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Toronto Maple Leafs: Way Too Early Atlantic Division Predictions

By Mitchell Hartman

Sep 25, 2021; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman T.J. Brodie (78) battles with Montreal Canadiens forward Mathieu Perreault (85) in front of Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ian Scott (70) during the third period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 25, 2021; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman T.J. Brodie (78) battles with Montreal Canadiens forward Mathieu Perreault (85) in front of Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ian Scott (70) during the third period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports /
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TORONTO, CANADA – MAY 12: Ryan O’Reilly #90 of the Toronto Maple Leafs  (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

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.

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