Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins shocked the hockey world with their amazing hot start. They are 9-1-1 to start the season, even after losing their top 2 centers, Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, to retirement this past offseason. One reason for their hot start is the continuation of a stellar 2023 campaign by David Pastrnak. Pastrnak leads the league in even strength goals and is tied for 2nd in goals on the year. Boston continues to have the best goalie tandem in Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman as well. I foresee their success continuing and the Bruins being the leaders of a tough Atlantic division.
Buffalo Sabres
Currently standing sixth in the Atlantic, the Buffalo Sabres have endured a rocky start to the year. The star players have shown up, but the lack of consistent goaltending is the reason they are 6-6-0 . The Sabres intended on having rookie goalie Devon Levi be the starter but he’s been the least bit impressive. They’ve instead gone with the Finnish native, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. He’s 3-2 in his 5 starts on the year and stopped 38 of 40 shots against the Flyers on Wednesday. If the Sabres can figure out their goalie situation, they can push for a playoff spot, most likely in the wildcard.
Detroit Red Wings
The Yzerplan is in full effect in Detroit. The Red Wings have started off 7-4-1, good enough for 2nd in the Atlantic. They hit the jackpot when it comes to bringing in the hometown kid, Alex DeBrincat. The line of DeBrincat, Dylan Larkin, and Lucas Raymond has been the best line this year and has helped the Red Wings score the most goals in the league so far. They have also gotten major contributions from other new pieces, Shayne Gostisbehere and Justin Holl. The major concern about the Red Wings is how sustainable this start is. DeBrincat has a shooting percentage at 28 percent and the second highest goal scorer, Joe Veleno, is shooting at nearly 40 percent. I don’t think this is attainable all year but Steve Yzerman and the Detroit Red Wings are looking to make their way back to the playoffs after a seven year drought.
Florida Panthers
After losing in the Stanley Cup Finals last season, the start of this season has been tough for the Panthers. They are missing big pieces of their team in the likes of Brandon Montour and captain Aaron Ekblad. A lot of their struggles have come on the penalty kill. The Panthers have one of the worst PK percentages in the league, sitting at 72.2. No matter the team, that is a recipe for disaster. They also haven’t gotten the offensive contributions they were looking for up front. Other than their top line, only two forwards have more than two points. And for a team that relies on their depth scoring, this is completely unacceptable. After a near chance at lifting the cup, this Florida team doesn’t seem to be anywhere near the playoffs unless there are some serious changes made.
Montreal Canadiens
Possibly the most surprising Atlantic team so far has been the Montreal Canadiens. They’ve off to a 5-4-2 start and are three points behind the second place Red Wings. Not many had high expectations for this Canadiens team, including myself. The key to their success is coming from a couple unexpected veterans coming in the likes of Jake Allen and soon to be free agent, Sean Monahan. They have been tremendous to start the year. Allen has locked it down in the net and Monahan has been a major contributor, especially on the special teams. I don’t think Montreal will sustain this early success, but crazier things have happened. I can see them selling off some pieces at the trade deadline and looking toward next year as the younger core starts to take over.
Ottawa Senators
Currently sitting at the bottom, the Ottawa Senators have an interesting start to the year. The Senators started the season 3-1, but then dropped of their next six games for 4-6 start to the year. The real struggle in Ottawa has been taking too many penalties and the penalty kill has been lackluster to say the least. They’ve taken the sixth most penalty minutes in the league and are second in the Atlantic. If Ottawa can clean up their game, they can easily work their way to being a competitive team and be a frightening team for the rest of the league.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Possibly the weirdest team in the Atlantic this year is the Tampa Bay Lightning. For the first time since the 2016-17 season, the Lightning do not have their star goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy to start the season. He was put on the injury reserve in late September after he underwent back surgery. His timetable is supposed to be eight to ten weeks, so he will be back eventually, but in the meantime, the Lightning have relied on an unproven goalie, Jonas Johansson. He has looked well to start the season in the eight games he’s played. The team overall is third in the league on their powerplay and seventh in penalty kill. They’ve lost a couple close ones but are almost a lock for a playoff team. Once they get on a roll they will be the same ol Lightning that nobody wants to face.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Where do I start with this team? They have been good, bad, and ugly. They’ve had big wins against good teams, bad losses against bad teams, and just questionable games overall. The new additions of Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi haven’t looked great with Bertuzzi having three and Domi having four points. I wouldn’t worry about either guy if I was Toronto, they will both eventually fit in and be big contributors. On the positive side, William Nylander has looked phenomenal to start the year, same with Auston Matthews. There have been two problems with this team so far: goaltending and just not showing up. Ilya Samsonov was supposed to be the guy in net for the Leafs this year but has struggled massively. During his struggles, Joseph Woll has stepped up big time. I can see these guys splitting time this year or possibly Woll taking over if Samsonov continues to have problems. The other problem with this team is that they just haven’t shown up in some games. There’s no way to really explain that other than just laziness. Overall the Leafs will be fine, they have too much talent to not make the playoffs. Once they get some lines together that can roll, this team might be the best in the Atlantic.