Predict the Atlantic Standings

[wintersej]

Toronto

Boston/Florida/Tampa/Ottawa/Buffalo --- chaos here

Detroit
Montreal

Should be a fun one!

 

[Dr Salt]

Leafs
Panthers
Bruins
Lightning
Sabres
Sens
Wings
Habs

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

Lysell, Boqvist, Lauko, Merkulov all in before Greer and Steen, but yeah, its a team that really needs a #1C.

The thing is that they still have elite defense and goaltending and a PP lead by one of the games best goal scorers. They won't get home ice without any other moves, but they ain't gonna fall off a cliff, and next offseason they will be very cap rich to go center shopping.

Should they dangle Carlo for Scheifele or Lindholm?

 

[PullHard]

Toronto
Florida
-------- 105 points and up
Tampa Bay
Boston
Buffalo
-------- 95 points and up
Ottawa
Detroit
-------- 85 points and up
Montreal

 

[wintersej]

Should they dangle Carlo for Scheifele or Lindholm?

Robbing Peter to pay Paul. I don’t know why those guys would go for significantly more than Horvat did. 1st, Lysell, Frederic kind of thing. I think Swayman to WPG has more chance than Carlo going anywhere if it’s more of a hockey trade.

 

[Satanphonehome]

Leafs are in, Montreal is out.

Not much else is predictable.

Boston took a huge hit, but also had a huge cushion

Tampa is worse and didn’t have much of a cushion, but still has an elite core.

Florida is basically the same, is it the same team that made the finals, or the one that nearly missed the playoffs?

Buffalo and Ottawa are young, talented and coming hard, is this the year they arrive?

Detroit doesn’t have quite as much young talent, but it has its share, and a lot of solid veteran pieces. Can they be the Seattle Kraken 2.0?

So many ways this can go.

 

[swiftwin]

These are the tiers:

Lock In
Toronto
-----
Likely In
Tampa
-----
Crapshoot
Boston
Florida
Buffalo
Ottawa
-----
Likely Out
Detroit
-----
Lock Out
Montreal

 

[Necrobutcher]

I'm a bit biased as a Panthers fan but i'm still slightly shocked how many people have them missing the playoffs. The main argument seems to be that they got in by only one point last year but i don't really get it. They were the President's Trophy winners the year before and despite having a cap hell season riddled with injuries and having the full line-up on the ice for the first time in march they still f***in made it and went on a run but NOW they're gonna miss? They overcame a lot and still managed to get their shit together and now they have more depth and don't have to adapt to a new style of play again. I really like the low key smart additions Zito made and i especially like what he did with the defense and dealt with Montour and Ekblad missing the start of the season. And yes that's a bit of a blow for them but they'll be fine for sure since it's only a couple of months. When they come back the Panthers D is looking really solid and they have a lot of options to find the right pairings. No doubt in my mind it's gonna work out.

 

[Hamilton Bulldogs]

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

 

[Dread Clawz]

I'm a bit biased as a Panthers fan but i'm still slightly shocked how many people have them missing the playoffs. The main argument seems to be that they got in by only one point last year but i don't really get it. They were the President's Trophy winners the year before and despite having a cap hell season riddled with injuries and having the full line-up on the ice for the first time in march they still f***in made it and went on a run but NOW they're gonna miss? They overcame a lot and still managed to get their shit together and now they have more depth and don't have to adapt to a new style of play again. I really like the low key smart additions Zito made and i especially like what he did with the defense and dealt with Montour and Ekblad missing the start of the season. And yes that's a bit of a blow for them but they'll be fine for sure since it's only a couple of months. When they come back the Panthers D is looking really solid and they have a lot of options to find the right pairings. No doubt in my mind it's gonna work out.

Some people just can't overcome that they only got in by a point. It doesn't matter what the reasons were. It's fine, they'll get to prove themselves soon enough and I'm fairly confident they'll lock up a divisional seed. Although the first month or two may be rough.

 

[ShameOnYouZidlicky]

1. Toronto
2. Florida
3. Tampa
4. Ottawa (WC1)
5. Buffalo (9th in conference)
6. Boston (11th in conference)
7. Detroit (12th in conference)
8. Montreal (15th in conference)

 

[swiftwin]

I'm a bit biased as a Panthers fan but i'm still slightly shocked how many people have them missing the playoffs. The main argument seems to be that they got in by only one point last year but i don't really get it. They were the President's Trophy winners the year before and despite having a cap hell season riddled with injuries and having the full line-up on the ice for the first time in march they still f***in made it and went on a run but NOW they're gonna miss? They overcame a lot and still managed to get their shit together and now they have more depth and don't have to adapt to a new style of play again. I really like the low key smart additions Zito made and i especially like what he did with the defense and dealt with Montour and Ekblad missing the start of the season. And yes that's a bit of a blow for them but they'll be fine for sure since it's only a couple of months. When they come back the Panthers D is looking really solid and they have a lot of options to find the right pairings. No doubt in my mind it's gonna work out.

Florida isn't the only team that had to deal with injuries.

 

[Necrobutcher]

Florida isn't the only team that had to deal with injuries.

So? That's your comeback to everything i said? There's a strong argument to be made that Florida underperformed in the regular season last year and likely will be better in the upcoming season but people are talking like they were some bottom feeder team who came out of nowhere and no gonna fall back to earth though their recent history doesn't back that up at all.

 

[WaW]

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

I think the gap from 3-7 is within 10 points. I think all 5 of these teams are going to be extremely sensitive to and reliant upon their goaltending.

 

[Martin Skoula]

So? That's your comeback to everything i said? There's a strong argument to be made that Florida underperformed in the regular season last year and likely will be better in the upcoming season but people are talking like they were some bottom feeder team who came out of nowhere and no gonna fall back to earth though their recent history doesn't back that up at all.

If they lose the game 7 coin flip against Boston round 1, it would clearly look like the Presidents season was an overperformance rather than last year being an underperformance. Bob or whatever random 3rd string goalie you ran playing out of their minds is 90% of Maurice’s game plan, I don’t know if that’s a reliable approach.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

I'm a bit biased as a Panthers fan but i'm still slightly shocked how many people have them missing the playoffs. The main argument seems to be that they got in by only one point last year but i don't really get it. They were the President's Trophy winners the year before and despite having a cap hell season riddled with injuries and having the full line-up on the ice for the first time in march they still f***in made it and went on a run but NOW they're gonna miss? They overcame a lot and still managed to get their shit together and now they have more depth and don't have to adapt to a new style of play again. I really like the low key smart additions Zito made and i especially like what he did with the defense and dealt with Montour and Ekblad missing the start of the season. And yes that's a bit of a blow for them but they'll be fine for sure since it's only a couple of months. When they come back the Panthers D is looking really solid and they have a lot of options to find the right pairings. No doubt in my mind it's gonna work out.

Problem is all that doesnt matter if Bob pulls a Bob

 

[Golden_Jet]

So? That's your comeback to everything i said? There's a strong argument to be made that Florida underperformed in the regular season last year and likely will be better in the upcoming season but people are talking like they were some bottom feeder team who came out of nowhere and no gonna fall back to earth though their recent history doesn't back that up at all.

We’ll see, Defense looks quite suspect with the 2 injuries, and losing Gudas.

 

[CupsOverCash]

I'm kind of feeling a little more entertaining regular season from tampa. Maybe some of our guys give a shit during the regular season and try to put up some stats. I'm specifically talking about kucherov. I could see him having one of his better seasons for some reason. If him and vasi are at their best this year I could see tampa having a fun season. Hedman will be a difference as well. It's dependent on those 3 for tampa imo.

 

[MoreGore]

Ottawa just spent their remaining cap space and added to their weak spot.

$5 million 1 year for Tarasenko.

 

[Adele Dazeem]

Name teams with better depth in the top-6 F and top-4 D positions than Ottawa.


There's only like 3 or 4., in the entire league

 

[ricky0034]

Name teams with better depth in the top-6 F and top-4 D positions than Ottawa.


There's only like 3 or 4., in the entire league

there's more teams that have a better top 4 D than Ottawa than there are that don't

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

This division is going to be fascinating. I think the only locks are healthy Leafs and Lightning. Then there's 5 teams you could all make a case for or against as to whether or not they'll make it. I think Montreal is the only team you can say for sure won't make it.

Toronto
Tampa
Boston
Ottawa
Detroit
Buffalo
Florida
Montreal

 

[Silky Johnson]

there's more teams that have a better top 4 D than Ottawa than there are that don't

That is complete bullshit.

Chabot & Chychrun are both guys who have bounced between being ranked 17-40 best defencemen in the league over the last 4 years, They are both young and are now in the best positions they have ever been in regarding defence support and forwards to play with.

Sanderson is an absolute stud who could be a legit top pairing D this year but is at least in the range of Chabot and Chychrun.

Zub is a very solid, defensively responsible number 4 who is great in that role.

So you are looking at 3 * top pairing defencemen (all with the potentials to be legit top 1's.) & Zub.

That is a very good top 4.

 

[WeThreeKings]

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

 

[Pavels Dog]

That is complete bullshit.

Chabot & Chychrun are both guys who have bounced between being ranked 17-40 best defencemen in the league over the last 4 years, They are both young and are now in the best positions they have ever been in regarding defence support and forwards to play with.

Sanderson is an absolute stud who could be a legit top pairing D this year but is at least in the range of Chabot and Chychrun.

Zub is a very solid, defensively responsible number 4 who is great in that role.

So you are looking at 3 * top pairing defencemen (all with the potentials to be legit top 1's.) & Zub.

That is a very good top 4.

It should be good, but it’s still unproven. Ottawa was not very good post-TDL so the only sample size we have is ’meh’. Zub is also not really a needle-mover.
Another snag is that Zub (as the worst of the 4) is the only righty, so someone needs to play their off side. That’s not the end of the world but could lower the on-ice impact vs. what the name-value looks like on paper.