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Tampa Bay Lightning – I have the Lightning finishing atop the Atlantic Division this year in a close 3 team race. Like always they have their core crop of superstar players like Kucherov, Hedman, Vasilevskiy, Guentzel, and Point. I didn’t even mention in that plethora of top players the name Brandon Hagel who made team Canada last year and was one of the best even strength players in the league. Hagel is entering his prime, and I also like the other additions made by the Tampa Bay front office. Bjorkstrand has had time to grow with this team, and both Pelletier and Holmberg were nice bets on young players in their bottom 6 that have upside. This is just a strong roster, and I think they can get the job done this regular season.
Mar 2, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34) skates with the puck against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the third period at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Toronto Maple Leafs – Auston Matthews is always the headliner in Toronto and for good reason. He wasn’t even fully healthy last season and still produced solid totals. I have 22 year old Matthew Knies as one of my breakout candidates this year after Mitch Marner left for Vegas. Knies is talented enough to accelerate his game and produce more offensively. At this point in his career everyone knows what William Nylander is, and he will continue to be that goal scoring dynamo. Toronto has a sneaky good blue-line and 2 strong goalies as well, which is an under-appreciated part of their roster. Even though Marner is gone, I love the additions of Nik Roy, Dakota Joshua, and Mattias Maccelli. Maccelli is a young and skilled player who I think can take a big step this year. John Tavares went very under the radar last year and was 12th in the NHL in goals with 38, and he took a $7M pay cut. For comparison, Tavares scored more goals than Kucherov, Panarin, and Caufield last year. With a deeper team and Matthews and Tavares still as their top 2 centers, I still see Toronto firmly in the playoffs.
Ottawa Senators – I have the Sens grading out as a team good enough to avoid a wildcard spot and be the 3rd best team in this division. Jake Sanderson will continue to grow, as will their other young defensemen in Tyler Kleven and Jordan Spence (acquired via trade with LAK). They have a strong and great puck moving D-core, to go along with skilled wingers to pass to, and a great goalie in Linus Ullmark that they can make an occasional mistake in front of. I also like their situation at center a lot with Stutzle, Cozens, and Pinto. If Brady Tkachuk can stay healthy then this team should be a handful. The vibes are good in Ottawa right now, and it sounds like they are making moves on getting a new arena finally as well.
Montreal Canadiens – These young Canadiens went to the playoffs for the first time in a half decade and they are looking to continue to build this thing up. They did so by adding a top pairing stud defenseman in Noah Dobson who fits their scheme perfectly, as well as a young middle 6 scoring depth player in Zack Bolduc who I really like. With their top line already established from last year, and then adding Ivan Demidov who grades out to be a superstar almost immediately, I can see the Habs being a top 5 or 6 team in goal scoring. We can also factor in 2 wild card players who have talent in Bolduc and Laine, who may also chip in big time offensively. Their powerplay is going to be scary with Hutson, Caufield, and Demidov. If this team faulters it is strictly because of their sketchy goaltending, and if they had a better starter than Montembeault then I would actually have them higher in the standings. I do think however that Montembeault and Dobes are a decent enough tandem to get into the playoffs.
Florida Panthers – I know, I know; the Panthers are the back to back Cup champs, have been to 3 straight Cups, are the betting favorites, and are the standard of the current NHL. I still have them sneaking into the playoffs, and once they are in, they are built for destruction. We are so familiar with the landscape of this team that I’m not going to break down player by player their roster. Instead, let me go over a few reasons here why they will let off the gas a little bit this year. First and foremost they should be fatigued. 3 straight Cup Finals, with the injuries they went through, is no easy feat to push past; NHL dynasties end for a reason. Not only have they played a ton in the playoffs, but most of their top players played in the 4 Nations faceoff, and will be invited to their country’s Olympic teams. On top of that, all of these teams fighting to make the playoffs will target Florida and hit them extra hard every game for 82 games. Matthew Tkachuk was hurt last year, got re-injured during the 4 Nations Faceoff, and is going to start this year off injured and missing games. A lot of their players will be fighting through the pain this year, including 37 year old Brad Marchand. I do love Seth Jones coming to this team as an absolute machine on the back end, but I can see Florida struggling this year and barely squeaking into the playoffs. They also may have Cup hangover, because they partied for like a full month straight after hoisting Lord Stanley this go around.
Detroit Red Wings – I have Detroit missing the playoffs yet again, but staying in the hunt till around February. Same ole, same ole, because, well, nothing has changed. The status quo remains in Detroit of signing middling to mediocre players to too much money and being stuck in no man’s land. Today’s new addition is Mason Appleton, Ding ding ding! Appleton is a solid player that I don’t want to poo poo on, but the Wings’ roster is just filled with these decent players that don’t move the needle. I am pretty much convinced that Mason Appleton, JT Compher, and Andrew Copp are all the same person, so Steve Yzerman had to pull the trigger. Stevie’s job as a GM may hang into balance this year and the medicine he took was an oft-injured and inconsistent veteran goalie in John Gibson. OK big fella, good luck with that. I could always be wrong and Detroit fans can stuff me into a locker if I’m wrong, but this forever purgatory has to be annoying for them. They have a strong prospect pool with Bear, Bransegg-Nygard, Danielson, Sandin-Pellikka, and the likes, but they need another top 4 defensemen and a top 6 scoring forward. All of these boring 2-way role players ain’t going to move the needle, and I fear that the legendary Steve Yzerman will be fired by late June next year.
Boston Bruins – Boston is one of the weirdest teams in the entire NHL from my point of view. I could see them being in the mix of the playoff hunt, or I can see them being a lottery team. I am hedging my bets here and am putting them firmly outside the playoffs, but probably aren’t a lottery team. I think Jeremy Swayman is actually a talented young goalie and will flirt with being a top 10 guy again this year. Last year he missed training camp because his general manager is not a genius, and that hurt his performance all season. The Bruins have a solid blue line and I think Mason Lohrei takes another step this season, but in general they aren’t quick enough to snap it up to the forwards. Couple that with their forwards being slow and simply put not all that talented, and you have a roster that can’t score enough goals to sniff playoffs. I think that Matthew Poitras is a promising talent up front, and that the James Hagans pick was exciting for them this year at 7th overall, but there simply isn’t enough here in their top 6. Morgan Geekie stepped up huge last season, but there is no sample size yet of him doing it year over year. This will be a trying year for David Pastrnak, and it is interesting to see what direction Boston goes this following summer.
Buffalo Sabres – Buffalo fans can spend another year not having to worry about their NHL team being relevant once again. They can hit fast forward and simply watch Josh Allen play football instead. Until the Pegula’s sell the team, the Sabres will rot in the depths of Buffalo, and it’s a shame. The story behind Kevyn Adams getting the GM job is insanely inept if you look that up. That would be an entire book by itself. Adams drafted a project defenseman this year in Mrtka, and traded high end draft picks away for Conor Timmins of all players. Weird and dumb in my eyes. Buffalo hired Jarmo Kekalainen or all people to help Adams and Jarmo’s recent extravaganza was getting fired for hiring Mike Babcock who was looking for Instagram models on his players phones (and promptly got fired) before training camp even started. There is too inconsistent of goaltending in Buffalo, not enough strength on their final D-pairing, and they don’t have enough muscle in their lineup period. Tage Thompson felt bad that no one stuck up for him last year after he took a massive hit, and Jarmo brought his boy over from Columbus in 5’7 Justin Danforth; he’ll stick up for him! Buffalo has a nice prospect pool, like always, but that doesn’t ever seem to matter. Once their young players get good, they request a trade and eventually win a Stanley Cup not in Buffalo. Ask Ryan O’Reilly, Sam Reinhart, Evan Rodrigues, Brandon Montour, and many more. The newest guy in that category is 23 year old JJ Peterka who now finds a home in Utah. Their players get drafted, developed, and then promptly get the hell out of Buffalo as soon as they hit their prime years. There isn’t anything bad in the water in Buffalo, just some inept people in positions of power.