The NHL Season is right around the corner. Training camps have begun along with the preseason. There are a lot of familiar faces in new places to begin the season.
The start of a new season brings hope as teams look to build towards the playoffs and dethrone the Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche.
Welcome to the divisional rankings. We’ll look at both the Eastern and Western Conferences, ranking teams in each of the four divisions. Next up in the NHL Divisional Rankings series is the Atlantic Division.
NHL Atlantic Division Rankings
1. Florida Panthers (Last year finished First)
Last season the Florida Panthers were able to finish atop the NHL Atlantic Division and winning the Presidents’ Trophy. There is no reason why they can’t do the same again this season. However, it will not be easy. And maybe that is a good thing. The Panthers need some adversity throughout the season because come playoff time last year, the team was a shell of themselves. Florida barely squeaked by the Washington Capitals before being swept by the Lightning. That cost Andrew Brunette his job. He was only an interim coach anyway. Paul Maurice comes in as the new bench boss.
Entering the season the Panthers added Matthew Tkachuk to their lineup but gave up two pieces in Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar. Weegar is a significant loss, especially on the backend. Obviously, Aaron Ekblad is still there, and despite some mistakes by Weegar in the playoffs, he was rock solid for the Panthers. Yes, they still boast a good lineup, with Aleksander Barkov, but it may not be easy this season. Outside of Montreal and that is no gimme some nights, the division is a lot better. No way they win the Presidents and finish with 122 points again. They are definitely a 100-point team but they will take a step back from last season.
2. Toronto Maple Leafs (Last year finished (Second)
There are a lot of question marks surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs this season. Mainly between the pipes. Jack Campbell was not brought back and signed in Edmonton. General manager Kyle Dubas brought a familiar face to the Maple Leafs by trading for Matt Murray. While Murray is a two-time Stanley Cup champion, that was back in 2017. He has struggled since. Now let’s see what he can do with an improved defence in front of him. Through the preseason, he has looked calm and confident. In addition, his backup Ilya Samsonov also looks good. If the Maple Leafs goaltending can be strong and hold up, Toronto has a good chance to finally break that first-round curse.
Again there are other issues with the Maple Leafs. Defensively, the Maple Leafs have some injuries to deal with as the regular season gets started. Rasmus Sandin is back but their depth is going to be tested. John Tavares could miss some time with an oblique injury. Their offence is still strong with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. But it is not so much about the regular season for Toronto. It is all about the playoffs for them and whether can they get past the first round.
3. Tampa Bay Lightning (Last year finished Third)
The three-time Eastern Conference Champion Tampa Bay Lightning and two-time Stanley Cup Champions have played a lot of hockey over the last three seasons. In addition to playing a lot of hockey, the salary cap has changed this team drastically over those three seasons. Over the summer, the Lightning had to trade one of their better defenceman, Ryan McDonagh, to Nashville. Then the Lightning lost Ondrej Palat, a staple of their top line, to the New Jersey Devils in free agency. But the Lightning also locked up, Nick Paul to a seven-year extension, along with signing Erik Cernak, Mikhail Sergachev, and Anthony Cirelli to eight-year extensions. Tampa Bay has locked up their young talent to go with Victor Hedman, Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, and Steven Stamkos. Jon Cooper is one of the best coaches in the NHL and this team has shown they can plug in a younger player into a top role and the Lightning are just fine. This team should get back to the playoffs again, especially with Andrei Vasilevskiy between the pipes.
Spots 4-8 Open For Debate
4. Detroit Red Wings (Last year Finished Sixth)
After the top three, the NHL Atlantic Division is wide open. We will get to Boston in a minute, but this finally could be the year for the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit was in a good position last year. They were holding onto the fourth spot in the Atlantic division last season before falling off as the Bruins charged up the standings. This year Steve Yzerman only improved this team even more and they have their eyes set on the playoffs. Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond are only a year older and only getting better. Yzerman added veterans Ben Chiarot and Andrew Copp to the team. Of course, the offence runs through Dylan Larkin. Then there is goaltending. After Alex Nedeljkovic had a subpar season, Yzerman went out and traded for Ville Husso from St. Louis. Yzerman is hoping this is the year the Red Wings get back to prominence. It will be tricky with an improved division.
5. Boston Bruins (Last year finished Fourth)
It feels like every year the end is getting closer for the Boston Bruins. With Bruce Cassidy being fired in s strange offseason in favour of Jim Montgomery, the Bruins have an uphill climb. Yes, Patrice Bergeron came back for another season. David Krejci is back for another season after playing in the Czech Republic. But look at the laundry list of injuries for the Bruins. Charlie McAvoy, Matt Grzelcyk, and Brad Marchand will miss significant time at the beginning of the season for Boston. Those are three key players for this Bruins lineup. Now add in Taylor Hall‘s upper-body injury and the Bruins are really behind the eight-ball. It is going to be about surviving the first few months before everyone gets back. If they can do that, there is a good shot they are back in the playoffs. But it will be really tough.
6. Ottawa Senators (Last year finished Seventh)
Expectations are high in Ottawa this year. Or at least they were really high before the news of Cam Talbot‘s injury. Talbot will be sidelined for five to seven weeks with an upper-body injury. Talbot was acquired from Minnesota after the Senators traded Murray to Toronto. It was one of several moves during the Summer of Pierre Dorin.
It is no surprise the Ottawa Senators are an improving team in the division. Last year many people expected more. However, Ottawa fell short. This season with the acquisitions of Alex DeBrincat and Claude Giroux, the Senators add experience to a young roster. Not to mention Dorin re-signing Josh Norris and Tim Stutzle to eight-year extensions. Players are wanting to be in Ottawa for the long-term. There is a belief in Ottawa. They need to survive without Cam Talbot to begin the year and will rely on Anton Forsberg to hold the fort down. Maybe Ottawa tries to enter the goalie market to upgrade the position.
7. Buffalo Sabres (Last year finished Fifth)
Another team with higher expectations is Buffalo, however, as mentioned before the NHL Atlantic Division has gotten tougher. It could be a step back this year for the Sabres. Under Don Granato, the Sabres have played much better. Adding Alex Tuch to the mix with Tage Thompson has certainly done wonders. Like Ottawa, the players they have brought into Buffalo have bought into the system. Not to mention the emergence of Peyton Krebs, and Casey Casey Mittelstadt, who had played great under Granato. Then there is J.J. Peterka, who played well last season. On the back end, the Sabres have Owen Power and Rasmus Dahlin, two of the better young defensemen in the league. There is promise in Buffalo. Not sure they end the playoff drought this year as goaltending still needs to be improved.
8. Montreal Canadiens (Last year finished Eighth)
Then there are the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal finished with the worst record last year and ended up with the number one pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. With that pick, they selected Juraj Slafkovsky. There is some uncertainty surrounding whether or not he will play in the NHL this year or if he spends the entire season in the AHL. Outside of the number one pick, Montreal had an active offseason. They traded for Kirby Dach from Chicago and traded Alexander Romanov to the Islanders. This all happened on draft night. Also, the Canadiens acquired Sean Monahan from the Flames. Montreal opened up cap space by sending Shea Weber‘s contract to Vegas. In addition, the Canadiens named Nick Suzuki captain, re-signed Jake Allen and traded Jeff Petry to Pittsburgh.
General manager Kent Hughes accomplished a lot. It helps when Martin St. Louis agrees to stay on as head coach. The Canadiens performed better under St. Louis and the young players flourished like Cole Caufield and Suzuki. The Canadiens are hoping Dach and Jonathan Drouin can do the same this season. It will be a long road ahead for the Canadiens as they rebuild. With no Carey Price for the foreseeable future, that is an area the Canadiens must address if they want to win games.