Atlantic Standings Predictions Thread

[DougBodger]

I actually think this is the year Buffalo gets back in it. Quinn, Peterka, and Cozens all have another gear and are about to enter their prime. Add to that Tage and Tuch and development from Benson. Old hat, but this team is a sleeper.

Florida
Buffalo
Boston
Toronto
Detroit
Tampa
Ottawa
Montreal

 

[Panthaz89]

The Atlantic is tough but I do think Toronto wins the Atlantic this season given what they have added to their defense.

If I had to guess

Toronto 112 points

Boston 106 points

Florida 105 points

Tampa 98 points

Detroit 88 points

Ottawa 86 points
Buffalo 78 points
Montreal 75 points

With Toronto I just don't think their goaltending is going to single handily cost them 10+ points this year because Samsonov is gone.

Florida has lost A LOT on defense.

Buffalo did nothing except get worse Zucker for Skinner is not an upgrade, and that bottom 6 can't score at all.

Ottawa got better with Ullmark and Perron but it's not enough to get into the top 4.

Detroit traded away Walman with a 2nd for literally nothing for some reason.

Montreal just isn't ready.


For me 2nd, 3rd and 4th are VERY close and while I have Tampa in 4th I could see them as high as 2nd.

Boston was tough because you could make the argument they got better and they certainly did on defense no question but they also went from Ullmark to Korpi and that's not good.

Buffalo could add McDavid and you would think they would get worse....Quinn not getting hurt before the season alone would make this team capable of reaching the playoffs easily.

 

[BB79]

Similar to how we know Woll has fantastic numbers, but we can’t predict how much he will play or how he will look with 50-60 starts.

Are you sure Woll can stay healthy for 50 starts? I think that's a better question. If not, then your #1 is Stolarz, a career backup with 108 NHL games under his belt.

 

[conFABulator]

Obviously, many on here cannot be subjective when looking at rival teams. I am interested in knowing what teams we feel improved, which ones got worse and which ones may have regressed.

Florida. They got worse. No doubt about this one, right? Replacing Montour and OEL with Schmidt and Boqvist is a hit. They lost Tarasenko and goaltending took a hit with Stolarz leaving and Bob aging. SC hangover? 110 points last year. Did they lose 10 points in the standings? Under/over 100 points.

Boston. They seemed from have improved with Lindholm and Zadorov. Though Debrusk will be missed and many believe Zadorov is a third paring guy, an improvement over Grzelcyk but how much? Ullmark got them 51 points last year, maybe Swayman plays a bit more and Korpisalo is a decent back up. It's hard to see Boston improving on 109 points. Perhaps a slight step back with some aging parts? Under/over 105 points.

Toronto. They were the second highest scoring team in the league last year and only lost Bertuzzi and his 21 goals up front. They appear stronger on D with Tanev, OEL and Haakanpaa replacing Brodie, Klingberg and Giordano. Goaltending was a disaster last year, so they look to have improved there. New coach too. Tavares is a year older but some youth injected last year could offset any decline in production. A slight improvement on last year's 102 points with an under/over of 104 points.

Tampa. This seems like a crumbling empire being held together by duct tape. Stamkos and Sergachev for Guentzel and McDonough seems like a wash at best, possibly a step down. They lost a bit of depth and their core is aging and showing it. Another slight step back seems likely from their 98 points last year. Under/over 94 points.

Detroit. They didn't make many big moves and seemed to replace the guys they lost. It's hard to say that Cam Talbot is the reason they will be better, or even Tarasenko based on the impact we saw him not have on Ottawa. Young players continuing to improve might the reason we see a slight increase on their 91 points from last year. Under/over 94 points.

Buffalo. Much like Detroit, no real big additions or losses. It's hard to imagine Aube-Kubel or Lafferty moving the dial here. Health and continued development of the you guys could bring some improvement in the points and possibly standings. Even a sizable improvement on their 84 points from last year may not move them up the standings. Under/over 90 points.

Ottawa. They could be the most improved team in the division...and still not very good. They improved with Ullmark, Jensen, Perron, and Amadio in and really only Chychrun out. If Ullmark is very good and young core players continue to develop they could see a jump from their 78 points last year...to an under/over of 88. Trending in the right direction, but not enough

Montreal. They didn't add enough and can't expect seismic gains from too many of their young guys. They have some aging vets too. No real reason to forecast improvment and with others improving they have to get points from some where; a slight regression on last year's 76 points with an under/over of 74.

So, based on the above...

Boston 105
Toronto 104
Florida 100
Detroit 94
Tampa 94
Buffalo 90
Ottawa 88
Montreal 74

...did I miss the mark on any team in particular? Why?

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Buffalo could add McDavid and you would think they would get worse....Quinn not getting hurt before the season alone would make this team capable of reaching the playoffs easily.

No they got worse, replacing Jeff Skinner with Jason Zucker makes them worse.

Jeff Skinner scored 24 goals last year that was a down year for him

The best Zucker ever did was 33 goals, Skinner has done that 5 times, and scored 31 as a rookie.

So you either downgraded from Skinner to Zucker.

OR you could see Zucker as the Oloffsson replacement which could be an upgrade, but if you do that, that means you didn't replace Skinner.

So you either replaced Skinner with Zucker

Or you didn't replace Skinner at all.

No matter how you look at that you got worse.

And no Jack Quinn by himself will not get you into the top 4.

 

[JianYang]

Not sure about the rankings. Florida might have difficulty getting the engine going for 82 games after back to back finals. I k ow tampa made 3 straight finals but this Panthers team is not as good as they were.

all I will say is that I see the same teams making the playoffs from the Atlantic as last year.

 

[Panthaz89]

No they got worse, replacing Jeff Skinner with Jason Zucker makes them worse.

Jeff Skinner scored 24 goals last year that was a down year for him

The best Zucker ever did was 33 goals, Skinner has done that 5 times, and scored 31 as a rookie.

So you either downgraded from Skinner to Zucker.

OR you could see Zucker as the Oloffsson replacement which could be an upgrade, but if you do that, that means you didn't replace Skinner.

So you either replaced Skinner with Zucker

Or you didn't replace Skinner at all.

No matter how you look at that you got worse.

And no Jack Quinn by himself will not get you into the top 4.

So much emphasis on Skinner is hilarious he was bought out for a reason and I don't think the Sabres are done this offseason considering they still have a lot of cap space to use likely still trying to make a move to upgrade the top 6 right now. Skinner having a "down" year at 32 years isn't surprising when the guy relies so heavily on his skating to get by and now that its fading its obvious why he's getting worse.

 

[Apfel Struble]

1. Boston
2. Florida
3. Toronto
4. Tampa
5. Detroit
6. Ottawa
7. Buffalo
8. Montreal

Bolded teams make the playoffs

The Panthers just played 200 games in two seasons; it takes a toll on the body, ask the Bolts. For that reason I put the Bruins 1st, they just had a pretty solid offseason and Korpisalo will have a decent rebound year with a lower load, a more disciplined team in front of him and a more robust system. Still, Florida is the top dog in the Atlantic and will be back at it after a slow start

Toronto should be similar to last season with 100-105 points. Tampa will benefit from the offseason moves and sit real close to Toronto with a sizeable gap between them and the 5th placed team

I think it will be a very interesting and fluid ranking in the bottom 4 of the division all season long. Detroit and Ottawa will be in the thick of it down to the last game IMO with the Wings finally making the playoffs. I think Detroit, Ottawa and Buffalo will all be within 3-4 points of each other. Should be hella exciting. Detroit gets a big year out of Raymond and the offence keep firing. Ottawa plays a more structured game with less high danger chances all around which will work well with better goaltending. Buffalo should be better than last season with more jam in their bottom 6, but the division is dense with aspiring teams

My Habs will be a bit lower but decently close however. Something like 83-84 points. The 2nd pair should get better, the second line should be able to generate some decent offence and Dvorak-Armia being on contract years should play with more urgency in order to get their last bags. These reasons should allow the Habs to hang out for a good part of the season with the aforementionned 3 teams

 

[redwings86]

Florida is a maximum of second next year. Not an impressive season ahead. No high expectations from me. But that Barkov will impress again. Barkov scores around 100-140 points. Florida in the playoffs again, no one who can guarantee Florida outside of the top 16 teams in the NHL. Detroit is the six or four. Florida is full after two straight SC finals series, the last final series they won against Edmonton.

 

[redwings86]

Hockey people think Florida is the best in the league and I think.

I want to get my table prediction right.

Score and fans.

 

[NikolaTesla]

Obviously, many on here cannot be subjective when looking at rival teams. I am interested in knowing what teams we feel improved, which ones got worse and which ones may have regressed.

Florida. They got worse. No doubt about this one, right? Replacing Montour and OEL with Schmidt and Boqvist is a hit. They lost Tarasenko and goaltending took a hit with Stolarz leaving and Bob aging. SC hangover? 110 points last year. Did they lose 10 points in the standings? Under/over 100 points.

Boston. They seemed from have improved with Lindholm and Zadorov. Though Debrusk will be missed and many believe Zadorov is a third paring guy, an improvement over Grzelcyk but how much? Ullmark got them 51 points last year, maybe Swayman plays a bit more and Korpisalo is a decent back up. It's hard to see Boston improving on 109 points. Perhaps a slight step back with some aging parts? Under/over 105 points.

Toronto. They were the second highest scoring team in the league last year and only lost Bertuzzi and his 21 goals up front. They appear stronger on D with Tanev, OEL and Haakanpaa replacing Brodie, Klingberg and Giordano. Goaltending was a disaster last year, so they look to have improved there. New coach too. Tavares is a year older but some youth injected last year could offset any decline in production. A slight improvement on last year's 102 points with an under/over of 104 points.

Tampa. This seems like a crumbling empire being held together by duct tape. Stamkos and Sergachev for Guentzel and McDonough seems like a wash at best, possibly a step down. They lost a bit of depth and their core is aging and showing it. Another slight step back seems likely from their 98 points last year. Under/over 94 points.

Detroit. They didn't make many big moves and seemed to replace the guys they lost. It's hard to say that Cam Talbot is the reason they will be better, or even Tarasenko based on the impact we saw him not have on Ottawa. Young players continuing to improve might the reason we see a slight increase on their 91 points from last year. Under/over 94 points.

Buffalo. Much like Detroit, no real big additions or losses. It's hard to imagine Aube-Kubel or Lafferty moving the dial here. Health and continued development of the you guys could bring some improvement in the points and possibly standings. Even a sizable improvement on their 84 points from last year may not move them up the standings. Under/over 90 points.

Ottawa. They could be the most improved team in the division...and still not very good. They improved with Ullmark, Jensen, Perron, and Amadio in and really only Chychrun out. If Ullmark is very good and young core players continue to develop they could see a jump from their 78 points last year...to an under/over of 88. Trending in the right direction, but not enough

Montreal. They didn't add enough and can't expect seismic gains from too many of their young guys. They have some aging vets too. No real reason to forecast improvment and with others improving they have to get points from some where; a slight regression on last year's 76 points with an under/over of 74.

So, based on the above...

Boston 105
Toronto 104
Florida 100
Detroit 94
Tampa 94
Buffalo 90
Ottawa 88
Montreal 74

...did I miss the mark on any team in particular? Why?

Nice post.

The only team i think you underestimate is Montreal whom very young roster will have aged 1 year and if Dach plays more than 2 games and can start back where he was at, then i dont see them doing worse than 2023-24.

 

[conFABulator]

Nice post.

The only team i think you underestimate is Montreal whom very young roster will have aged 1 year and if Dach plays more than 2 games and can start back where he was at, then i dont see them doing worse than 2023-24.

Thanks and fair enough.

I tried to keep the total points for the teams in the division the same. I had Detroit, Ottawa and Buffalo improving more than Montreal.

I think Montreal lacks top end talent. Dach is not that in my opinion. Their young core could all improve and stay healthy and maybe they get a few more points.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Zadorov isn't that good.

He's an upgrade on Gryz

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Come on now - as a Leaf fan you have already died inside a bunch of times already.

You aren't wrong but I come back every year because I am Leafanforlife23, key words being for life.

 

[BostonBob]

You aren't wrong but I come back every year because I am Leafanforlife23, key words being for life.

And even though it's fun for me ( OK OK - it's fun for the whole site ) to poke fun at the Leafs and their die hard fans I fully respect fans that always stick with their team regardless of how that team performs. Hell - I went through a 39 year Stanley Cup drought and never once thought of switching teams. So stick with the Leafs and ( GOD help us all ) if they ever win a Cup all the heartache you've experienced with just fade away. But Boston is still winning the Atlantic this season.

 

[MXD]

Montreal. They didn't add enough and can't expect seismic gains from too many of their young guys. They have some aging vets too. No real reason to forecast improvment and with others improving they have to get points from some where; a slight regression on last year's 76 points with an under/over of 74.

So, based on the above...

Boston 105
Toronto 104
Florida 100
Detroit 94
Tampa 94
Buffalo 90
Ottawa 88
Montreal 74

...did I miss the mark on any team in particular? Why?

Montreal :
- Did add Kirby Dach.
- With the notable exception of Savard, their remaining vets didn't really do well in the first place. Not that Savard did well, but he didn't do bad like Anderson and Gallagher. I guess Matheson could regress, but he does look a lot like a late-bloomer.

Not sure it changes a lot of things.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

And even though it's fun for me ( OK OK - it's fun for the whole site ) to poke fun at the Leafs and their die hard fans I fully respect fans that always stick with their team regardless of how that team performs. Hell - I went through a 39 year Stanley Cup drought and never once thought of switching teams. So stick with the Leafs and ( GOD help us all ) if they ever win a Cup all the heartache you've experienced with just fade away. But Boston is still winning the Atlantic this season.

There was one time I thought about jumping ship and that was 2011.

See I'm a Winnipeg boy but I'm part of a generation of kids that never got to be a Jets fan, but I remember the save our Jets rallies, my parents took me there,

I remember the school fundraisers, I was part of them.

I remember the news talking about people mortgageing their homes to try and save that team.

But I moved to Toronto in 1999, that's when I got into hockey and I became a Leaf fan.

In 2011 the Jets returned, my childhood team, or at least what should have been my childhood team was back.

I thought about jumping ship after all I should have grown up a Jets but I didn't.

by the time the Jets came back I had almost 12 years invested in Toronto and couldn't do it, I couldn't make the jump.

I think I made the right choice because now I get to watch the best goal scorer in the game every night.

But I will tell you this, You're damn right I celebrated when Arizona finally died, f*** Arizona for stealing the Jets I hope they NEVER come back it's always been f*** Arizona, and it's ALWAYS going to be f*** Arizona.

If the Jets ever win a cup I will FILLED with Joy for that city, because that deserves it, and that city is home.

 

[TageGod]

No they got worse, replacing Jeff Skinner with Jason Zucker makes them worse.

Jeff Skinner scored 24 goals last year that was a down year for him

The best Zucker ever did was 33 goals, Skinner has done that 5 times, and scored 31 as a rookie.

So you either downgraded from Skinner to Zucker.

OR you could see Zucker as the Oloffsson replacement which could be an upgrade, but if you do that, that means you didn't replace Skinner.

So you either replaced Skinner with Zucker

Or you didn't replace Skinner at all.

No matter how you look at that you got worse.

And no Jack Quinn by himself will not get you into the top 4.

No one over here is too beaten up about Skinner. His goals will be missed but him being a drag on lines to score those goals wont. Zucker is a depth replacement for him. Maybe he gets to 20 and it's fine. Maybe Benson can take over his spot on second line mid season. Mitts is the player that will be missed and we, in our wildest dreams, replaced 75% of Mitts with Mcleod.

 

[HabsQC]

Tampa Bay
Florida
Boston
Toronto
Buffalo
Detroit
Ottawa
Montreal

 

[BostonBruins11]

Zadorov isn't that good.

He's a significant upgrade over Forbort and Grzelcyk. It's also more than just Zadarov, we get a full season of Lohrei. He's also an upgrade over both of them and likely a future #1 pp specialist.

 

[viceroy]

Florida
Boston
Toronto
Buffalo
Tampa
Detroit
Ottawa
Relegated AHL team

So you think of all the teams in the Atlantic, the Habs would be the ones to be relegated? Well you see there's this other team on your list that's never won the big prize, has wonky ownership and hasn't made the playoffs in 13 years. Guess which team amigo.

I actually think this is the year Buffalo gets back in it. Quinn, Peterka, and Cozens all have another gear and are about to enter their prime. Add to that Tage and Tuch and development from Benson. Old hat, but this team is a sleeper.

But probably not. Hey I like the Sabres and if not for my Habs I want the 'Nucks and BUF to win it the most. I mean the city of Buffalo has suffered enough and I would love to see them win it all. I also know they'd appreciate it more.

Montreal :
- With the notable exception of Savard, their remaining vets didn't really do well in the first place. Not that Savard did well, but he didn't do bad like Anderson and Gallagher.

I fully expect Gally to suck less this year. He ended the season well and has more time to rest up. He should keep "lean-ing" out/being less bulky and at 13 minutes of ice-time a night he seems to do okay.

I honestly believe a healthy Habs team can reach 82pts/NHL .500 and that would be fine by me. Might still mean we'd be last in the division but hey, better pick right?

 

[TageGod]

So you think of all the teams in the Atlantic, the Habs would be the ones to be relegated? Well you see there's this other team on your list that's never won the big prize, has wonky ownership and hasn't made the playoffs in 13 years. Guess which team amigo.

Are you aware of how relegation works? Worst team drops down....not a cumulative history of the franchise. Montreal sucked, had one good year riding price, then sucked again. That is a lot of sucking too.

It was just a joke.

 

[Wayfarer13]

So you think of all the teams in the Atlantic, the Habs would be the ones to be relegated? Well you see there's this other team on your list that's never won the big prize, has wonky ownership and hasn't made the playoffs in 13 years. Guess which team amigo.



But probably not. Hey I like the Sabres and if not for my Habs I want the 'Nucks and BUF to win it the most. I mean the city of Buffalo has suffered enough and I would love to see them win it all. I also know they'd appreciate it more.



I fully expect Gally to suck less this year. He ended the season well and has more time to rest up. He should keep "lean-ing" out/being less bulky and at 13 minutes of ice-time a night he seems to do okay.

I honestly believe a healthy Habs team can reach 82pts/NHL .500 and that would be fine by me. Might still mean we'd be last in the division but hey, better pick right?

Gally was a point a game in his last 10.He was healthy for the first time in several years and in those last 10 games it looked like he had figured things out. Reduce his responsibilities a bit and he maybe fine running out his contract. a bit over payed but fine.

 

[DapperCam]

It's impossible to predict how the Sabres will do this year. Way too many changes to really know.

1. New HC in Lindy Ruff. Granato was figured out and could not adapt. We all saw that last year.
2. UPL had a solid chunk of the season playing at a Vezina-calibre level. Will he repeat that? Goalies are fickle. Will Levi get time in Buffalo and look good?
3. ~50% turnover in the forwards. Sabres have a brand new bottom 6. Hard to imagine they will be worse in a goal prevention role, but how much of an improvement will they be?
4. Injuries really hurt the Sabres last year. Quinn, Cozens, Tuch, Thompson, Skinner, and Samuelsson all missed significant time or were diminished by injury. Will they have better luck this year, or are we just injury-prone?
5. Really, really bad special teams last year. The coach for it has been removed from that role. Sabres might have made the playoffs with league-average special teams last year. Can they improve there?
6. The old leadership group in the locker is gone. Specifically Okposo, Girgensons and Skinner. Will that lead to anarchy, or give a young guy like Dahlin or Tuch room to improve player-led leadership? I think Dahlin is a way better leader than Okposo personally.

Sabres could be anywhere between 2nd in the division, or last place IMO. They have the talent to be a top scoring team with great goaltending. We'll see if they can put it all together.

 

[DapperCam]

No they got worse, replacing Jeff Skinner with Jason Zucker makes them worse.

Jeff Skinner scored 24 goals last year that was a down year for him

The best Zucker ever did was 33 goals, Skinner has done that 5 times, and scored 31 as a rookie.

So you either downgraded from Skinner to Zucker.

OR you could see Zucker as the Oloffsson replacement which could be an upgrade, but if you do that, that means you didn't replace Skinner.

So you either replaced Skinner with Zucker

Or you didn't replace Skinner at all.

No matter how you look at that you got worse.

And no Jack Quinn by himself will not get you into the top 4.

Skinner is terrible. He is addition by subtraction even with his goal totals (which fell off a cliff the second half of the season). There is a reason he's the all time leader for games played without making the playoffs.