Overall, it’s been a fascinating offseason thus far for the Atlantic Division as a whole.
Undoubtedly, there’s been notable movement – on and off the ice – but at this point, it’s tough to concretely proclaim that one team has stood out from the rest. In fact, it’s fair to suggest that a few teams have gotten substantially worse.
But that’s why they play the games, right?
Any way you slice it, there’s no question that the door is wide open for the Toronto Maple Leafs to seize control. Most importantly, capturing a division title would mean that they would play a wild card squad to start the Stanley Cup Playoffs. At this point, considering all the misfortune in the postseason over the past decade, any advantage that could possibly help this team finally push through when it matters most is welcome.
Fresh off winning their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, the Florida Panthers were stripped of some serious depth, especially on the back end. As expected, they went bargain hunting. On paper, they’re not as strong as the squad that hoisted Lord Stanley. Then there’s the Tampa Bay Lightning, who elected to move on from their captain Steven Stamkos and elite defender Mikhail Sergachev, among others. In lieu of that, they brought in Jake Guentzel and reunited with veteran blue liner Ryan McDonagh. The Bolts are probably worse, but you just never know. Jon Cooper, Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman, and Andrei Vasilevskiy are great.
Meantime, the Boston Bruins, who yet again punted the Maple Leafs in Round 1, addressed some needs by bringing in Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov. They’ll continue to be in the mix, there’s no question about that. They have some question marks, though.
As for Toronto, on the surface, they possess a more balanced roster. Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson should really bolster the blue line and Anthony Stolarz should form a solid one-two punch with Joseph Woll in between the pipes. Up front, they lack some serious depth, but there’s still plenty of time before puck drop. The case can be profoundly made that the Maple Leafs have improved. It’s time for Craig Berube to cook.
Lastly, taking nothing away from the likes of Detroit, Ottawa, Buffalo, and Montreal, but they’re still widely perceived as the bottom four teams in the division right now. The Red Wings have made some interesting moves, but like most teams, their back end and crease could cost them royally. Speaking of which, the Senators solidified their crease bringing in Linus Ullmark. Aside from that though, they’re pretty much bringing back the same team —but with Travis Green behind the bench. Additionally, the Sabres haven’t done much outside of buying out Jeff Skinner and signing Jason Zucker. Without question, they’re hoping that a few bounce-back performances and their young, promising crease could help to thrust them in the right direction. Lastly, Montreal elected to stay relatively silent, too. They’re young and shouldn’t be slept on.
