How the rest of the Atlantic shapes up into next season, what are your thoughts on the 7 other Atlantic teams?

22 comments

  2. I’d probably bet on the Panthers to win the cup again, to be honest

  4. My biggest worries are Montreal and Ottawa.

    Florida is a known quantity. Those two however, could be good quick.

    I think losing Marner is going to kill us in both the short and long-term here, and we may be a wild card team for a while, or maybe at best 2nd in the division.

    Getting Roy and Maccelli after losing Marner helps, but I dont think it keeps us in the same contention spot.

  5. I think adding roslovic could be something we should at least heavily think about. 40 ish point player to replace jarnkrok or someone. Even losing marner i think we’re still strong and should be 2nd in the division behind florida. Them keeping basically all their players is crazy. I think montreal is going to be just behind in the final standings, we’ll see how good demidov really is

  6. Of the other seven Atlantic teams: Florida’s easily the best. Tampa is probably second best but could be surpassed by the Sens this season. Habs look good and could be competing with the likes of Tampa Bay and Ottawa or they could end up regressing a bit too. Detroit and Boston look mid to me at least on paper, and Buffalo is Buffalo lol.

    If I had to rank the Atlantic going into this season I’d say:

    1. Florida
    2. Toronto
    3. Ottawa
    4. Tampa
    5. Montreal
    6. Boston
    7. Detroit
    8. Buffalo

  7. I think we’re still the second best team on paper (behind Florida), but the gap between us and TB has closed a bit given the Marner sized hole that we have. Things can obviously change with a trade for a top 6 player, but right now I’d say if TB is a 7/10 in terms of overall team strength, we’re a 7.5, if that makes sense.

    Ottawa hasn’t done much but internal growth and experience is arguably the best thing for that group. They should be more dangerous this year.

    MTL will likely take another step but they’re still a year away from being a year away.

    Detroit and Boston are both a mess, and Buffalo will continue to be disappointing so long as Lindy Ruff is still coaching them.

    I can see us finishing first, second or third in the division, all depending on individual performance, health, and other teams potentially over achieving

  8. With no further changes I think the leafs finish third in the division right now at worst wild card 1. Hopefully they can get some more depth or a top 6 guy either before or in season

  9. Florida only wins a 3rd cup if the refs turn a blind eye but I think other teams will catch on and tell their players to do dirty hits / elbows to the head etc. if someone say takes out bobrovski they are cooked.

  10. Panthers are the best. The rest I mean aren’t that different. I still think the Leafs are the 2nd best team. Boston and Buffalo should be jockeying for last in the division. It’s mind boggling that Boston won’t trade Pastrnak or McAvoy during a huge rebuild. Wasting their final years to appease a few fans when trading 1 of them would refill the top prospect pool and give 1st round picks. That’s just me

  12. It’s actually fairly easy to Tier it out

    Florida

    Toronto

    Ottawa Tampa Montreal

    Detroit and Buffalo.

  13. To be honest I am not worried

    Leafs lost to themselves and should have beat panthers.

    With marner gone and getting players who actually have heart grit and want to play hard playoff hockey will end this overrated panthers hype.

    P.S if Marner actually got traded for Rantanen then no doubt in my mind leafs would have beat panthers in 6 and would have steam rolled carolina and edmonton.

  14. I think Montreal as the better chance to crack the top 3 than Ottawa.

    1. Florida
    2. Toronto
    3. Tampa Bay
    4. Montreal
    5. Ottawa
    6. Detroit
    7. Boston
    8. Buffalo

  15. Florida

    Toronto/Tampa are interchangeable

    Ottawa/Montreal are interchangeable

    Boston

    Buffalo

    Detroit

  16. Florida is still the team to beat in the division if not in the league

    Tampa’s high end talent will carry them but their depth is what concerns me for a deeper run. Having Vasy means that might not be relevant.

    Ottawa seems to be coming together. Their success will likely hinge on their young players’ ability to take another step forward this year. They have some good depth if that ends up being the case (and they can stay healthy).

    I don’t think the MTL d pairs are accurate to what they’ll be when the season starts. Getting Dobson will really strengthen their blue line. There’s some exciting young talent there in acquiring Bolduc and Demidov for a full season that offers them some offensive upside if they can figure out a more complete game over 82. Health is still going to be the big question mark with Dach and Laine – the depth really disappears when they’re out of the lineup or not playing up to expectations.

    I don’t really like what DET has done. They finally got some goaltending but their overall depth and lack of high end talent (I think Larkin is talented but I don’t think he’s an elite C) seem like their downfall on paper.

    Buffalo is well Buffalo.

    The Bruins seem like they’re poised for another down year where their aim is to recoup some assets. On paper they look like they will have some trouble scoring. Will take Pasta carrying this team for them to be anywhere near relevant this season barring a crazy Sway heater.

    Leafs seem poised to take a small step back – hard not to after losing a 100 pt player. I think they will still compete for a divisional playoff spot without any major injuries. They’re going to have to be much better as team if they want to have any real shot at contending. They also likely need to find another top 6 forward with a value transaction or scoring is going to be harder to find than it was last year.

  17. Any variation of FLA, TOR, and TBL in the 3 Atlantic spots. MTL wild card. OTT, DET, BOS miss playoffs.

  18. Best division and it’s not close. Toronto and Florida are easy top 5 teams. And Tampa/Ottawa are close too. Montreal has some pieces but that team is a nightmare defensively, so they’re hard to rate. No idea wtf Detroits doing. And Boston is a question mark. If Swayman turns back into a top 5 goalie idk how they miss the playoffs either, probably cap out at a wildcard spot. But Mcavoy and Pasta are both top 10 guys at their positions.

    Edit: forgot Buffalo, they look good on paper but they’re cursed so easy 7th. Idk why everyone’s saying we’re not able to win the division. Florida are obviously cup favs, but we won the division last year and had 10 more points than Florida. No chance we are underdogs going into the season. Worst case I can see us, Tampa and Florida being three way favs. With Ottawa as the only other team with the potential to sneak firsts.

  19. TIER 1

    1. Florida – incredible line up and the champs. But not as good as the refs/league make them look. Tough but beatable (we almost did it)

    2. Toronto – Still a fantastic team that now has some more depth and a stronger locker room. Reigning division champs for a reason. Evaluation starts at game 83.

    TIER 2

    3. Tampa Bay – Still have the horses, experience, and coaching. Finished second in the division last year so still relevant despite their continuing decline. Type of team that others in the division will be looking at leap frogging this year, but that will be a challenge.

    4. Montreal – Great offseason and will have young guys take the next step. But they still have holes, particularly at 2C and they lack a shutdown D pair that elite teams have. Expectations will be to make the playoffs again, with the aforementioned goal of passing Tampa.

    TIER 3

    5. Ottawa – I think people will push for them to be higher but their rebuild is significantly overrated and their group is close to peaking. They don’t have near as many high end players as Montreal. Brady is also seriously overrated. Everyone will point to his playoffs but of his three goals, one was a 50 foot shot Stolarz should have had, one was off his foot that he didn’t even see, and one was balatant goalie interference by his teammate. Their group also lacks depth and in our series, it was really only game 5 that they controlled.

    6. Detroit – This team is in no man’s land. Not good enough to be serious contenders, not bad enough to tank, and surpassed by Montreal and Ottawa in recent years. A weird mix of vets like Kane, guys approaching the end of their primes like Larkin and DeBrincat, and young guys like Raymond and Seider. They have terrible defence and Yzerman’s mismanagement has eliminated any flexibility they had to fix things.

    7. Boston – FINALLY on the way down but they still have some high end talent like Pastrnak and McAvoy and a decent goalie. I think this is the type of team that loses a lot of 1 and 2 goal games. Tough to play against, but just not up to stuff with the others. It’s Boston though, so could be infront of Detroit by season’s end just on how consistent they should be.

    TIER 4

    8. Buffalo – An absolute disaster. No coaching, overrated prospects, and a GM who can’t make a decent hockey move to save his life. Outside of Dahlin, I think their D core is overrated (even with Kesselring and if they can secure Byram) and that’s suppose to be the strength of their team. These guys need to clean house management wise and then have a fire sale and try again because good lord they fucked this up for how many high picks they’ve had.

  20. Leafs are 4th or 5th place if we we don’t add another legitimate talent to this roster.

  22. Marner saw that the Panthers resigned everybody and bounced to Vegas. I don’t blame him. Fucking sucks tho.

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