George Richards, FHN Publisher
Last week, we examined how the Florida Panthers stack up in the Atlantic Division following so many offseason changes.
Right now, even with the Panthers looking a little different, they should be a playoff team in a division which looks pretty much the same even with all the additions and subtractions by the contenders.
Florida, Tampa Bay, Boston, and Toronto continue to look like the class of the division and should be the front-runners for a playoff spot this coming season.
But, there are eight teams in the Atlantic.
What about the other four?
The Atlantic is certainly a tough division due to its depth — with Buffalo, Detroit, Ottawa, and Montreal showing various stages of improvement the past couple of years.
None of those teams has made the playoffs since the NHL did away with the Covid divisions in 2021.
Since the 2021-22 season, the playoff teams from the Atlantic have been the Lightning, Panthers, Bruins and Maple Leafs.
Buffalo, Detroit, and Ottawa appear to be the closest to making a run at the Atlantic’s Big Four, but it will not come easy.
Of course, a fifth Atlantic team makes the playoffs as the second wild card.
We’ll see.
So, which team in the Atlantic’s Challenger Division is going to take that next step this season and knock out one of the heavyweights?
Here is what the top of the Atlantic looks like right now:
1. Florida Panthers (1st place in 2023-24, Stanley Cup champions)
2. Tampa Bay Lightning (4th in 2023-24, lost to Florida in first round)
3. Boston Bruins (2nd in 2023-24, lost to Florida in second round)
4. Toronto Maple Leafs (3rd in Atlantic, lost to Bruins in first round)
So, who comes next?
Both the Red Wings and Sabres look like teams ready to take that next step and, if they played in the Metro, may have already done so.
But they do not.
5. Detroit Red Wings (5th in Atlantic, missed playoffs): The Red Wings looked like they were finally going to make the playoffs but the Lightning got hot, Detroit cooled off and that was that.
Believe it or not, but the Wings have not made the playoffs since 2016.
Detroit, which still has almost $18 million in cap space to play around with, look pretty good both in its top two lines and its top defensive pairing. Depth appears to be a problem.
Money, of which the Wings have plenty, can fix that before the season comes around.
Detroit got Patrick Kane back on another one-year deal, signed Vladimir Tarasenko from Florida, added Cam Talbot to its stable of goalies, and brought in Tyler Motte.
OK, so, not the most impressive offseason for the Wings.
Last season was a step forward for Detroit, at least, and this is a team that is improving.
With that much cap money left over, Steve Yzerman cannot be done, can he?
We think not.
6. Ottawa Senators (seventh in Atlantic, missed playoffs): Few teams in the Atlantic made as many changes as the Sens did — and few teams needed to.
The big move this offseason was acquiring goalie Linus Ullmark from the Bruins and shedding the Joonas Korpisalo contract in the process.
The Senators really needed a good goalie and this move alone could be the difference for Ottawa.
Last year was a disaster, with Jacques Martin brought in to try and right the ship.
We will see if it worked this year with the Sens adding David Perron, Michael Amadio, and Noah Gregor, all while unloading Mathieu Joseph, Dominik Kubalik, Jakob Chychrun, and Erik Brannstrom.
Ottawa has a solid core of players with some good veterans in there as well.
If the Senators moves pay off, this could be the team which rises up and makes a run at a playoff spot.
7. Buffalo Sabres (6th in Atlantic, missed playoffs): The biggest move the Sabres made this offseason was bringing back former coach Lindy Ruff.
Buffalo had its most recent success with Ruff behind the bench, but has not made the playoffs in an NHL record 13 seasons — and the locals are getting restless.
Buffalo will certainly look different this season with Jeff Skinner bought out, and captain Kyle Okposo sent to the Panthers at the trade deadline.
In 2023, Buffalo missed the playoffs by a single point; last year, the Sabres were 14 points back of the Lightning.
That is a big gap to make up.
Buffalo did not make a lot of flashy moves this offseason, but did address needs.
The Sabres traded for Ryan McLeod, added Jason Zucker and James Reimer, as well as Sam Lafferty and Nicolas Aube-Kubel.
Does this look like a playoff team?
Right now, it does not.
The Sabres do have north of $14 million in cap space so a trade could be in the works before the season starts.
8. Montreal Canadiens (eighth in the Atlantic, missed playoffs): So, yeah, the Canadiens are sticking with their rebuild and did not do much this offseason.
Montreal did trade Johnathan Kovacevic but, otherwise, it has been a quiet summer for the Canadiens.
This is a team which remains a ways out of competing for a playoff spot — but they are getting there.
Montreal still has $9 million in cap space, so if it wanted to make some additions before the season, there is plenty of room to do so.