The Atlantic’s recent Big 4 ( Tampa Bay, Toronto, Florida, Boston ) all got worse this off – season and the bottom feeders ( Detroit , Ottawa, Buffalo, Montreal ) all got better but have any Atlantic franchises changed to haves or have nots. 
The Tampa Bay Lightning (1) were two games away from winning an extraordinary third straight Stanley Cup. They have the best goaltender in the world Andrei Vasilevskiy and the best defensemen in the Eastern Conference Victor Hedman. The defense will miss veteran Ryan McDonagh but Mikhai Sergachev and Erik Cernak are excellent Top 4 defensemen. Superstars Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point are healthy and Captain Steven Stamkos is coming off a Hart-like season. These three give the Bolts the best high end talent in the Atlantic.
Ultra-clutch forward Ondrej Palat is gone and two way center Anthony Cirelli starts the season on the IR so Brandon Hagel, Ross Colton and Nick Paul with have to step up. The Lightning can fix any problems that occur during the year because Head Coach Jon Cooper and GM Patric Brisbois are the best HC/GM combo in the league.
The Toronto Maple Leafs (2) HC /GM combo of Sheldon Keefe and Kyle Dubas have probably one more year to figure out how to get out of the first round. Center Auston Matthews is the NHL’s best goal scorer.
Even with the some of the ridiculous contracts handed out this summer Mitch Marner’s contract is still bad but William Nylander’s looks better and better. The Top 6 is very good but the bottom is still below the line. Do they think Zach Aston Reese is going to score? Morgan Reilly is not the best defensemen on a Stanley Cup winner. The rest of the defense are old guys past their prime or young guys who may never have one. Keefe and Dubas are hoping Matt Murray can salvage his career in net. Murray needs the Leafs to play consistent in their own end, can they? If Captain John Tavares didn’t get faster over the summer the Leafs will only go as far as Matthews can carry them.
The Florida Panthers (3) won the Presidents Trophy then got embarrassed by their biggest rival in the playoffs so they fired their Head Coach Andrew Brunette and hired retread Paul Maurice. Maurice has never won anything. They also made a blockbuster trade. Matthew Tkachuk is a heck of a player and brings an edge but the Panthers will miss Jonathan Huberdeau’s creativity and his chemistry with Aleksander Barkov. The Big Cats will also miss defensemen MacKenzie Weegar. Weegar was an excellent number two defenseman in South Florida. The Panthers got careers years out of almost everyone last year. They cannot expect the same thing this year.
The Boston Bruins (4) were the team closest to falling out of the Top 4. The Detroit Red Wings (5) are the team closest to jumping into the Top 4. I was all set to jump Detroit over Boston but then I saw that Brad Marchand will back sooner than expected and Detroit is very thin on the back end. The Bruins still have walking Selke Trophy Captain Patrice Bergeron and world class goal scorer David Pastrynak. David Krejci returns from his one-year sabbatical in Europe to play his usual 2nd line center. Boston needs Jake DeBrusk to play like he did the end of last year. Taylor Hall needs to play like he did in New Jersey. The Red Wings Dylan Larkin is coming into his own as a Captain and number 1 center. Newly acquired Andrew Copp gives Detroit a true number 2 center. Detroit’s young talented forward core includes Lucas Raymond, Tyler Bertuzzi and Jakub Vrana was re- enforced with free agent snipers David Perron and Dominik Kubalik. The Red Wings upgraded in net with Ville Husso teaming with Alex Nedeljkovic but Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark in Boston make it a push. The deciding factor in picking Boston over Detroit was Boston’s depth on the blue line. All world blue liner Charlie McAvoy and scrappy Matt Grzelcyk Boston will be out at the beginning of the year but Hampus Lindholm was a former number one D- Man in Anaheim and Brandon Carlo is a legitimate Top 4. Detroit Rookie of the Year Defensemen Moritz Seider could be a Norris Finaliat this Year but after him I don’t trust any of the Motor City blueliners to shut down a top tier #1 line.
The Ottawa Senators (6) are the Canadian Media’s darlings this offseason. Everyone in the Great White North thinks they’re a playoff team but they are extremely thin blue line. Thomas Chabot and Artyom Zub are a good top pair, then what. Cam Talbot will stabilize the Senators in goaltending situation. Ottawa stole Alex Debrincat from Chicago. He’s a 40 goal scorer who instantly brings credibility to their young skilled forward unit that includes phenom Tim Stutzle and Captain Brady Tkachuk. Former Flyers Captain Claude Giroux signed in Ottawa and quickly told everyone to tamper expectations. Giroux proving what a horrible leader he has always been.
The Buffalo Sabres (7) have the best 1-4 centers in the Atlantic. Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens, Casey Mittelstadt and Zemgus Girgensons are solid. Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, Jeff Skinner, Victor Olofsson, Kyle Okposo give the Swords above the line wingers. Why are the Sabres 7th ? Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power are exceptional defensemen but young. Sabre’s goaltender will either be old man Craig Anderson or Eric Comrie. Google Eric Comrie. I did.
The Montreal Canadiens (8) are playing for the number one pick. I hope they take Connor Bedard if given the chance. Montreal’s team looks like a mock expansion draft. Some nice pieces but not a cohesive team. Forwards Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher will look good to someone at the deadline. The Habs hope new Captain Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach grow with high end prospects Cole Caufield and Slaver. When Mike Matheson is your number one defensemen and Jake Allen is your number one goalie you’re unofficially tanking.
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