Toronto Maple Leafs: Atlantic Division Power Rankings

TORONTO, ON - JANUARY 7: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs talks with teammate Mitch Marner #16 before the start of the second period against the Nashville Predators at the Scotiabank Arena on January 7, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images) /

2 of 9

Toronto Maple Leafs – Cody Ceci (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Ottawa Senators

The Senators finished last in the NHL in 2018-19 and they almost certainly will again.

Last year they won 29 games, which seems bad, but this year they won’t have Mark Stone or Matt Duchene, and they probably won’t even win that many.

Their off season moves defied explanation – why would they give the Toronto Maple Leafs Cody Ceci (even if he isn’t an ideal player to pay $4.5 ) in exchange for both Brown and Zaitsev?

It seemed weird that the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t have to give them something extra to get out from those contracts.

Beyond that – Ron Hainsey? OK whatever. Who am I to question the genius of the franchise that couldn’t even turn Erik Karlsson, Matt Duchene or Mark Stone into a single blue-chip prospect?

The Senators are going to be brutal and it will be surprising if they can ever move beyond the 8th spot in these rankings, but they do already have a pretty nice core in place.

Thomas Chabot, Brady Tkachuk are both going to be star players, and Eric Brannstrom and Drake Batherson are just two of a half dozen or so nice prospects they’ve managed to stock their system with.

Home/Maple Leafs News