We are one week away from hockey!

With the excitement building towards the first puck drop next Tuesday afternoon, it's time to predict how each of the four divisions will shake out when all is said and done.

The first of these four previews will focus on the Atlantic Division. All teams are listed in order of projected finish.

1. Toronto Maple Leafs

Despite losing Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights, I still see this Leafs team winning the Atlantic Division. 

Firstly, I think the Leafs did an OK job deepening their roster and adding physicality. Matias Maccelli, who was acquired via trade with Utah, brings potential, while Nicolas Roy brings depth scoring, experience, and physicality that Toronto will desperately need for a deep run.

The most important add for the Leafs is arguably Dakota Joshua, who was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks in a trade that send a fourth-round pick the other way. The forward was one of the top-hitting players in the NHL in 2023-24, and his physicality would play a role in the Canucks' playoff push that same season.

The other reason I see the Leafs retaining the Atlantic Division crown is that the Panthers should have some trouble putting a lot of wins together, particularly with Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov out with long-term injuries. And while the Senators are arguably the next-best team in the division, I can't see them keeping pace over the course of an 82-game season.

2. Florida Panthers

While the Florida Panthers are clearly the team to beat this season, they may experience some roadblocks in their bid to become the first team to win three-consecutive Stanley Cups since the New York Islanders of the early-1980’s did it.

Not only is Matthew Tkachuk out to start the season due to a lower body injury, but captain Aleksander Barkov had also fallen to the injury bug, picking up a leg injury during a recent practice; as of Friday, he’ll likely be out for most of the 2025-26 season. And with Tomas Nosek out long-term as well, Florida is already down two, potentially three, key players. 

Add on the fact that fatigue could hang over this team to a much greater degree than last year, given that the team has now been on three consecutive runs to the Stanley Cup Final, and you have a recipe for a down regular season of sorts. 

Granted, this team still has a boatload of talent. Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe all played key roles in the Panthers’ two Cup victories, while Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett are back in town after signing contract extensions over the offseason. Those four players will need to step up or continue to do so in the absence of key cogs in the Panther machine; simply doing so could easily make this team one of the league’s best. 

I am 100,000% confident that the Panthers are still a playoff team regardless of the magnitude of injury or fatigue factors. The key stretch to watch for the Panthers this season will go from their opening game against Chicago on October 7th to their December 2nd game against Toronto. That should provide an indicator as to the impact fatigue and injuries will play on the Panthers’ final record; the end of the stretch also puts Florida in and around the timetable where Matthew Tkachuk and other injured stars could return. 

Barring any additional injuries or trades, I think Florida will use a strong second-half to put themselves in second-place in the Atlantic Division. 

3. Ottawa Senators

2024-25 saw the Ottawa Senators finally get over the hump and make the playoffs for the first time since 2017. While they did eventually lose in the first round to Toronto, the Senators did gain vital experience for future postseason ambitions. 

The question for this season: how is Ottawa going to build off of the success of last year? Outside of Anton Forsberg and Travis Hamonic, the Senators did succeed at retaining all of their free agents. The Senators also locked up Claude Giroux, Nick Cousins, and Leevi Merilainen - all key players in the team’s return to the playoffs - to one-year contract extensions. 

What else will be key is how the team performs over the opening stretch of the season. The Senators went 8-11-1 over their first twenty games last season, which was down from the 10-10-0 mark they had after the first twenty games in 2023-24. Despite the worse opening-quarter record in 2024-25, Ottawa did a much better job in recovering and fighting for a playoff berth.  

If the Senators can avoid being at or below the .500 mark throughout the season’s first quarter, there is a very strong chance they could find themselves in the division’s top three come mid-April. I can see a world where the core puts their newfound playoff experience to use and takes a step forward. 

4. Montreal Canadiens (wild card)

Despite sitting five games under .500 in mid-December, the Montreal Canadiens would go on to win 29 of their remaining 52 games, allowing the team to clinch a Stanley Cup Playoff berth; their first since their run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021. 

While there is some skepticism about the Habs’ ability to repeat their 2024-25 performance - teams like Columbus and the New York Rangers are seen to be gearing up for postseason returns - not only do they have the benefit of having played in playoff and playoff-calibre games, but they also did a good job reinforcing their depth during the offseason. Losing players like Rafael Harvey-Pinard will hurt, however the additions of Noah Dobson and Zack Bolduc should more than make up for any offseason losses. 

I think the X-factor for Montreal this season is Ivan Demidov. While he showed promise in the final few games of the 2024-25 season, we’ve yet to see how well he performs throughout a full-length NHL season. If he can even show a similar level of output over the course of 82 regular season games and contribute to his teammates' respective scoring, the Canadiens’ could have one of the better scoring units in the league. 

Combine all of the above, and you have a solid wild card contender. It will definitely come down to the final few weeks of the season, however I can see Montreal getting into the playoffs for the second-consecutive season as the best wild card team.  

5. Tampa Bay Lightning (wild card)

Is this the beginning of the end of Tampa Bay’s dominance? 

While the team did look like a serious contender last season, finishing second in the Atlantic Division and just a few points off of Toronto for first, they were ultimately unable to convert that into a deep playoff run, losing in five to the Florida Panthers. 

Now, with the core one year older, there is a considerable chance that the wear and tear begins to truly show on this Tampa Bay Lightning team. This is especially true considering that the team also didn’t pick up any key pieces over the offseason to reinforce their roster. 

Even then, there is still a lot of talent on this Tampa Bay team. Nikita Kucherov should continue to score at one of the league’s best rates, while Victor Hedman should once again be a key anchor for the team on the blue line. 

Overall, the Lightning should find themselves in a wild card spot. However, that's going to come with the caveats of being stuck far above the Atlantic’s bottom-feeders, far below the top-three, and destined for a fourth-straight first round exit. 

6. Boston Bruins

I’ve seen a lot of people on hockey social media saying this Bruins team is going to be one of the worst in the league. 

After spending an offseason pondering that same statement, I respectfully have to disagree. 

Granted, the players they acquired over the offseason aren't big names in any sense of the word. Nonetheless, they are impact players; Viktor Arvidsson played a role in Edmonton's depth scoring throughout their second-consecutive run to the Stanley Cup Final, while Mikey Eyssimont and Tanner Jeannot recently played together as members of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Outside of the additions, the Bruins do still have big-name players on board. David Pastrnak will look to put together his fourth-straight 100+ point season, while Jeremy Swayman will look to rebound from a tough 2024-25 season and continue to establish himself as the Bruins' top netminder.

Even then, a lot will need to go right for Boston to return to the playoffs. Not only that, but a slow start could see the Bruins truly embrace their rebuild phase and shop big names at the deadline.

While the Bruins should get off to a strong start with a somewhat-competitive lineup, I think they will ultimately find themselves giving significant playing time to young talents like Boston College product James Hagens and investing in the future.

7. Buffalo Sabres

For a team looking to finally make the playoffs after a long absence, not the kind of offseason I would have wanted.

While Alexandar Georgiev should provide some goaltender depth, the Sabres lost JJ Peterka, who scored 50+ points in each of the last two seasons, to the Utah Mammoth via trade. Not only that, but the Sabres also failed to make any significant additions to reinforce the roster.

Simply put, Sabres fans might be hoping that Peterka doesn't turn out like how Jack Eichel or Sam Reinhart did upon leaving the team.

Nonetheless, Buffalo does have a solid roster still in place. Bowen Byram and Rasmus Dahlin are capable of making their presence felt on the blue line, while Tage Thompson will look to lead the Sabres' offence. And it will be intriguing to see what Josh Norris, the injury-prone ex-Ottawa Senators star, is capable of doing in his first full-season on Niagara Falls' south side.

Despite their inability to live up to expectations, the Sabres have been able to avoid finishing last in the division in every season since 2017-18. While the roster is in pretty much the same position as it was last season, the Sabres will still be competitive enough to avoid the Atlantic Division cellar.

8. Detroit Red Wings

Considering that the Red Wings have been in the playoff chase up to the final few games in each of the last two seasons, predicting that they'll finish eighth does feel like a little bit of a stretch.

Don't get me wrong, the Red Wings have a good offence. Lucas Raymond has put up at least 50 points in three of his first four NHL seasons, and the likes of Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat round out what is a deep offence.

The big questions for Detroit not only focus on the blue-line, but also the goaltending.

Can John Gibson be the answer in net after a 2024-25 season where Ville Husso, Alex Lyon, Cam Talbot and Petr Mrazek all shared the net? He'll have significantly less competition on his hands, with Mrazek and Husso having left the team via trade during the offseason, but he'll have to split time with Cam Talbot.

On the blue-line, Jacob Bernard-Docker and Travis Hamonic are the two big names to join the team over the offseason; they will look to establish themselves alongside the likes of Moritz Seider and Erik Gustafsson. Having ranked 24th in the NHL in goals conceded last season, Detroit will have to hope their new acquisitions can get accustomed quickly, especially with their first six games coming against the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs (home-and-home), Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, and Edmonton Oilers. All five of those teams are more than capable of scoring at will and average in and around 3 goals per game over the course of 2024/25.

While the offence shouldn't be of concern for me, I'm worried about a slow start for the defence; going against potent offences could either instill confidence on the blue line or it could set it into a slump. I'm not too confident in predicting the former outcome.