet unsigned (Kyle Okposo).

Boston's loss of depth, despite its history of overcoming losses and making us look foolish for predicting its downfall repeatedly, has to catch up to it eventually...right? Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov will try to prove Bruins doom-wishers wrong again.

Tampa Bay letting Steven Stamkos leave in free agency will be a severe test of the team's psyche and trading Mikhail Sergachev to Utah will test its already thin defensive depth. At least Jake Guentzel can make up for Stamkos. A healthier offseason for Andrei Vasilevskiy cannot be ignored, however. If he returns to Vezina form, that will make them even more dangerous.

Toronto's season will be dramatic because new coach Craig Berube has the weight of Leafs fans' Cup dreams on his shoulders now along with Mitch Marner's impending free agency.

But Toronto is the one team that virtually stayed intact over the summer and then added Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson to its blue line, which needed veteran help terribly. Mix in Anthony Stolarz as an experienced backup for goalie Joseph Woll and...

Oh no, I'm picking the Maple Leafs to win the Atlantic Division, aren't I?

Yeah, I am.

—Joe Yerdon

Central Division: Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars should be the clear favorites to repeat as Central Division champions.

They're returning much of the guts of a team that cruised to a conference-leading 113 points last season. Yes, Joe Pavelski is a big loss, and his retirement leaves a big hole alongside Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson. The trio formed arguably the best line in hockey last season.

Wyatt Johnston appears slated to fill the hole, and there is little reason to believe it won't be business as usual. In fact, it's fair to wonder if this iteration of the Stars won't be even more stacked at forward.

Logan Stankoven barely flinched in his transition to the NHL last season. The 5'8" forward will be a luxury on the third line. And while Johnston's promotion leaves a big gap on the third line, Mavrik Bourque should slot in nicely. The 22-year-old was over a point-per-game in the AHL last season and would have been promoted to the NHL on most teams.

Miro Heiskanen, Thomas Harley and Esa Lindell at the top of the lineup is absolutely Stanley Cup-caliber. It is fair to question the Stars' defensive depth. Matt Dumba and Brendan Smith are veterans in decline who are hardly locks to keep their head above water. Youngster Nils Lundkvist has a lot of upside as an offensive defenseman but has struggled to earn the trust of the coaching staff. Ilya Lyubushkin is not an NHL-caliber defenseman despite what they paid to sign him.

But the Stars cruised last season despite a mediocre showing from goaltender Jake Oettinger. Expect him to rebound to his All-Star form and clean up any messes. That should be enough to get them to the trade deadline when they can find another rental to shore up the defense like Chris Tanev did last season.

—Adam Herman

Pacific Division: Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers haven't hung a divisional championship banner since the days of Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey and Grant Fuhr.

That changes this season.

The Oilers finished behind Vancouver in the Pacific last spring before bouncing the Canucks from the playoffs on the way to a Western Conference title and a seven-game duel with Florida in the Stanley Cup Final.

The guess here is that they'll harness the momentum a little earlier this time around given obvious improvements made to the roster.

An already prolific top six is more potent with the additions of Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson, while the bottom six stayed strong thanks to free agents like Adam Henrique, Connor Brown and Mattias Janmark deciding to stay put in Alberta.

The offer sheet exits of Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg were a late-summer gut punch, but the salary-cap wiggle room provided by their absences should allow for upgrading a blue line that's the team's lone glaring weakness.

Vancouver will certainly be competitive and doesn't figure to be too far behind in the chase for the top spot in the standings, and it'd be no surprise if the Vegas Golden Knights are in the hunt on muscle memory alone. Los Angeles was third last season and probably won't do any better than that in 2024-25, while the division's second tier of Seattle, Calgary, San Jose and Anaheim would be a long shot for a playoff berth, let alone a Pacific title.

—Lyle Fitzsimmons