Predict the Atlantic Standings

[TommyDangles]

I mean if beating the Leafs 3 times is the ultimate goal then congrats I guess but the team still had 75 points , still finished 25 points shy of a playoff spot, and while teams that they did finish ahead of like Detroit and Ottawa actually did things that matter to get better.

Buffalo sat on their ass and watched Ottawa add Debrincat, and Giroux and Talbot.

they watched Detroit add Kubalik and Perron and Husso

and they get Comire and Lybushkin.

it's not enough,.

erven the teams that did get worse like Florida, Tampa, and arguably Toronto are still going to be better than Buffalo

Buffalo is adding top tier rookies to their team. Owen Power, Jack Quinn, and JJ Peterka. They will be far more impactful than overpaying for some vets in FA.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Valid point for sure, most GMs tend to add that vet presence with a younger team.
Depends who he plays with but ya he's at the age where the production usually starts to fall off.


Well you're saying Ottawas defense is better so if it isn't better offensively than Florida's, you're saying it's better defensively?

Are you even backing up your own claims at this point or do we (@Beezeral) have to do all the work while you just disagree with the facts?



Showed him this as well but he defined Florida as one of the healthiest teams haha.
Can't win vs this one, just disagrees and says it's their opinion...

Usually opinions should be backed by stats or some facts but seems more and more, most just say whatever they feel

Do you really think teams look at some Athletic chart, to decide who is better.
Why would they spend $150-200k per year on sportlogiq software for statistics.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

Do you really think teams look at some Athletic chart, to decide who is better.
Why would they spend $150-200k per year on sportlogiq software for statistics.

Well we surely can't rely on you for any comparisons or debates on here.
I'm talking about analysts on networks, Vegas bookmakers and posters online.

You're confused a lot it seems.

 

[WhereAreTheCookies]

I think Buffalo has the weakest tandem in the east and that includes Philly who last time I checked their backup was trapped in Russia

I mean if we are going by recency then Buffalos tandem out performed the Leafs tandem last season.

Anderson as bad as he was still had a slightly better save%, and much higher QS% than Samsonov, and he played on a significantly worse team defensively. He also wasn't significantly outperformed by his tandem partner (Tokarski) like Samsonov was by Vanecek.

Comrie played 1 less game than Murray last season and posted significantly better numbers all around. Comries numbers were actually better than Helly's so he outperformed his role. Murray was significantly outperformed by Forsberg last season, and underperformed in his role.

Buffalo has a weak tandem, and most fans aren't really going to debate that. However Comrie is still an upgrade over last season even if he doesn't play near the level he did last year. And for my 2 cents I still think Toronto may have the worse tandem.

I don't even have an issue with your ranking them 7th in the division, but your insistence that they are worse is just nonsense.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Well we surely can't rely on you for any comparisons or debates on here.
I'm talking about analysts on networks, Vegas bookmakers and posters online.

You're confused a lot it seems.

Or you it’s obvious.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

Or you it’s obvious.

Ok

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I mean if we are going by recency then Buffalos tandem out performed the Leafs tandem last season.

Anderson as bad as he was still had a slightly better save%, and much higher QS% than Samsonov, and he played on a significantly worse team defensively. He also wasn't significantly outperformed by his tandem partner (Tokarski) like Samsonov was by Vanecek.

Comrie played 1 less game than Murray last season and posted significantly better numbers all around. Comries numbers were actually better than Helly's so he outperformed his role. Murray was significantly outperformed by Forsberg last season, and underperformed in his role.

Buffalo has a weak tandem, and most fans aren't really going to debate that. However Comrie is still an upgrade over last season even if he doesn't play near the level he did last year. And for my 2 cents I still think Toronto may have the worse tandem.

I don't even have an issue with your ranking them 7th in the division, but your insistence that they are worse is just nonsense.

Don't get it twisted I don't have confidence in the Leafs tandem either, but there is a major difference.

That being that while I have major questions about Toronto's tandem where I don't have questions is Toronto's offense.

The top 6 is still fully intact and unless you believe that Mikyehev is going to repeat what he did last season despite the fact that prior to last season his career high in goals was 8 and his shooting % was high at 14.3%, over double what it was last year, and about 1.5 times what it was the year before.

Unless you believe that he continues to shoot 14+% then you could argue that it the 3rd line is better than it was last year and by extension the forward group as a whole is better, and even if you believe it's not better it's certainly no worse.

and that's the difference because that forward group that is arguably better, and certainly no worse finished last season at #2 for offense.

So while I have major questions about Toronto's goaltending, I know, because I have seen them do it, that they have the offense to overcome that, Toronto had arguably the worst goaltending in the league from December-April/May and they won 54 games.

It's not going to be hard for Murray and/or Samsonov to be better just by virtue of Marazek not being on the team anymore.

Buffalo doesn't have that, they aren't going to have the ability to outscore their issues in net like Toronto can.

If Toronto's goaltending performs at it's worst they can still win because they have an elite offense.

Buffalo doesn't have that.

If Buffalo's goaltending performs like I expect it too, or even slightly better than I expect them to, because thy can still perform better than I expect them to and still perform poorly then Buffalo is screwed because they aren't going to have the offense to overcome it.

All Toronto needs is average goaltending with the way they score.

Buffalo will need well, well WELL above that.

 

[wintersej]

It’s nice to see every fan base but the Habs optimistic about their team in this division. It’s been a while since there was so much hope.

To me it seems like the biggest questions are:

Will Ottawa’s forward grouping look as good on the ice as they do on paper? Will the D and G groups be BETTER than they appear on paper?

Toronto goaltending.

How much will losing McD and Palat hurt Tampa? And more specifically, can Serg step up and make losing McD not that big of a deal?

Does Florida have enough D with only two sure fire top 4 options?

Can Boston survive their early injuries? If they do, how much impact do Krejci and a full season of Lindholm have on their lineup?

Detroit and Buffalo need a lot to go right to be in contention for a spot, but it is in the realm of possibility.

To me, the safest bet on winning the division is Toronto. Over 82 games they will certainly be able to hide below average goaltending. The question for them is if they can get enough goaltending to win 16 games in the post season.

 

[Blowfish]

Don't get it twisted I don't have confidence in the Leafs tandem either, but there is a major difference.

That being that while I have major questions about Toronto's tandem where I don't have questions is Toronto's offense.

The top 6 is still fully intact and unless you believe that Mikyehev is going to repeat what he did last season despite the fact that prior to last season his career high in goals was 8 and his shooting % was high at 14.3%, over double what it was last year, and about 1.5 times what it was the year before.

Unless you believe that he continues to shoot 14+% then you could argue that it the 3rd line is better than it was last year and by extension the forward group as a whole is better, and even if you believe it's not better it's certainly no worse.

and that's the difference because that forward group that is arguably better, and certainly no worse finished last season at #2 for offense.

So while I have major questions about Toronto's goaltending, I know, because I have seen them do it, that they have the offense to overcome that, Toronto had arguably the worst goaltending in the league from December-April/May and they won 54 games.

It's not going to be hard for Murray and/or Samsonov to be better just by virtue of Marazek not being on the team anymore.

Buffalo doesn't have that, they aren't going to have the ability to outscore their issues in net like Toronto can.

If Toronto's goaltending performs at it's worst they can still win because they have an elite offense.

Buffalo doesn't have that.

If Buffalo's goaltending performs like I expect it too, or even slightly better than I expect them to, because thy can still perform better than I expect them to and still perform poorly then Buffalo is screwed because they aren't going to have the offense to overcome it.

All Toronto needs is average goaltending with the way they score.

Buffalo will need well, well WELL above that.

IMO I believe it's always going to be a good match up Sabres/Leafs. Edge to Leafs for center, Edge to Leafs left wing, Edge to Sabres right wing, Edge to Sabres D, even steven for goalies. Sabres will be tough to beat this year. The Atlantic balancing act has arrived.

+++ = Center lines 1 and 2 LEAFS
++ = Center lines 3 and 4 SABRES

++ = Left Wing lines 1 and 2 LEAFS
--- = Left Wing lines 3 and 4 LEAFS AND SABRES

--- = Right Wing lines 1 and 2 LEAFS AND SABRES
++ = Right Wing lines 3 and 4 SABRES

+ = Left D Top SABRES
+ = Left D Bottom LEAFS

+ = Right D Top SABRES
+ = Right D Bottom LEAFS

--- = Goalies LEAFS AND SABRES

POS	STARTER	SECOND	THIRD+
Center	Auston Matthews	John Tavares	David Kampf Calle Jarnkrok Nicholas Abruzzese Adam Gaudette
Left Wing	Michael Bunting	William Nylander	Pierre Engvall Nicholas Robertson Kyle Clifford
Right Wing	Mitchell Marner	Alexander Kerfoot	Wayne Simmonds Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Left Defenseman	Morgan Rielly	Jake Muzzin	Mark Giordano Rasmus Sandin Victor Mete
Right Defenseman	T.J. Brodie	Justin Holl	Timothy Liljegren Jordie Benn
Goalie	Ilya Samsonov	Matt Murray	—

OS	STARTER	SECOND	THIRD+
Center	Tage Thompson	Casey Mittelstadt	Dylan Cozens Zemgus Girgensons Riley Sheahan
Left Wing	Jeff Skinner	Peyton Krebs	Rasmus Asplund Anders Bjork Brett Murray
Right Wing	Victor Olofsson	Alex Tuch Jack Quin JJ Peterka	Vinnie Hinostroza Kyle Okposo
Left Defenseman	Mattias Samuelsson	Owen Power	Jacob Bryson
Right Defenseman	Rasmus Dahlin	Henri Jokiharju	Ilya Lyubushkin Casey Fitzgerald
Goalie	Craig Anderson	Eric Comrie	Malcolm Subban Ben Bishop

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

IMO I believe it's always going to be a good match up Sabres/Leafs. Edge to Leafs for center, Edge to Leafs left wing, Edge to Sabres right wing, Edge to Sabres D, even steven for goalies. Sabres will be tough to beat this year. The Atlantic balancing act has arrived.

+++ = Center lines 1 and 2 LEAFS
++ = Center lines 3 and 4 SABRES

++ = Left Wing lines 1 and 2 LEAFS
--- = Left Wing lines 3 and 4 LEAFS AND SABRES

--- = Right Wing lines 1 and 2 LEAFS AND SABRES
++ = Right Wing lines 3 and 4 SABRES

+ = Left D Top SABRES
+ = Left D Bottom LEAFS

+ = Right D Top SABRES
+ = Right D Bottom LEAFS

--- = Goalies LEAFS AND SABRES

POS	STARTER	SECOND	THIRD+
Center	Auston Matthews	John Tavares	David Kampf Calle Jarnkrok Nicholas Abruzzese Adam Gaudette
Left Wing	Michael Bunting	William Nylander	Pierre Engvall Nicholas Robertson Kyle Clifford
Right Wing	Mitchell Marner	Alexander Kerfoot	Wayne Simmonds Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Left Defenseman	Morgan Rielly	Jake Muzzin	Mark Giordano Rasmus Sandin Victor Mete
Right Defenseman	T.J. Brodie	Justin Holl	Timothy Liljegren Jordie Benn
Goalie	Ilya Samsonov	Matt Murray	—

OS	STARTER	SECOND	THIRD+
Center	Tage Thompson	Casey Mittelstadt	Dylan Cozens Zemgus Girgensons Riley Sheahan
Left Wing	Jeff Skinner	Peyton Krebs	Rasmus Asplund Anders Bjork Brett Murray
Right Wing	Victor Olofsson	Alex Tuch Jack Quin JJ Peterka	Vinnie Hinostroza Kyle Okposo
Left Defenseman	Mattias Samuelsson	Owen Power	Jacob Bryson
Right Defenseman	Rasmus Dahlin	Henri Jokiharju	Ilya Lyubushkin Casey Fitzgerald
Goalie	Craig Anderson	Eric Comrie	Malcolm Subban Ben Bishop

Wait, why would the Sabres have the edge at RW? Marner/Nylander is a deadly 1-2 punch. Doesn't even matter much who the L3 and L4 RW are. High-end talent trumps depth, IMO.

If the Leafs are weak up front, it's on LW.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

”Slightly” are you joking?
They have one of the best top6’s in the league on paper.

Detroit is way too thin on superstars/quality depth to be a real threat.

Boston is a much more balanced team vs Detroit and loaded with high end talent for next year, but only for next year

Depends on if Batherson et al get to play this year.

 

[WhereAreTheCookies]

Wait, why would the Sabres have the edge at RW? Marner/Nylander is a deadly 1-2 punch. Doesn't even matter much who the L3 and L4 RW are. High-end talent trumps depth, IMO.

If the Leafs are weak up front, it's on LW.

Probably doesn't matter much anyway. Somehow the back and forth devolved into Buffalo vs Toronto when the entire argument was really just about one poster stating Buffalo made no improvements. Buffalo obviously won't be competing with Toronto right now.

 

[leafsfan5]

Typically save percentage at those levels is pretty indicative of overall poor team defense

It really doesn't

In 2017-2018 the Leafs had a 5v5 save% of .929, that was 6th in the league. Are you going to argue the Leafs were somehow better defensively that year than they were this year?? Goaltending ability plays such a massive role in save%

 

[ToDavid]

Do you really think teams look at some Athletic chart, to decide who is better.
Why would they spend $150-200k per year on sportlogiq software for statistics.

Well unless you've got a spare $200k lying around to enlighten us with, this isn't a particular helpful comment is it?

 

[Gurglesons]

Having a legit #1D makes a difference huh.

People are really underrating the Wings. They had the best summer out of any of the bad teams last year.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

1. Florida - 110pts (Still a top 4 team in the NHL. I think losing Weegar hurts more than people realize.)
2. Tampa - 106pts (Losing McD and Palat hurts but they're still a top 8 team in the league.)
3. Toronto - 104pts (Goaltending and worse overall team defense will hurt them.)
4. Boston - 100pts (I'm expecting a cold start but a strong finish to the year.)
5. Detroit - 96pts (New coaches, Husso, Copp, a healthy Vrana, and improvements at LD will go a long way.)
6. Ottawa - 86pts (Better forward group. Talbot is better than Murray but their defense is still rough.)
7. Buffalo - 84pts (The rookies will be entertaining but goalie and defense are still weakpoints.)
8. Montreal - 58pts (Just look at that roster...woof.)

 

[Gurglesons]

1. Florida - 110pts (Still a top 4 team in the NHL. I think losing Weegar hurts more than people realize.)
2. Tampa - 106pts (Losing McD and Palat hurts but they're still a top 8 team in the league.)
3. Toronto - 104pts (Goaltending and worse overall team defense will hurt them.)
4. Boston - 100pts (I'm expecting a cold start but a strong finish to the year.)
5. Detroit - 96pts (New coaches, Husso, Copp, a healthy Vrana, and improvements at LD will go a long way.)
6. Ottawa - 86pts (Better forward group. Talbot is better than Murray but their defense is still rough.)
7. Buffalo - 84pts (The rookies will be entertaining but goalie and defense are still weakpoints.)
8. Montreal - 58pts (Just look at that roster...woof.)

Yeah, this is how I see it. Detroit potentially could knock out Boston IMO given the injuries Boston has to start the season.

I think people really overlook the fact that they are adding Vrana.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Yeah, this is how I see it. Detroit potentially could knock out Boston IMO given the injuries Boston has to start the season.

It's a possibility. Like I said, the most important additions to Detroit this year is better coaching and better goaltending. Husso was 7th in Vezina voting on a St. Louis team that was not nearly as good defensively as they were in years past. Boughner has run one of the top PKs in the league the last 4 seasons, and Lalonde comes from the Tampa program.

The blowouts were less a result of a talent deficit and more from poor coaching that the players just stopped listening to. Losing 9-2 against the f***ing Coyotes, pulling a goalie, then putting them back in net after the backup flops, having an empty net with 5:30 left on the clock, and problems like this were a result of Blashill not getting buy-in from the players. Detroit probably should have been an 82-84 point team last season instead of a 74 point team.

 

[Gurglesons]

It's a possibility. Like I said, the most important additions to Detroit this year is better coaching and better goaltending. Husso was 7th in Vezina voting on a St. Louis team that was not nearly as good defensively as they were in years past. Boughner has run one of the top PKs in the league the last 4 seasons, and Lalonde comes from the Tampa program.

The blowouts were less a result of a talent deficit and more from poor coaching that the players just stopped listening to. Losing 9-2 against the f***ing Coyotes, pulling a goalie, then putting them back in net after the backup flops, having an empty net with 5:30 left on the clock, and problems like this were a result of Blashill not getting buy-in from the players. Detroit probably should have been an 82-84 point team last season instead of a 74 point team.

Agree completely. I also think people really overrate how bad Chiarot is. Both him and Maatta will be fine in their roles.

Copp, Perron and Kubalik gives them depth.

I think it is actually bad how good they may be because they basically look like the 15-16 Wings.

 

[Regal]

When did November become January in these boards? Bruins are losing Marchand and McAvoy for 20 odd games…while adding Lindholm and Krejci for 70-80 games.

We could also see Pasta get back to ‘20 level scoring. Hip surgeries can take a bit to get back to normal even if you’re “healthy”, and he started to come on strong in the second half last year

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Agree completely. I also think people really overrate how bad Chiarot is. Both him and Maatta will be fine in their roles.

Copp, Perron and Kubalik gives them depth.

I think it is actually bad how good they may be because they basically look like the 15-16 Wings.

The big difference is the 15-16 Wings were on a downswing. Kronwall was #1D with 1 good season left in him. Datsyuk was leaving for Russia, and Zetterberg was dealing with back problems that would end his career a couple seasons later with no prospects of note coming in to take the team over. This Detroit team is on its way up.

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

@Gurglesons had the Panthers nailed last year, post your predictions

 

[wintersej]

Toronto
Florida
Tampa
Boston (WC)
Ottawa
Buffalo
Detroit
Montreal

 

[Gurglesons]

@Gurglesons had the Panthers nailed last year, post your predictions

I'm honestly not sure about the Atlantic at all this year. Too many questions marks.

Florida's depth has taken a big hit defensively. Tampa too.

I think Toronto wins the Atlantic tbh. They've shown they can produce with terrible goaltending and I think one of Murray or Samsonov pans out in the .905 - .915 range.

I think Detroit has the biggest chance of making the playoffs out of any of BUF, OTT, and Co.

 

[Pinto Bean]

It's wild to me that people think Ottawa is going to do anything this year. That defense and goaltending is terrible.

I'm curious what makes the goaltending situation horrible to you. Talbot has had like a .915 save percentage the last 3 seasons and Forsberg is coming off a .917 save percentage last year in 46 games and in the minimal NHL sample size before that it's a reasonably average save percentage.

The numbers don't seem to suggest it'll be terrible. Is it a personal dislike towards Talbot/Forsberg? Is it the styles at which they play that makes them terrible? Is it the lack of track record Forsberg has?

The defence I do concede looks pretty terrible.