Way too early Atlantic division predictions for the Toronto Maple Leafs
It should be another tough year for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Atlantic division. Florida doesn't look like they're headed for much of a fall off and Boston is strong once again, Tampa remains a top team and Ottawa, Buffalo and Montreal are all getting better.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are looking to improve on their third-place finish in the Atlantic division last season which eventually resulted in yet another first-round exit at the hands of the Boston Bruins.
With Ottawa adding a top goaltender for the first time with their current core they are threatening to finally make the playoffs. Over the past few years it's been obvious that Toronto, Tampa, Boston and Florida were going to make the Atlantic the toughest division in hockey, but this year - with the possible exception of Detroit - all the teams should be improving and getting pretty good. The Atlantic Division is due for a shake up and it looks like this year will be the year it happens.
The Leafs are going to have to fend off up and coming teams looking to snag a playoff spot from them and the other top teams in the Atlantic.
8. Montreal Canadiens
Last season the Canadiens finished eighth in the division with 76 points (All standings statistics from NHL.com).
There is a lot of hype around this forward core after the acquisition of Patrick Laine but right now I think it is overrated. Laine has dealt with injuries as well as mental health challenges throughout his career as well as being rather streaky when he does play.
Dach has dealt with his fair share of injuries in his career. Newhook is a nice piece and Slafkovsky has shown flashes of his potential but is still going through the development process. Eventually, I think Slafkovsky can live up to the big contract they gave to him and probably even outperform the cap hit but that is still at least a year down the road in my opinion. Suzuki is a great player and Caufield is also a good talent, but I'm still waiting for the statistical jump for him in a season.
Their defence core is decent, with a first pair of Mike Matheson and Kaiden Guhle, both of who are coming off pretty solid years. Lane Hutson is the star prospect for the Habs; as of now on DailyFaceoff.com, he is listed on the second pair. A full season of him in the NHL will be fun to watch. They still have young guys coming through the pipeline to fill roles on the blueline like their 2023 fifth-overall pick David Reinbacher along with their 2021 31st-overall pick Logan Mailloux.
Samuel Motembeault is coming off a decent season in between the pipes for Montreal where he posted a .903 save percentage, 18.39 goals saved above expected and a -0.9 goals saved above average. I'm curious to see how Montembeault would perform behind a better team (All advanced statistics from EvolvingHockey.com).
Ultimately, I think there will be an improvement with the Habs but not enough to move out of last place in the Atlantic. The future is bright in Montreal but it will be another year of losing.