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Toronto Maple Leafs: Atlantic Division Preview and Predictions

ByMike 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
David Savard #58 of the Tampa Bay Lightning (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Tampa Bay Lightning

Back-to-back Stanley Cup champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning return to the Atlantic Division.  Will they dominate the division like they did in 2018-19?

Key Offseason Acquisitions:

Corey Perry RW (Signed from Montreal)

Brian Elliott G (Signed from Philadelphia)

Biggest Offseason Losses:

Yanni Gourde C (Seattle Expansion Draft)

Blake Coleman RW (Signed with Calgary)

Tyler Johnson C (Traded to Chicago)

Barclay Goodrow LW (Traded to New York Rangers)

David Savard D (Signed with Montreal)

Curtis McElhinney G (UFA)

Roster Breakdown:

Tampa Bay really lost a lot of middle six depth this offseason.  Gourde, Coleman and Goodrow brought a lot to the team in terms of grit, two-way play and scoring.  They’re all players Tampa obviously wanted to keep, but they fell victim to the cap crunch.

Shedding Tyler Johnson’s contract is bitter sweat.  He’s still a good player, though he’s not worth the $5 million AAV.  He was pushed down the depth chart in Tampa Bay though and might shine through in Chicago.

David Savard was a rental player, and it wasn’t expected that he’d resign with Tampa Bay anyway.

Curtis McElhinney and Brian Elliott both had terrible seasons last year but giving with Elliott a chance to redeem himself might be worth the risk.  McElhinney was bad on a powerhouse team and at least Brian Elliott was bad on Philadelphia team that couldn’t seem to do anything right last season. It shouldn’t matter much anyway because Andrei Vasilevskiy will probably play a lion’s share of the games.

The biggest plus for Tampa Bay will be if they can have Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos healthy for a full season.  The Kucherov injury actually helped Tampa in the offseason and was a major factor in winning them the Stanley Cup.

With Kucherov on the LTIR for a full season, the got the cap relief they needed to keep a lot of their star talent.  Adding a $9.5 million player in the playoffs when the salary cap is void is obviously a huge bonus.

Did the champs get better?  No.  They’ve lost way too much depth, grit and secondary scoring.

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