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Toronto Maple Leafs: Atlantic Division Preview and Predictions

By Mike Jack

Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs fans on a point blank scoring attempt against Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins in Game Six of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on April 21, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs fans on a point blank scoring attempt against Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins in Game Six of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on April 21, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
OTTAWA, ON – MARCH 14: Nick Paul #13 of the Ottawa Senators battles for position against Jake Muzzin #8 the Toronto Maple Leafs   (Photo by Matt Zambonin/Freestyle Photography/Getty Images) /

Ottawa Senators

Last regular season, the Ottawa Senators were the surprise of the North Division.  They were still unable to make the playoffs, but some hockey fans were picking them to finish dead last in the league and they finished higher than 8 teams.

Ottawa hasn’t made the playoffs since 2016-2017, but they seem to be trending in the right direction with a collection of bright young future stars.

Key Offseason Acquisitions:

Michael Del Zotto D (Signed from Columbus)

Biggest Offseason Losses:

Evgenii Dadonov RW (Traded to Vegas)

Ryan Dzingel LW (Signed with Phoenix)

Roster Breakdown:

The Ottawa Senators are on the verge of making waves in the Atlantic Division.  It may not be this season, but the Ottawa Senators and their crew of young future stars are trending upward.

The Senators roster hasn’t changed much, but what has changed is that all their young guys are coming back with a little more experience and development year after year.

Michael Del Zotto will add a bit more stability on the blueline.  Dadonov and Dzingel are two players on a list of veterans that didn’t work out with the Senators last season (Coburn, Galchenyuk, Anisimov, Gudbranson).  Their young guns are maturing enough to take over those roles.

Brady Tkachuk, Thomas Chabot, Joshua Norris, Drake Batherson, Shane Pinto, Tim Stützle, Erik Brännström, Colin White, Alex Formenton, Artem Zub, Victor Mete, and Filip Gustavsson are still very young and improving.  Many of them will see even more ice time this season.

Will they be better?  I say “yes.”  Will they make the playoffs?  Odds are “no,” but I wouldn’t be too surprised if they did. It depends a lot on what happens with the other teams in the Eastern Conference and how much the Senators young talent develops.

They’re an underdog for sure, but if another team falters, the Senators could finally see the playoffs and not look back for years to come.

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