The NHL season is fast approaching for the remaining 30 teams, while Buffalo and New Jersey have already begun their campaigns overseas in the Global Series in Czechia. This summer saw significant changes across the divisions, with several top players finding new teams.
At the start of a new season, hope is always high. The elite teams set their sights on winning the Stanley Cup, while those in a rebuilding phase aim to remain competitive and show improvement. However, as much as every team aspires to win, only one will claim the ultimate prize.
As in previous years, NHLRumors.com will preview the Eastern and Western Conferences, providing rankings for teams in each of the four divisions. Let’s kick off the new season by diving into the Atlantic Division.
NHL Atlantic Division Rankings
1. Florida Panthers (Last year finished First)
The defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers will finish first in the NHL Atlantic Division as they did a season ago. Even with the losses of Brandon Montour, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Steven Lorentz, and Ryan Lomberg, the Panthers are still a deep team that can go all the way again.
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GM Bill Zito added Adam Boqvist and Nate Schmidt to the mix. In addition, he kept Dmitry Kulikov on defense. Upfront, he added Tomas Nosek to go with Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe, and Sam Bennett. Oh yeah, Anton Lundell has a new contract extension.
The Panthers are loaded, and they still have Sergei Bobrovsky between the pipes. There is a reason why the Panthers are a favorite to win the Stanley Cup again this season. It’s a difficult task, but the Panthers know it is about this year, and last year is in the past.
2. Toronto Maple Leafs (Last year finished Third)
One of the more improved teams in the NHL Atlantic Division is the Toronto Maple Leafs, especially on defense. The Maple Leafs added Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Chris Tanev, and Jani Hakanpää. Plus, they signed Anthony Stolarz to go with Joseph Woll.
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Not to mention, management decided that Craig Berube was the answer to be the head coach and get this core over the hump. This could be the last year of the core with Mitch Marner and John Tavares free agents at the end of the year. It is a new era with Auston Matthews as the Leafs captain. William Nylander is looking to take the next step.
However, the question remains: Can this team win in the playoffs? Are they deep enough and physical enough to score enough goals to win? The goalies and defence haven’t been their issue in the playoffs; it is goal-scoring. The Maple Leafs are hoping that Berube can get everyone to buy into the system they play.
This team is not right there. But they need to show more fire to win when it matters. We say it yearly: changes are coming if this team fails in the playoffs. Let’s see what happens this year as the Maple Leafs are running it back again.
3. Boston Bruins (Last year finished Second)
This is where things can get tricky in the NHL Atlantic Division. The Boston Bruins are still a good team. You can never count them out. Goaltender Jeremy Swayman finally agreed to a contract and will be their number one goalie when ready.
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Joonas Korpisalo is the backup, with Linus Ullmark now with the Ottawa Senators. Boston has a good goalie coach in Bob Essena, who has worked wonders for goalies in the past. Boston addressed areas of need with the signings of Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov. With Swayman, the Bruins are a top-three team in the division.
4. Tampa Bay Lightning (Last year finished Fourth)
Another team that has a lot of intrigue around in the NHL Atlantic Division is the Tampa Bay Lightning. GM Julien BriseBois made a choice. He chose Jake Guentzel over Steven Stamkos. BriseBois also brought back Ryan McDonagh and sent Mikhail Sergachev to Utah.
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So, this team is different. Victor Hedman is the new captain. Yes, they still have a good first line of Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, and Guentzel, but what else do they have offensively? Brandon Hagel is decent. Cam Atkinson is not the player he used to be.
BriseBois made a couple of questionable decisions over the years. The first was the Tanner Jeannot trade. He got out of that. If the Lightning do not have similar success, you can point to the Stamkos saga as another mistake. While Andrei Vasilevskiy is still there, McDonagh is older and the defense corps took a hit with no Sergachev.
Tampa Bay will be a bubble team again this season.
5. Detroit Red Wings (Last year finished Fifth)
If Tampa Bay does not finish fourth, the Detroit Red Wings can and could get into the playoffs this season. They should, anyway. GM Steve Yzerman has put together a team that resembles some of those Red Wings teams from the mid to late 1990s.
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The young kids Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider got new extensions. Patrick Kane is back, Vladimir Tarasenko signed a new two-year deal. Alex DeBrincat is healthy, Dylan Larkin is healthy, and they have a nice complement of pieces with J.T. Compher, Andrew Copp, Tyler Motte, and others.
This team is good defensively with the addition of Erik Gustafsson. The question is whether they can get a save from Ville Husso, Alex Lyon, and Cam Talbot. Goaltending has been done in this team for the last couple of seasons. Detroit was in last year but missed out because of tiebreakers.
Is this the year they get in? There is potential there, for sure. It feels like it. Let’s see if they can make a save or two.
6. Ottawa Senators (Last year finished Seventh)
Another team that many people expect to do something this year is the Ottawa Senators. Now, the hype has cooled off from the last two seasons. The Senators have been disappointing. They are hoping they solved their goalie issues with Linus Ullmark.
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Ullmark has looked good in the preseason. The key for the Senators is getting off to a good start. The Senators added Nick Jensen from the Capitals for Jakob Chychrun to bolster the defense. In addition, David Perron joins the Senators offense, led by Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Shane Pinto, and Claude Giroux.
The Senators need to score goals this season and get off to a fast start. October and November have been miserable for them the last two seasons, hurting their playoff chances. Hopefully, Travis Green can get his team to play better defensively. Having a full season of Shane Pinto will help.
This is a tough division. Ottawa will be improved, but will it be enough for the playoffs?
7. Montreal Canadiens Last year finished Eighth)
The Montreal Canadiens could be sixth or could be eighth again. It all depends on how things click this season. This is the year they are supposed to take the next step in their rebuild. Despite what management says, Montreal wants to play meaningful games in March and April. It would be a huge disappointment if they didn’t.
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The addition of Patrik Laine was going to help that cause. Laine will be out for a couple of months with a left knee injury suffered in the preseason. He would have helped the Canadiens’ goal totals this season. However, it is the next man up for Montreal as they continue to be a family that players want to be around.
Another year of Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Nick Suzuki, Alex Newhook, and Kaiden Guhle has made them battle-tested. If Kirby Dach stays healthy, he could be an X-factor for the Canadiens. On the backend, Lane Hutson will be with the team and could make a bigger impact than some may think. Keep an eye on Montreal.
8. Buffalo Sabres (Last year finished Sixth)
Unfortunately, the Buffalo Sabres will be near the bottom of the Atlantic Division again. Buffalo did not do much in the off-season other than extending Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, signing Jason Zucker, and making the head-scratching decision to trade Matthew Savoie.
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They also brought back Lindy Ruff as the head coach. This is his second stint with the Sabres, and he looks to end the playoff drought. Remember the last time the Sabres made the playoffs, when Lindy Ruff was the head coach? Buffalo is stuck in this endless rebuild. They had all this talent come and go and could not make the playoffs.
Now the Sabres are loaded on defense with Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Bowen Byram, and Mattias Samuelsson. Not to mention, upfront, they have J.J. Peterka, Jack Quinn, Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, and Jordan Greenway. They need to figure out a way to score goals.
It will be another tough year in Buffalo. This could be 14 years without making the playoffs.
