Atlantic Standings Predictions Thread

[ricky0034]

as much as people clown on the Sabres for the 13 year Playoff drought thing there isn't really much difference in practice between that and the Wings 8 years or the Sens 7 years and Buffalo has more talent than either of those teams

 

[Havok89]

I’m just always going to assume Buffalo will miss, until they don’t

 

[Golden_Jet]

as much as people clown on the Sabres for the 13 year Playoff drought thing there isn't really much difference in practice between that and the Wings 8 years or the Sens 7 years and Buffalo has more talent than either of those teams

They should with 3 first overalls and a second overall, the other 2 had none of those.

 

[Strangle]

Lots. But there’s always a natural changing of the guard in the league. The top teams of the last 8 years won’t be the top teams of the next 8 years. The Detroit Red Wings of the 90s and early 00s are not the norm.

115, 111, 102. Those are their point totals from the last 3 years. That’s a big drop already and I don’t think it’s stopping.

They only got older.

They’re a 96-100 point team. Probably get a wildcard spot, but not a contender to worry about.

I don’t think you watch the leafs. Not starting Samsonov in half the games he played in probably makes up that points difference on its own.

Do you realize how bad Samsonov was for much of last year? He got sent to the minors FFS

 

[DackellDuck]

I don’t think you watch the leafs. Not starting Samsonov in half the games he played in probably makes up that points difference on its own.

Do you realize how bad Samsonov was for much of last year? He got sent to the minors FFS

A Woll, Stolarz and Matt Murray trio provides no guarantees. Who knows if they can stay healthy let alone carry the load.

The last time Woll played over 35 games was 18-19 in the NCAA. He hasn’t exactly lit up the league as an NHL backup either. He’s been average to good in spot duty, but that’s about it.

Goaltending for the Leafs is still a big weakness, just like it was last year. It certainly pales in comparison to the goaltending that the other top teams in the Atlantic have (Bob, Vasilevskyi and Swayman).

 

[Yatzhee]

I’m just always going to assume Buffalo will miss, until they don’t

I wouldn't this season. Their first wave of talent from the second rebuild is just now entering their 1st or 2nd prime years. GN Adams has collected a phenom 4th line allowing the playmaking and sniping young talent to really shine. Their goaltending is most definitely showing elite status, both roster and depth.
Not saying they'll go deep, but most certainly all early indicators have them top 5 in conference.

 

[LiseL]

I really like the reworked D and believe Berube is exactly what they need. Florida got a bit worse by losing Montour and OEL. Boston gained Lindholm which is an upgrade at C over last year but still worse than recent history with Bergeron. I just think the top of the Atlantic is there for the taking and a re-energized Toronto with something to prove and a hardass coach has a good shot.

Could also be because I just want to believe a coaching change can completely turn a team around......for some reason.

Yep, lots of coaching changes in the East this year (Leafs, Sabres, Sens, Devils). Will be interesting to see which one(s) have the biggest impact.

 

[LiseL]

Not sure if it is a downgrade. Have to keep in mind that Sergachev was injured most of the season.

Vasi too. If he's back to form this year, Tampa is still a big threat.

 

[LiseL]

1. Tampa Bay Lightning
2. Toronto Maple Leafs
3. Detroit Red Wings
4. Florida Panthers
5. Ottawa Senators
6. Boston Bruins
7. Montreal Canadiens
8. Buffalo Sabres

I'm not a Bruins fan but no way they drop to # 6 unless Swayman doesn't sign and Korpi/Bussi suck big time. They have a good D corps and they play a defensive style of hockey which allows them to win a lot of 1 goal games. Every year the Bruins are predicted to drop off and every year they're at or near the top of the conference. I wouldn't count on Florida dropping out of the top 3. I also think Detroit will be fighting for a wild card spot along with Buffalo and Ottawa.

 

[Panthaz89]

They should with 3 first overalls and a second overall, the other 2 had none of those.

Am I forgetting the 3rd one or are you considering Reinhart or Eichel one even though they were no.2. We also finished last 4x we should be likely to win more especially when there is 13 chances we actually got leaped several times and twice by a Rangers team that clearly weren't in dire need and could sign stars in FA even if they were terrible as we don't have that luxury.

 

[LiseL]

I have Florida and Toronto as locks. Toronto is interesting to me as a whole because it took a decade but they finally seem to have addressed their defense. The issue is that they got old dmen so do Tanev and OEL hold up. Hakanpaa seems to already be half broken.

Boston really depends on when swayman signs. Korpisolo will do better than he did last year in boston but not by much imo. Boston is a team that relies on their defense and goaltending to win so that is a huge red flag.

I expect ullmarks numbers to go down in Ottawa, but his actual numbers really depends if the the sens bottom 6, jensen, and bottom pairing can be competent defensively. Ideally the whole team is competent defensively but they at least make a positive impact somewhere else.

I agreee that Ullmark's numbers may go down but he played well in Buffalo when they were the worst team in the league so I don't expect him to drop off a cliff. A perfect example was the pre-season game against Buffalo. He was peppered with 29 shots and stopped 28 of them. The one goal he let in was screened by one of the Sens D. I realize Buffalo iced all prospects but he still had to be sharp.

 

[Laus723]

I don’t think so. They would be missing their biggest piece, but I think the improvements in goals against would carry them through the missing Matthews goals pretty well.

The team is more balanced this year, and Matthews brings a lot more than goals, but I think the defense is the best it’s looked in …. 20 years? God how sad is that? And the goaltending is going to be twice as good as it was the last 3 years with Samsonov in net.

Of course, that’s just on paper and anything can happen once they all hit the ice.

I think the Leafs have to be the odds on favorites to win the Atlantic, even if Matthews misses a week or two to start the season.

They are the only team who didn’t lose any pieces and got better at all the positions they struggled with last year.

The big dogs in the Atlantic have all taken major hits, except the Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs are the only team who got better compared to Florida, Boston and tampa

What major hit did Florida take? Losing Montour?? It’s a loss, but the rest whole core is still intact otherwise, especially up front. On D, there’s still Forsling and Ek at first pair, then Mikkola and probably Schmidt, with a steady Kuli paired with one of Boqvist, Balinskis, and to a lesser degree Bjornfot. If there’s a hole somewhere, it’ll be addressed.

People keep saying we took some big hit, sure we’ll miss Monty, OEL was decent for us but it’s not some big loss, and we got replacements. If we’ll miss anything the most imo it’ll be Stenlund. He’s incredible on D.