While the Metropolitan Division is top heavy, view here, the Atlantic Division is way more wide open. Seven teams are vying for a playoff spot, and anything short would be a disappointment. The Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, and Ottawa Senators are all teams that are trying to get back into the playoffs after lengthy droughts. Will they finally do it? Lets dive into the Atlantic Division.
8th | Montreal Canadiens
The bottom three teams in the Atlantic Division are all trying to be competitive in an extremely close division. However, despite acquiring forward Patrik Laine from the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Montreal Canadiens will remain in last. Laine will miss 2-3 months after suffering an injury from a knee-on-knee collision in the preseason. They are the only team in the division not in contention for a playoff spot.
Offensively, they are led by Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, newcomer, Patrik Laine, and captain, Nick Suzuki. Slafkovsky can be a difference maker for this team. Entering his third year in the league, the 2022 first-overall pick needs to build off last season after a disappointing rookie season. The quicker he develops, the better the Canadiens will be long-term.
However, Kirby Dach’s health is a major concern. He is ready for the start of the season despite only suiting up for two games last year. He missed the remainder of 2023-24 season with a torn ACL and MCL. The 23-year old Alberta native should be the second line centre for this team, so it is imperative that he stays on the ice.
They have an extremely young blue line with four out of their top six under 24-years old. They are inexperienced now, but having this young core playing and developing together will only make this group stronger in the future, when they are ready to compete for the playoffs. Unfortunately, they are not there yet.
7th | Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators want to compete, but they have too many holes in their lineup, mainly on defense. Outside of Sanderson and Chabot, their blue line is thin. They have Artyom Zub, Nick Jensen, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Travis Hamonic, and Tyler Kleven on the payroll. Kleven is an intriguing player. He’s only 22-years old, and was selected in the second-round of the 2020 draft. Ultimately, this blue line is not good enough to make the playoffs, and their offense is not elite enough to compensate for their defensive woes.
Their top forward line consists of Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, and Clade Giroux. Other than that, this group is fairly mediocre. Similar to Montreal with Kirby Dach, the Senators are hoping Josh Norris can stay healthy. Norris had successful shoulder surgery in March, and should be ready for the start of the season. However, he has appeared in just 58 games over the last two seasons. He is their second line centre, and this team doesn’t have the depth to successfully fill his role. If he misses significant time again, the Senators will have a hard time moving up the Atlantic Division standings.
Their biggest offseason move was acquiring goaltender, Linis Ullmark from the Boston Bruins. Ullmark had an incredible stint in Boston, posting a .924 save percentage (SV %) in his three seasons. However, he is joining a relatively inexperienced team, with a weaker blue line then he had in Boston. His numbers should take a dip, and he will likely not be the saviour that the organization was hoping for.
6th | Buffalo Sabres
Similar to the Senators, the Buffalo Sabres are in a weird spot. They have not made significant progress as an organization despite not making the playoffs since the 2010-11 season. It feels like they are on the verge of breaking through. However, many fans say that every year, but they continue to disappoint and underperform.
This is a very young and talented team. They have a great blue line to build around. Their core pieces consist of Rasmus Dahlin, Bowen Byram, and Owen Power. They are all under 25-years old, and both Dahlin and Byram recently inked long-term extensions. In net, they have the tandem of 22-year old Devon Levi, and 25-year old Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Luukkonen is also under contract for five more seasons with a $4.75 million cap hit.
On top of having 26-year old, Tage Thompson, they also have youngsters, Dylan Cozens, JJ Peterka, Zach Benson, and Jack Quinn up front. They are all under 24-years old. They have the pieces in place; it’s just about building around them. The Sabres are not far off from once again competing for a playoff spot.
The Buffalo Sabres have the longest active playoff drought, at 13 seasons, and the longest all-time. They are in an extremely tough division, so unfortunately for Sabres fans, this streak will reach 14 seasons.
5th | Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings will likely be competing with the Washington Capitals and New York Islanders for the last wildcard spot. Their strength is undoubtedly their offensive fire power in the top six. They have three-time Stanley Cup champion, Patrick Kane, as well as Alex Debrincat, Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond, and Vladimir Tarasenko. This group should have no problem putting the puck in the net.
This is a bubble playoff team in large part to their defense and goaltending. If these aspects were better, they would definitely be a playoff contender. They have two good young blueliners in Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson, but have mediocre veterans in Erik Gustafsson, Jeff Petry, and Ben Chiarot. They also have newly acquired Cam Talbot in net. Talbot had a good season with the Los Angeles Kings last year, but he’s going to a team with a worse blue line. While Talbot is a decent goaltender, this team needs better to seriously contend. Until that happens, they won’t surpass the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Atlantic Division.
4th | Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning should still compete for a wildcard spot despite losing their captain, Steven Stamkos this offseason. They also traded defenseman, Mikhail Sergachev to Utah. While these are two huge losses, they did sign former Pittsburgh Penguin star, Jake Guentzel in free agency. They also acquired J.J Moser in the Sergachev deal, and added veteran winger, Cam Atkinson as an extra layer of depth. This team still has the star power in Guentzel, Point, and Kucherov which will likely be their top line. Opponents will have success against Tampa if they can contain that line.
The Lightning are extremely well-coached with John Cooper and have an elite goaltender in Andrei Vasilevskiy between the pipes. Vasilevskiy is looking to bounce back after a down season, posting a .900 save percentage (SV %). That is well below is career average of .917. If the big Russian goaltender can return to form, the Lightning should remain in the postseason.
3rd | Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs solidified their blue line by adding both Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Chris Tanev through free agency. They are still an extremely top heavy team with Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares taking up 53% of the teams’ salary cap. This team desperately needs secondary scoring from guys like Max Domi, Bobby McMann, and Matthew Knies.
Their goaltending is also a concern. They have career backup in Anthony Stolarz, and unproven Joseph Woll to be relied upon. Neither goaltender has played more than 29 games in a single season. The X factor in net will be Matt Murray as he is finally healthy and looking to bounce back. Woll appeared in 25 games last season, but prior to that, he only played in 11 games combined during the previous two seasons.
There is a lot of pressure to perform well in this Canadian market, so will Woll be able to live up to organizational expectations? That is a large task for a team already under a lot of pressure to perform well, especially come playoff time. The top two teams in this division have their decisive number one goaltender and the Leafs do not. Therefore, expect Toronto to finish third in the Atlantic Division once again.
2nd | Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins know how to win in the regular season. They added both Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov through free agency. With the Zadorov addition, the Bruins blue line is stacked. Their top four includes Charlie McAvoy, Nikita Zadorov, Hampus Lindholm, and Brandon Carlo. That group is extremely tough to play against, and they defend really well. They also have some offense sprinkled into their game.
Their notable forwards include Elias Lindholm, David Pastrnak, and Brad Marchand. While Pastrnak will probably pot 50 goals, this team won’t score a ton outside of that, but they won’t need to. They will grind their opponents down with hard-nosed, defensive, physical, and structured hockey.
Their biggest concern is the status of goaltender Jeremy Swayman. Swayman is an unsigned restricted free agent (RFA). Training camp has started and he is currently without a new deal. This has turned into an incredibly messy situation. They traded Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators in hopes of passing the torch to the 25-year old netminder. They acquired capable backup, Joonas Korpisalo as Ullmark’s replacement. Even If the Bruins and Swayman can’t agree on a new deal, this team is still good enough to lock up second in the division with Korpisalo at the helm. They are destined to once again meet the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
1st | Florida Panthers
The defending Stanley Cup Champions are looking to win the Atlantic Division for back-to-back seasons. The Florida Panthers core group remain intact for the most part. Their only major subtractions were defenseman, Brandon Montour, and trade deadline acquisition, Vladimir Tarasenko. They still have 50-goal scorer Sam Reinhart, as well as Carter Verhaeghe, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett, and Matthew Thachuk in their top six.
They also have two-time Vezina Trophy winner, Sergei Bobrovsky between the pipes. The 35-year old veteran netminder is coming off his best season since 2017-2018 with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Russian netminder posted a .915 save percentage (SV %) in his fifth season with the Panthers. He has been the epitome of consistency throughout his entire career. He only has one season below a .900 SV% which came in his sophomore season back in 2011-2012. The 35-year old goaltender holds a career .915 SV %. If he has another consistent season, the Panthers are the team to beat in the incredibly competitive Atlantic Division.
Anything can happen in this unpredictable Atlantic Division. Training camps are underway and the start of the NHL regular season kicks off overseas on Oct. 4th when the Buffalo Sabres take on the New Jersey Devils in Prague. Keep it locked to Area 51 Sports Network as we embark on another exciting hockey season.
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