For a number of seasons, the Atlantic Division has been split evenly between the haves and the have-nots. The storyline that the bottom half of the division is on the upswing has haunted the past several offseasons to little avail.
While the tides will inevitably shift, the top half of the division looks to be fairly impermeable once again. The Leafs have found the misfortune of being locked into a division with some powerhouse teams, though their ultimate goal can only be reached by beating the best.
Let’s take a look at the big four of the Atlantic, and predict where the standings will end up.
Boston Bruins
Last season the Bruins proved that they are still a strong team, even despite the departures of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. The Bruins have continued to churn through Hall-of-Famers and all-stars, even as far back as Joe Thornton and the dawn of the salary cap era, but have established a culture that has endured through the years.
Playoff history aside, the Bruins will continue to be a formidable foe this season. Let’s take a look at what to expect from the team that eliminated the Leafs last season in yet another dramatic Game 7.
Forwards
Zacha — Lindholm — Pastrnak
Marchand — Coyle — Geekie
Frederic — Poitras — Brazeau
Jones — Beecher — Kastelic
Extras: Tufte, Lysell, Brown
Up front, the Bruins may lack high end scorers, but they have a good deal of depth. David Pastrnak will be the primary contributor, especially as Brad Marchand ages, but Pavel Zacha, Charlie Coyle, and Morgan Geekie are proven middle six options. There are split opinions surrounding the addition of Elias Lindholm, who will certainly bolster the centre position, but the Bruins have some interesting developmental possibilities for improvements from within.
The quartet of Matthew Poitras, Trent Frederic, John Beecher, and former Toronto Marlie Justin Brazeau all have a shot at a bigger role this coming season. Moreover, all these players have a chance at becoming long-term Bruins.
The results have been generally positive, and there is reason to expect that more is on the horizon. Max Jones is a very Bruins-coded player, who might well have a career season. If even two of these players can continue to progress this season, the Bruins will be a very dangerous team, and perhaps even among the favourites league-wide.
Fabian Lysell might be the most dynamic Bruins prospect, and perhaps even the closest to the NHL as well. A skilled playmaking winger, Lysell will turn 22 in January, and is firmly at an appropriate age to make a leap. Even after scoring at close to a point per game in the AHL last season, we should expect the Bruins to exercise Lysell’s waiver exemption a while longer.
It will be up to Lysell to keep honing his craft, waiting for a potential mid-season call-up. There is no sense burring Lysell on an NHL fourth line when he could be the offensive focal point of the AHL Providence Bruins.
Defence
Zadorov — McAvoy
Lindholm — Carlo
Lohrei — Peeke
Extras: Wortherspoon, Oesterle
The Bruins upgraded their blueline, bringing in Nikita Zadorov, whose best years might still be ahead of him. Charlie McAvoy is a fairly ideal partner, but with Hampus Lindholm and Brandon Carlo, the Bruins have a very capable top four.
While Carlo and Andrew Peeke are fairly limited offensively, all the Bruins defencemen are strong defensively. The Bruins have some puck moving ability in the group, though they might lack a dynamic offensive presence. Zadorov is a reliable offensive contributor, while McAvoy and Lindholm can certainly help navigate transition passing.
Mason Lohrei is the exception here, and he will look to build on the promising start to his career as a rookie last season. Given his style of play and his upside as a player, the Bruins might even elect to pair Lohrei with McAvoy full-time, as they flirted with last season.
As a whole this blueline is highly skilled and well balanced, clearly among the better bluelines in the league. Moreover, this is the best blueline the Bruins have had since Zdeno Chara roamed it, a fearsome concept for the rest of the Atlantic Division.
Goalies
Swayman
Korpisalo
This should continue to make the Bruins goalies’ jobs easier. The yet signed Jeremy Swayman is regarded as one of the better young goalies in the league, and an option for a best-on-best Team USA roster. The Bruins have slow played his ascent, biding their time with a since-traded Linus Ullmark.
While Ullmark did win the Vezina Trophy in 2022-23, there is little doubt that the Bruins team defence has helped their goalies. By this logic, Joonas Korpisalo should be much better than he was with the Ottawa Senators.
As a whole, the Bruins backup goaltending position might have taken a slight step back, but the impact of that will be mitigated.
Prediction
1st in the Atlantic Division
As usual, the Bruins will be physically imposing, defensively responsible, and relentlessly competitive. They will have to rely on teamwork and structure to generate offence. With enough scoring and goaltending talent, the Bruins are poised to make good on their control of play. The Bruins have been worthy of some questioning the past few offseasons, but have consistently outperformed those evaluations. They enter this coming season with more optimism than usual.
The Bruins do have some young players expected to be regular contributors to the lineup, but not much help on the way beyond that. While lacking truly elite prospects, save for the largest Lohrei supporters, the Bruins have a reputation for routinely developing players who can contribute to their team concept.
Putting it all together, the Bruins are primed for another stellar season. Armed with a good deal of cap space, we should expect the Bruins to make some of the biggest trade splashes if they get off to a strong start. This will give the Bruins time to gauge how much their younger players have grown, or navigate injuries, to try to put their team over the top.
A dynamic forward might be the most likely need to be addressed. At the moment Trevor Zegras is the biggest name on the market, but he might clash with the Bruins modus operandi. Others will become available as the season progresses. With Swayman in line for a raise next season, more than likely the Bruins will maintain some future cap flexibility in deals at the deadline.
Florida Panthers
The reigning Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers are expected to defend their title quite valiantly. The team had a long road to this point, toiling through mediocrity and inconsistency during the late 2010s. A President’s Trophy win in 2021–22 was not enough for the Panthers, as they pulled off a massive trade for Matthew Tkachuk. Despite losing Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar in the deal, this would propel the Panthers to new heights, going to back-to-back Cup Finals before their ultimate glory.
While the team barely qualified for the playoffs in the 2022–23 season, they scraped and clawed their way to the Cup Final, all the same. In 2023–24 the Panthers were able to expand on their aggressive and physical play style, dominating play and cruising to an Atlantic Division crown.
There will be changes, as the Panthers were forced to let several important players leave in free agency. There have been efforts to reload, but on paper, the team will be a bit deflated from last season. Despite this, the Panthers will be a force to be reckoned with, and will be a major factor league wide in the coming 2024–25 season.
Forwards
Verhaeghe — Barkov — Reinhart
Tkachuk — Bennett — Rodrigues
Luostarinen — Lundell — Samoskevich
Nosek — Boqvist — Entwistle
Extras: Greer, Gadjovic, Asplund
Most of the top players return, as proven a formula as there is. Coach Paul Maurice relies on duos of forwards, rotating thirds between lines as need be. Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart are rock solid defensively, but as offensively capable as well. Tkachuk and Sam Bennett supply a lot of the Panthers trademark toughness and physicality. Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen are shades of both, playing simple, forceful, and direct.
Carter Verhaeghe is the best of the rotation options, bringing the most offensively. Evan Rodrigues is smart enough to play anywhere in the middle six. There is still a good deal of depth up front to build around this strong spine.
There might be more skilled or offensive forward groups around the league, but the Panthers are as good as any thanks to how well-rounded the group is. With ample defensive ability and physicality, not to mention genuine star power, the Panthers forwards check all the boxes.
Up front, there seem to be enough options to recover on losses like Vladimir Tarasenko, in particular the young Mackie Samoskevich. There might be some room to grow for Jesper Boqvist and Mackenzie Entwistle. Scratched above are capable depth forwards A.J. Greer and Rasmus Asplund as well as less proven options in Jonah Gadjovich and William Lockwood.
Defence
Forsling — Ekblad
Mikkola — Boqvist
Kulikov — Schmidt
Extras: Bjornfot, Balinskis, Benning
The pairing of Gustav Forsling and Aaron Ekblad is among the best league wide. There are some reasonable options on the backend, though current Leaf Oliver Ekman-Larsson and even more so Brandon Montour are difficult losses to overcome. It is entirely possible that Maurice gets the most out of Nate Schmidt, as he did once before with the Winnipeg Jets. Adam Boqvist might help substitute some of Montour’s offence, and a shot at significant power play time might help him unlock the potential that saw him drafted eighth overall in the 2018 NHL Draft.
Another potential X-factor is the play of Tobias Bjornfot. A former first round pick in 2019, Bjornfot bounced around the waiver wire last season. It is possible that the Panthers found another gem, but Bjornfot has yet to truly assert himself.
Scratched is a reasonable option in Uvis Balinskis, who held his own in a later debut than most NHL players. There is a chance that a younger player such as Michael Benning can make the jump, but if the Panthers do look to upgrade in season, it will most probably be on the blueline.
Goalies
Bobrovsky
Knight
The goaltending situation is also enviable, with the electric Sergei Bobrovsky and the promising Spencer Knight. The duo is among the more expensive tandems, but their talent is undeniable.
Bobrovsky has been high variance over his career, but behind sound defensive teams, his aura can take over, his often spectacular flailing building momentum for his team and demoralizing opponents.
Knight at one point looked to be pushing Bobrovsky for starts, but their vectors swapped. The future is still bright for Knight, and the readjusted timeline might agree with all parties more favourably.
Prediction
3rd in the Atlantic Division
In a sense, there is no possible improvement for the Panthers, and it is difficult to call their offseason an upgrade. The chance to reset, tread water, and repeat as champions still exists. The biggest loss is on the blueline, but the Panthers did give themselves opportunities with some interesting projects.
The team is still ferocious and emboldened, but the wear and tear of long playoff runs and roster turnover paint a picture resembling a Cup hangover. By the trade deadline, the Panthers should have come into form, and will be as fearsome an opponent in the league regardless of where they end up in the standings.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Julien BriseBois, GM of the recently dynastic Tampa Bay Lightning, has been bold in striving for more. This might be most obvious in how long-time captain Steven Stamkos was allowed to walk away in free agency, but this was hardly the only tough choice the Lightning made this offseason.
Last season the Lightning got a glimpse of their core group, and their Stanley Cup window, aging out. The Lightning earned a wildcard spot, but lost to the Florida Panthers in the opening round of the playoffs. This year they hope that shuffling the roster might be enough to regain their playoff excellence.
Forwards
Guentzel — Point — Kucherov
Hagel — Cirelli — Atkinson
Eyssimont — Paul — Sheary
Girgensons — Glendenning —Chaffee
Extras: Geekie
Naturally, the high-end talent of the dynastic Lightning that remains lead the way. Nikita Kucherov is a great choice for the league’s top winger, a uniquely dangerous threat with the puck in the offensive zone. Kucherov is one of the best power play flanks in the league, and quite simply can execute against even the best penalty killing units.
Brayden Point is a perfect complement, working from the bumper on the power play and as a top centre at even strength. Both Kucherov and Point have championship resumes, elite skills, and an edge to their on-ice personalities.
Anthony Cirelli and Nick Paul slot behind Point down the middle, two fierce defensive centres. While not often discussed as one of the league’s best centre groups, the trio are perfectly acceptable for a team with aspirations of a Stanley Cup. Jake Guentzel and Brandon Hagel supplement as true top six wingers. The depth is built mostly on defensive forwards which is somewhat appropriate.
Conor Geekie might be the only notable chance for upward mobility. Geekie is just leaving the CHL, and should be expected to start in the AHL. With that said, stranger things have happened than a former high draft pick making the leap, and Geekie might be able to make an impression in training camp.
Defence
Hedman — Raddysh
Moser — Cernak
McDonagh — Perbix
Extras: Lilleberg
More and more opinions are shifting on Victor Hedman, as many see a player who is declining beyond what is often discussed. Ryan McDonagh rejoins, by the same token just as effective as when he left the Lightning. J.J. Moser was an older 2021 draft pick who has risen to prominence quickly. While not the most dynamic player, he has proven his worth to the Lightning, his three seasons of NHL experience with the Arizona Coyotes enough for GM Julien BriseBois to trade for his rights.
Together, the Lightning have three quality left-shot defencemen. The right side has a trio of big, physical defensive defencemen. Emil Martinsen Lilleberg is a left-shot who will factor in, but there should be enough for the Lightning to have three solid defence pairings. It is likely that ice time is spread fairly evenly across the duos.
Goalies
Vasilevskiy
Johansson
Alnefelt
The hope is that Andrei Vasilevskiy has a few more vintage seasons left in him. The margin for error is much smaller than it was during the glory years, underscoring Vasilevskiy’s importance to the team. Like Hedman, Vasilevskiy might have seen the shine come off of his aura since their Cup wins, but in a seven game series, the Lightning have the horsepower to prevail, a dangerous opponent.
Prediction
4th in the Atlantic Division
The Lightning will be expecting to make the playoffs, and will likely try to reopen their window with some aggressive manoeuvres heading into the trade deadline. Most likely, the Lightning will look to add a right defenceman or a scoring winger.
With that said, the Lightning’s regular season success has come into question as well. As the bottom half of the Atlantic division begins to push forward, Lightning fans should not feel invincible. At some point, the Lightning might have to aim for a new championship window, though clearly the team has been ruthless in revamping their roster.
The Lightning will be in tough for a playoff spot, and will most likely be fighting for a wildcard spot as the season winds down. There will be pressure from below, as the quartet of the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators, and Montreal Canadiens push behind them. The Lightning should have enough to outmatch some of the wildcard peloton in the Metropolitan division, but a younger upstart could seriously threaten the status quo.
Though the team tried to get a bit younger, it might not be enough to keep the once-dominant team in Stanley Cup contention. With only two years left on his contract, any hopes might live and die by Kucherov. Hedman and McDonagh are not getting any younger, which could be a tipping point if the Lightning are unable to replenish their blueline. In any case, the Lightning know how to win, and will be dangerous in the playoffs, even from a wildcard spot.
