The Atlantic Division is the best division in the NHL. Its Eastern Conference counterpart, the Metropolitan is the weakest division the NHL. This will enable five teams to make the playoffs out of the Atlantic. This is great news for the perennial bottom four teams Detroit, Buffalo, Montreal and Ottawa. Each of those teams has improved but not enough to enter the perennial top four of Toronto, Florida, Tampa Bay and Boston. Each top four team has gotten weaker but not by enough to miss the playoffs.
- Toronto – The Maple Leafs newly minted Captain Auston Matthews is one the NHL’s five best players. He’s the league’s best goal scorer and plays Selke level defense. William Nylander lived up to his new contract last season by becoming a superstar. If the other member of the Big Four Mitch Marner and John Tavares don’t become distractions because of their contract statuses the Leafs should have a potent offense. Newcomers Chris Tanev and Oliver Eckman – Larsson will improve the defense. The Leafs are still relying on hope in net with unproven kid Joseph Woll and veteran Anthony Stolarz. New Head Coach Craig Berube will make sure the Leafs have a wonderful regular season as always. What happens in the playoffs is anyone’s guess including team czar Brendan Shanahan’s
- Florida- The Panthers are defending Stanley Cup Champions who have played a lot of hockey the past two seasons. They will get tired in the spring, but they will dominate the winter on inertia. Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart are too good not too. While the Big Cats lost depth up front, but they still have Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe and Anton Lundell. Aaron Ekblad and Gustav Forsling were Florida’s most important defensemen last season. They are returning. Sergei Bobrovsky is now a Hall of Famer. So is Head Coach Paul Maurice.
- Boston – The Bruins are always my choice to fall out of the top four in the Atlantic. It never happens. The Bruins lose Zdeno Chara then Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci no problem. That’s because they still have David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand. Adding Elias Lindholm this summer gives the Bs a much-needed legitimate number one center. Charlie Coyle cannot be expected to play above his pay grade indefinitely. Nikita Zadorov gives the defense more size, skill and nastiness. Teaming with Charlie McAvoy gives Boston an elite top pair. Jeremy Swayman will be formidable in net. He won’t have to share it with Linus Ullmark. The jury is still out on Head Coach Jim Montgomery whose big decisions are usually wrong.
- Tampa Bay – The Lightning shook up their locker room this summer. They let franchise legend and Captain Steven Stamkos leave in free agency. They traded defenseman Mikhail Sergachev. Stamkos was replaced by younger Jake Guentzel. Sergachev by older Ryan McDonagh. McDonagh returns to the team. If anyone can navigate a changed locker room its Head Coach Jon Cooper. He’s the league’s most tenured coach. Cooper is a surefire Hall of Famer. Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point are two of the very best forwards in the NHL. Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel are fine complimentary pieces. The Bolts haven’t  found the right depth up front since their Cup teams. Victor Hedman is still leading the defense. He has not have lost a step. It appears goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy haslost. He needs to regain his magic in net.
- Detroit- The Red Wings Captain Dylan Larkin missed a couple weeks of last season due to injury. It cost Detroit a playoff spot. Larkin is vital to the Wings success. He centers the top line that includes professional scorer Alex DeBrincat and budding star Lucas Raymond. Wings scoring depth was aided by signing Vlad Tarasenko and resigning of Patrick Kane. Moe Seider continues to excel in all facets on the blueline. Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon will need to play better than average in net. If they do GM Steve Yzerman should finally have Detroit in the playoffs after an eight-year drought.
- Buffalo – The last time the Sabres were in the playoffs was seventeen years ago. Lindy Ruff was the Head Coach. Ruff has returned to Buffalo. Ineptitude behind the bench and in net have been the Swords biggest problems recently. Clueless and cheap describe the front office and owners box. Buffalo hopes to have found their goaltender Ukko -Pekka Luukkenon. They signed him to a lengthy contract. Most Buffalo defensemen have big contracts. Rasmus Dahlin and Bowen Byram are worth those contracts. Center Tage Thompson must play better than he did last season. Thompson’s play should spur on Alex Tuch who also disappointed last season.
- Montreal- The Canadians will score a lot of goals. Head Coach Martin St. Louis lets his team play an open brand of hockey. Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky are all potent scorers. Patrik Laine was added this summer. Laine is motivated. Pencil Laine in the at least thirty goals. The Habs blue line is thin. Goalies Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau will be asked to make a inordinate amount of quality saves.
- Ottawa – The Senators never can put it together. It’s never a matter of talent. It’s coaching and personal pride that stunts the Senators. Brady Tkachuk never takes a night off which most of his teammates do often. Everyone on Ottawa’s roster is always on the way out or at least hoping to be. Goaltender Linus Ullmark will be the later when he realizes he’s not backstopping the Boston Bruins anymore.
You must be logged in to post a comment.