It’s August, you know what that means. Hockey fans everywhere are bored and counting down the days until the new season begins. Fans are eager to see how their team will do and keep themselves busy with predictions. Some fan bases are, of course, more delusional than others.
With the 2025–26 NHL season approaching, it’s time for another way-too-early prediction. Let’s talk about my prediction of how the Atlantic division standings will look this season.
8. Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo has had a lot of high draft picks in recent years and some good young players, including Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson. However, they’ve struggled with consistency and defence. If their young core can develop well, they may start pushing for a playoff spot, but for 2025–26, they might still be on the outside looking in.
They haven’t made the playoffs since 2011, which is the longest drought in the league. They’ve had promising young talent for a decade, starting with drafting Jack Eichel second overall in 2015 and Sam Reinhart second overall in 2014. However, they’ve developed a reputation for panicking on the younger guys when things aren’t going well.
I think that pattern will continue and the Sabres will fail to make the playoffs again this season, despite Dahlin being one of the best defencemen in the NHL, and Tage Thompson being one of the league’s goal scorers.
7. Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins had one of the more disappointing NHL seasons of any team in 2024–25. After watching their campaign go completely off the rails, GM Don Sweeney took an axe to his roster, putting up the “for sale” sign and going towards a full-scale rebuild.
Landing James Hagens in the draft is a good first step in the direction toward the playoffs, but it won’t happen right away. According to Daily Face Off, the long-term contracts of Jeremy Swayman, Charlie McAvoy, and David Pastrnak are the main reason Sweeney didn’t clean house even more.
The big thing for Boston is forwards. They have a really good goalie in Swayman, and a solid blue line, but right now they need forwards, especially if they’re going to begin building for the future. Also, after hiring a new coach in Marco Sturm, it may take a while for him and his team to find their footing.
6. Ottawa Senators
Last season, the Senators made the playoffs for the first time since their electric run to the Eastern Conference finals in 2017. Even though last season looked promising for the future, there are a lot of good teams in the Atlantic. Who knows, though? Ottawa may be the team that could be a dark horse pick this year.
However, their goaltending has been inconsistent. That sounds crazy considering that Linus Ullmark won the Vezina Trophy for best goalie just three years ago. Ottawa has a lot of upside, but they may still be a year or two away from consistently contending for the top spots.
Ottawa will continue to make strides toward becoming a contender this season. I believe Jake Sanderson is good enough to be in the conversation for the Norris Trophy this season for best defenceman. I think even though they aren’t the best team on this list, they have the potential to surprise people and possibly leapfrog some teams.
5. Detroit Red Wings
Detroit is in the middle of a rebuild, but with solid progress, including some promising young players like Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider, and Dylan Larkin leading the charge, the Red Wings should be pushing for a playoff spot by 2025–26. If their young players develop well and they add a few more pieces, they could challenge for a higher spot in the division.
Everybody is kind of waiting for this team to truly blossom into what people think they could be. A big question mark for me is John Gibson. How is he going to fit? The last couple of years, he’s been dealing with whether or not he was going to be traded by the Anaheim Ducks. I’m curious to see how he plays behind this young, talented core.
Everybody is wondering when the “Yzer-Plan” will take shape. This may be the year. Having said that, the Red Wings will have their work cut out for them. The top-four teams in this division seem to be trending in that direction again for 2025–26.
4. Montreal Canadiens
The Habs have the best young core in the league, led by Cole Caufield, Ivan Demidov, and 2025 rookie of the year Lane Hutson. When you combine that with the guy who I think is the most underrated player in the league, Nick Suzuki, you have the potential to do some damage and surprise some people.
Similar to Ottawa, their playoff appearance last season showed promise. Even though they’re likely a few years away from being a true contender, I believe they will build on last year, be even better this year, and maybe sneak into a wild card spot.
Their trajectory looks solid. If they make some smart moves, they could start creeping into the mix and working on Stanley Cup 25 in the 2025–26 season. Demidov will be a man on a mission, and I believe he and Hutson will both take tremendous steps this season, leading them to the cusp of the playoffs.
3. Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning may be getting a bit older, but they still have one of the best players in the league in Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, who has cemented himself as one of the best players in the NHL, and Andrei Vasilevskiy in net. As long as those three are at the top of their games, Tampa should be competitive.
Even though Tampa Bay went to the Stanley Cup Finals for three consecutive years and won back-to-back Stanley Cups, they aren’t what they used to be. They’ve lost in the first round of the playoffs the last three years. Having said that, they are still a very good team and will be again this season.
Kucherov will continue to be a top-five player in the NHL, but Tampa isn’t as scary a team as they were in the early 2020s. The last couple of years, the power play has seemed to be the difference for them. It seems that if the Lightning score on their power plays, they win, and if not, they lose. To be honest, I could see either Ottawa or Montreal, or maybe even Detroit, jumping them in the standings for a playoff spot.
2. Toronto Maple Leafs
Even though most Leafs fans believe that they will be better without Mitch Marner, I disagree. I think that the Leafs will miss Marner more than they think they will. Even though they have a different playing style under Craig Berube and won the division last year, I think they will take a minor step back standings-wise.
Before Leafs Nation comes at me for saying they won’t be the best thing since sliced bread, I still think they will be a good team. Maybe even cause some upsets come playoff time. Auston Matthews is reportedly fully healthy for this year, and William Nylander will be the one driving the bus.
The Leafs will have a good team this season. Fans are excited to see how they do in the post-core four era. I don’t think they will win the division, especially not without Marner. However, there is a team down south that will.
1. Florida Panthers
I know the Florida Panthers have developed the mentality that they don’t necessarily care about the standings as long as they make the playoffs. However, they’re the best team in the Atlantic, so why wouldn’t I put them in this slot?
They’re the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, and they also retained everybody they could’ve lost in free agency. The only thing that may slow them down is Matthew Tkachuk possibly undergoing surgery which could sideline for the first couple months of the season.
With everybody coming back why wouldn’t you think the Panthers won’t be the team to beat in 2025–26. They’re the best team in the Atlantic division and would be able to win this division easily if they actually cared about the standings. I think they will dominate and likely will go on a deep playoff run again next year.
There’s a reason hockey isn’t played on paper, so we’ll have to wait and find out what the 2025–26 season has in store for the Atlantic Division.
