Toronto Maple Leafs: Way Too Early Atlantic Division Predictions

8th Place-Montreal Canadiens

The Habs are unfortunately going to be stuck at the bottom of the Atlantic for the 3rd-straight season, but maybe it’s for the best.

Montreal is very clearly the weakest team in this division. It’s obvious they are in a rebuild and have a lot to work on before their team is a contender, but they are on the right path. Cole Caufield looks like he’ll be a perennial Rocket Richard contender, and Lane Hutson will likely become one of the best offensive d-men in the entire NHL.

The Habs are doing a lot of things right in their rebuild, but as of now they are far and away the weakest team in the division.

7th Place-Detroit Red Wings

For the second year in a row, I have the Detroit Red Wings finishing seventh in the Atlantic. Even with the recent acquisition of Alex DeBrincat, I don’t believe the Red Wings will make the playoffs.

Detroit is in a very weird spot, they aren’t good enough to make the playoffs but aren’t bad enough to get a top-5 draft pick. They picked up some decent veteran players in free agency this year, but it likely won’t be enough.

One main problem with Detroit’s rebuild has been their lack of a true franchise player leading the way. Moritz Seider is a good start, and he’ll likely blossom into a top-pair d-man if he hasn’t already. But with all due respect to Dylan Larkin, the Red Wings don’t have a franchise forward leading their team.

They need a Jack Hughes, Nathan Mackinnon, or even a Jack Eichel-type of player, which they haven’t yet found.

At this point, Detroit looks like a team full of decent hockey players thrown together. Maybe they’ll prove us all wrong next year, but as of now, I have them finishing in 7th.

6th Place-Florida Panthers

Now this one could be a bit of a hot take, but in a division this good, multiple good teams will have to miss the playoffs.

I think the Florida Panthers will be one of those teams.

They’ll still have a solid roster, with the likes of Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Montour. But there’s been a pattern with past underdog Stanley Cup Finalists.

We’ve seen both the 2021 Montreal Canadiens and the 2020 Dallas Stars miss the playoffs after their underdog runs to the finals, I believe the same will happen to the Panthers next season.

However, the Panthers could surprise us all again, and we’ve seen Matthew Tkachuk carry his team to the playoffs before, there’s no reason he can’t do it again.

5th Place-Ottawa Senators

I think the Senators are close, and they have a very realistic chance to make the playoffs next year. I do believe unfortunately there are too many good teams in this division for the Senators to make the postseason, at least not yet.

Ottawa has a loaded top-6, even with DeBrincat gone from the team. The main issue for this team has been their goaltending.

They did add Joonas Korpisalo, who had a decent season last year, but he’s been up-and-down for most of his career.

Like I said before, the Sens are close, and if they do make the playoffs this upcoming season I wouldn’t be surprised.

4th Place (Wild Card)-Boston Bruins

The first playoff team on this list is the Boston Bruins, who I have taking a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

As everyone knows, the Bruins had the best regular season of all time last year before infamously choking in the first round.

The aftermath to this (besides the thousands of memes on Twitter) has been a tough cap crunch, which has resulted in Boston losing many key players including, Taylor Hall, Tyler Bertuzzi and Dmitri Orlov.

Even with all of the losses, I do think the Bruins will be back in the playoffs next season.

It will be interesting to see how the rest of their offseason goes, with both Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci potentially having played their final season.

Let’s see if they decide to run it back for one final chance at a cup, or if it’s the end of their terrific careers.

3rd Place-Tampa Bay Lightning

Both of the last 2 years have featured the Tampa Bay Lightning finishing in 3rd place in the Atlantic, and I see that happening again for the third time in a row.

The Lightning have lost basically all of their depth over the past few years due to salary cap constraints, but a strong core with 2 Stanley Cups remains.

The likes of Ondrej Palat, Yanni Gourde, Corey Perry, Ryan McDonagh, Blake Coleman, Alex Killorn, Ross Colton, and Barclay Goodrow, just to name a few, have all left in the last 3 years, but the Lightning have managed to stay very competitive.

It’s clear Tampa is on the decline, but I still have them making the playoffs, they’re too good to miss it.

2nd Place-Buffalo Sabres

Now this may be the most controversial ranking of them all, but yes, I have the Sabres finishing in 2nd.

They currently have the longest postseason drought in NHL history at 12 years, and to be fair, they have had an awful last 12 years.

This last season, however, finally showed some hope.

In the 2022-23 season, the Sabres had 91 points, which was their best finish since 2011. Once the Sabres figure out their goaltending, (Devon Levi?) they’ll be a team to watch out for.

The Sabres surprised a ton of people last year, and I believe they’ll continue to do so.

1st Place-Toronto Maple Leafs

In first place, I have the Toronto Maple Leafs.

All bias aside, I believe the Leafs have the best roster on paper in the Atlantic. On top of this, most of the teams in this division are either on the rise (Ottawa, Buffalo, Detroit) or on the decline (Boston, Tampa Bay). But the Leafs are right in the middle, and their star players are still in their prime.

Regardless of what happens, it’s going to be a very entertaining regular season, as well as a terrific playoff in the Atlantic division.

Let’s see if my predictions are correct.