Buffalo did nothing, but have way more young players than Detroit that should improve: Benson, Quinn, JJ Peterka, Byram, Power, Levi... plus Savoie, Kulich, and others that might make the roster. That team has a ridiculous embarrassment of top end young talent, I wouldn't count them out.
Montreal is still going to be bad, I agree.
Ottawa lost Chychrun and Tarasenko, but people are still underselling the massive upgrade in net with Ullmark. At worst they're the same as last year.
Boston got better - they lost Ullmark, but they can just rely more heavily on Swayman to make up for that. They added another top 4D who plays their style of hockey, and a top 6 C.
Lohrei-McAvoy-Lindholm-Carlo-Zadorov is the best top 5 D in the NHL.
Tampa lost Stamkos and Serg, but replaced them with Guentzel and JJ Moser...I think that's a wash at worst, given that Serg was not very good this past year. Moser is highly underrated, and Guentzel is a definite upgrade on Stamkos. I'd say they're equal or slightly better than last year.
Florida is still a top team even if they take a bit of a hit from losing Montour.
Not sure how Toronto got worse... they added 2 D and Bertuzzi did very little for them anyways.
And that's just our division.
We were competing for a spot last year with the Islanders, Washington, Pittsburgh, Philly, Buffalo, and I guess you could stretch it to New Jersey. Of those teams, the Penguins definitely got worse and will be shit next year. Otherwise, the Isles added Duclair and should be similarly competitive next year, especially if Sorokin bounces back. Washington added 3 very good players and will be much better. Philly is adding a likely superstar in Michkov. NJ added Pesce and with a healthy roster they are stacked.
I believe Raymond will be a 90-point player next year and Seider will continue to improve. But that's all we have - and it's not enough to compete with the rest of the East.