2019-20 NHL predictions: Standings, awards, and playoffs
By Mary Clarke
The Atlantic Division
- Tampa Bay Lightning
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- Boston Bruins
- Florida Panthers
- Montreal Canadiens
- Buffalo Sabres
- Detroit Red Wings
- Ottawa Senators
The Atlantic Division’s major powers haven’t changed too much from last season, despite the significant additions to some of the teams. Ottawa will retain their last place record from a season prior, but the bleeding will hopefully stop from their on and off ice drama over the last year.
The Sabres, despite hiring new head coach Ralph Krueger, won’t be able to push past the major players in the division. Similarly, the Red Wings also will remain stagnant in the bottom of the Atlantic without many major moves to push them along.
Florida will jump into the playoff conversation this season thanks to adding goaltender Bobrovsky in the offseason along with bringing in three-time Stanley Cup winning head coach Joel Quenneville to man the bench. The Canadiens, as a result, will fail to make the playoffs for another season after icing relatively the same roster as the previous year.
The Atlantic will most likely be a three-way race between the Bruins, Lightning, and Maple Leafs. Boston is coming off a Game 7 loss to the Blues in the Stanley Cup Final and will likely be able to compete for the Eastern Conference’s top spot once again. The Maple Leafs have retained all their major pieces and will be an incredible offensive threat for a long time to come.
Tampa Bay, however, remains the most complete team in the Atlantic after bringing back their core that left the rest of the NHL in the dust last season with Vezina winning Andrei Vasilevskiy in net and league MVP Nikita Kucherov on offense.