Way too early Atlantic division predictions for the Toronto Maple Leafs

1. Boston Bruins

The Bruins finished second in the Atlantic last year with 109 points.

Now I know it was a disappointing finish to the season last year losing to Florida again but this team is really solid.

Boston lost Linus Ullmark, Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen, Matt Grzelcyk, Derek Forbort, Patt Maroon and Jesper Boqvist. They added Elias Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, Joonas Korpisalo and Mark Kastelic.

The biggest loss is Ullmark however they still have Swayman who does need a deal but is unreal. I also think Korpisalo will have a bounce-back season behind this Boston team. The blue line is one of the best in the league with a top four consisting of Nikita Zadorov, Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm and Brandon Carlo. While I'm not a fan of the Zadorov contract his play style fits Boston and I think he'll play well with this team.

The forward core isn't great however, it is essentially the same group they had last year while adding Elias Lindholm. Like the Zadorov deal, I'm not the biggest fan of the Lindholm contract however he is still an upgrade on what Boston had last year. Poitras is also coming back after a good 33 NHL games before having a serious injury keeping him out for the rest of the year.

Boston got better and only lost out on the division title last season by a singular point. I see Boston taking the division from Florida this season.