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Poll: Who Will Win The Atlantic Division In 2024-25?

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The NHL’s Atlantic Division had been a clear-cut case of the have-and-have-nots for the past few seasons. That’s begun to change, though, with the Sabres finishing one point out of a playoff spot in 2022-23 and the Red Wings losing out on a playoff spot thanks to a tiebreaker in 2023-24.

The basement is rising, and the ceiling is falling. The Panthers, Maple Leafs, Bruins and Lightning have all made the playoffs for multiple years in a row, but at least one of those streaks could end with most of the division’s other half expecting to challenge to end their postseason droughts.

In most eyes, the safest spot belongs to that of the defending Stanley Cup champion. Only two teams in the salary cap era, the 2006-07 Hurricanes and the 2014-15 Kings, missed the playoffs after winning it all the previous season.

There’s little reason to suggest the Panthers will join that list. They have lost key names on the back end in Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson and haven’t landed surefire replacements. But Adam Boqvist and Nate Schmidt are now in the mix and will work with returnees Dmitry Kulikov and Niko Mikkola to help replace the losses by committee.

But up front and in goal, they’re still one of the league’s scariest teams. Little has changed from the top end of Florida’s championship-caliber forward core aside from the departure of trade deadline pickup Vladimir Tarasenko. Sergei Bobrovsky is back between the pipes with a high-ceiling option at backup in 2019 first-rounder Spencer Knight.

The Maple Leafs didn’t embark on a full retool after yet another first-round heartbreaker. But they’re arguably in a much better position to contend for the division title – and a Stanley Cup – after a free-agency shopping spree landed them Ekman-Larsson, Chris Tanev, and Jani Hakanpää on the back end. Their forward corps largely remains intact, although they will be counting on some depth names to step up and replace the loss of top-six winger Tyler Bertuzzi. Their goaltending is improved as well with Anthony Stolarz, the league’s best backup with the Panthers last year, in to replace the hot-and-cold Ilya Samsonov.

Over the past couple of seasons, the Bruins’ fate has hinged on the back of spectacular goaltending by Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark. The latter is out the door to a division rival, and the former remains unsigned amid a contract stalemate that doesn’t appear to be ending soon. That could cause serious issues early on for Boston, which did well in replacing its departing UFAs with new faces but still has concerns about depth scoring. Their No. 1 option between the pipes for now is Joonas Korpisalo, who posted a .890 SV% in 55 games for the Sens last year and is a historically below-average netminder over his 276-game NHL career.

The Lightning may have lost Steven Stamkos but replaced him with the younger Jake Guentzel, who’s produced at the same level as the former captain over the past two seasons. Outside of Guentzel, Nikita Kucherov, and Brandon Hagel, their wing depth is concerningly thin. But they still have a solid one-two-three punch down the middle, have an all-world netminder in Andrei Vasilevskiy, and did well to rebalance their defense this summer by reacquiring Ryan McDonagh from the Predators.

After the Ullmark acquisition, the Senators may be the Atlantic rebuilder best positioned to reclaim a playoff spot in 2025. They addressed their biggest weakness, added some solid top-nine scoring depth in Michael Amadio and David Perron, and improved their depth at right defense by recouping solid stay-at-home presence Nick Jensen while parting ways with Jakob Chychrun.

The Red Wings will undoubtedly be in the conversation, too, after finishing tantalizingly close to a playoff spot in 2024. But they did little to address a porous defense that made them one of the league’s worst possession teams last season and paid to unload arguably their best shutdown defender, Jake Walman, on the Sharks. Their scoring depth is in good shape after signing Tarasenko, and their goaltending has some decent veteran tandem options, but whether a defense that took a step back on paper can be salvaged by top-10 picks Moritz Seider and Simon Edvinsson remains to be seen.

The Sabres are also chomping at the bit to return to playoff action for the first time in 13 years. Injuries decimated them last season, and they’re hoping an overhauled bottom-six forward group now oozing with two-way responsibility can give them the roster makeup they need. Familiar face Lindy Ruff is back behind the bench, too.

The Canadiens, while seemingly on track in their rebuild, are likely to be the only non-factor in the Atlantic in a welcome change of pace. Their next wave is still a year or two out, although a potential full season of 20-year-old Lane Hutson on the blue line will be a story to watch. Some added scoring after picking up Patrik Laine in a trade with Columbus should boost their record, too, but not much above their 76-point finish last season.

So, we ask you, PHR readers, who do you think will have locked down the No. 1 spot in the Atlantic at the end of the regular season? Let us know by voting in the poll below:

Mobile users, click here to vote!

Atlantic Notes: Ullmark, Lorentz, McCabe, Seider

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Linus Ullmark is preaching consistency as he takes his talents between the pipes from Boston to Ottawa. The 2023 Vezina Trophy winner will be the Sens’ biggest X factor as they try to return to the postseason for the first time in seven years. He’ll play a leadership role as well after three straight playoff appearances with the Bruins.

“I have to show them how it has to be done every single day and not just same days,” Ullmark told Bruce Garrioch for the Ottawa Citizen. “It’s a long road ahead of us. You can’t just play for 25 games, you’ve got to play for 82 [games]. When the dog days come around 56 games into the season, and you’re gone on a road trip for nine days, and you’re going on a back-to-back in Western Canada or whatever it may be, those are the games that you need to win. It’s all about making steps and becoming the better team after every 20 games or so.”

Ullmark’s acquisition alone may be enough for the Sens to get back to the playoffs. They’ve retooled their roster in other areas, but Ullmark has been a consistently above-average starter, even dating back to his final couple of years with the Sabres around the pandemic. He saved 13.7 goals above average last season, night and day, compared to Joonas Korpisalo’s, Anton Forsberg’s, and Mads Søgaard’s combined -36.8 GSAA for Ottawa last year. The Senators actually outpaced the Bruins at even strength in their ability to control shot attempts, scoring chances, and high-danger chances.

More from the Atlantic Division:

  • Maple Leafs training camp attendee Steven Lorentz hit a snag Friday in his quest to land a contract from his PTO. The forward is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury and didn’t skate, per the team. After spending most of last season in the press box for the Stanley Cup champion Panthers, recording three points in 38 games, the 28-year-old pivot had to settle for a tryout offer earlier this month.
  • Still with Toronto, defenseman Jake McCabe confirmed a report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman a few weeks ago that his camp has begun contract extension negotiations. The 30-year-old told reporters today, including David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, that he’s loved his time with the Leafs and will let his agent continue talks throughout the season. Toronto has had McCabe on their books at a bargain $2MM cap hit for the past season and a half, thanks to the Blackhawks retaining 50% of his $4MM AAV in the February 2023 deal that sent him to Ontario.
  • Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider isn’t at training camp Friday after inking his seven-year, $59.85MM deal yesterday, per Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. He’s still in his native Germany but is scheduled to fly to Detroit tomorrow. He’ll link up with the team on Tuesday. The Wings’ first preseason game isn’t until Wednesday in Chicago, so he’ll be technically available to play, but that would be a tight turnaround.

Red Wings Sign Moritz Seider

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The Detroit Red Wings have signed star defender Moritz Seider to a seven-year, $59.85MM contract, per Sportsnet. The deal will carry an annual cap hit of $8.55MM.

With this deal, Detroit has finally signed all of their remaining restricted free agents, after signing forwards Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6MM contract and Jonatan Berggren to a one-year, $825K deal.

Seider stood as the most imposing of the trio needing a new deal. He’s been Detroit’s clear-cut #1 defender since he stepped into the NHL in 2021-22. He won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie that season, after posting 50 points and averaging 23 minutes of ice time through all 82 games. Seider hasn’t missed a game since, recording 42 points in each of the last two seasons and continuing to average the most ice time of any Red Wings defenders. Still just 23, Seider has become an all-situations player for Wings coach Derek Lalonde – and has even started supporting linemates of his own, spending most of last season with Jake Walman or Ben Chiarot.

It’s been a long climb for Seider, who was originally a shocking choice at sixth overall in the prolific 2019 NHL Draft. He’s since played in the fourth-most NHL games (246) of the class, a full 82 games more than any other defender from the class. Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman has since leaned into the brazen European drafting, taking one European in each of the last five first rounds – ultimately landing Raymond, Simon Edvinsson, Marco Kasper, Axel Sandin-Pellika, and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard.

Critiques have questioned whether Seider’s impact is as big as the role he’s been awarded in Detroit, but there’s no arguing that the young star stands as the sole beacon of the Red Wings’ blue line. With Walman getting traded to San Jose, Seider now stands as Detroit’s only NHL defender under the age of 30 – joined by veterans that don’t command much acclaim, including Olli Maatta, Justin Holl, and Erik Gustafsson. That could change if top prospect Simon Edvinsson makes the Detroit lineup out of training camp, though that possibility remains up in the air. The Red Wings are thus locking up a core piece of their future in signing Seider long-term, giving Detroit a secure #1 to build their lineup around.

Atlantic Notes: Seider, Regula, Panthers

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All eyes are now on Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider after his restricted free agent counterpart inked an eight-year, $64.6MM extension on Monday to stick in Detroit long-term. Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman still doesn’t have Seider signed for this season on the eve of training camp but told reporters Tuesday he doesn’t think the two sides “are terribly far apart” on an agreement (via Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press).

Detroit has $8.75MM in projected cap space left for a Seider deal, per PuckPedia. That should be enough to get a long-term deal done, and although it would be a tight fit, they would be cap-compliant with a full 23-man roster.

David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported earlier this month that the Red Wings were hammering out a long-term deal with Seider, but Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet wrote Monday that Yzerman might be reluctant to hand out an eight-year max deal.

Such a contract would certainly follow the recent league-wide trend of locking up core defenders to long-term deals immediately following their entry-level contract, though. A price tag similar to Raymond’s would put him in company with a pair of Atlantic Division rivals in Buffalo’s Owen Power and Ottawa’s Jake Sanderson while keeping Detroit with some financial wiggle room for now.

There’s more from the Atlantic:

  • The Bruins will be without depth defenseman Alec Regula when training camp opens Wednesday, per Mark Divver of NHL.com and the New England Hockey Journal. The 24-year-old is still recovering from a “lower-body procedure.” He wasn’t expected to contend for an opening-night roster spot, but a full training camp could have helped put him higher on the list of potential in-season call-ups. The 2018 third-round pick had 26 points and a league-leading +36 rating in 55 games for the AHL’s Providence Bruins last season after being acquired from the Blackhawks in the Taylor Hall trade over the summer.
  • The Panthers will be staying in their current Sunrise home for at least the next nine years after reaching a lease extension with Broward County today, the team relayed to reporters (including Colby Guy of Pucks and Palms and the Associated Press). It’s a five-year extension on their current lease at Amerant Bank Arena, which was due to expire in 2028. The agreement also includes two additional five-year extension options that could keep them there through as late as 2043.

Red Wings Sign Lucas Raymond To Eight-Year Extension

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One major domino has fallen for the Detroit Red Wings as the team announced an eight-year, $64.6MM extension for forward Lucas Raymond. The deal will pay Raymond an AAV of $8.075MM over the life of the contract and he will don the winged wheel until the 2031-32 NHL season. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun later reported that there are no signing bonuses within the contract and Raymond will be granted a no-trade clause for the last four years.

It ends a summer of uncertainty for Raymond as the Red Wings waited until just three days before training camp to lock up one of their most promising forwards. Detroit still needs to sign restricted free agent defenseman Moritz Seider to a deal before the start of the year and will now have just under $8.75MM available in cap space to do so.

The Red Wings selected Raymond with the fourth overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft in the second year of general manager Steve Yzerman’s tenure. He spent that year and the next with the SHL’s Frolunda HC scoring 10 goals and 28 points in 67 games from 2019-2021.

Raymond joined the Red Wings without ever having played a game for their AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids making his NHL in the 2021-22 season. Raymond skated in all 82 games for Detroit scoring 23 goals and 57 points finishing fourth in Calder Trophy voting behind Michael Bunting, Trevor Zegras, and Seider. He quickly became the most effective forward on the team behind Tyler Bertuzzi and Dylan Larkin after finishing third in scoring, third in shot attempts, and third in CorsiFor%.

He took a small step backward in his sophomore campaign as he only put up 17 goals and 45 points in 74 contests. Nearly every aspect of Raymond’s game depressed after his rookie season from the eye test to more advanced statistics. Most of the blame could be that Raymond totaled 96 games from 2019-2021 and was now called upon to play 164 against the world’s best hockey talent.

Raymond showed off his full potential in the 2023-24 season by scoring 31 goals and 72 points in 82 games leading the team in the latter category. He finished 21st in goal-scoring in the Eastern Conference and 24th in points. His 19.0% shooting percentage dramatically eclipsed his career average of 12.6% and his takeaways almost doubled his giveaways.

He has not shown much defensive prowess up to this point but the Red Wings should receive good value on this deal if he can reach a point-per-game level. He is second in scoring amongst all players selected in the 2020 NHL Draft behind Tim Stutzle of the Ottawa Senators and he does not appear close to losing that position.

Raymond will be entering his age 30 season at the end of this contract which positions him well to land another pay day in the future. The Red Wings are looking to return to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since the 2015-16 season and the team hopes that Raymond will be a major piece in their renaissance.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Atlantic Notes: Kulich, Komarov, Danielson

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Buffalo Sabres’ prospect Jiri Kulich has played himself into a decent situation heading into training camp after dominating the Buffalo Prospect Showcase. Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff argued earlier today that Buffalo must get Kulich to the NHL as soon as possible for him and the team to flourish.

Kulich was drafted by the Sabres organization with the 28th pick of the 2022 NHL Draft and has transitioned well in the AHL with 51 goals and 91 points through his first 119 regular season contests. Buffalo had a genuine logjam of forward prospects looking to make their way to the NHL level but the team’s trade of prospect Matthew Savoie this summer paved the way for Kulich to make the opening night lineup.

He can play at all three forward positions and has elevated his play away from the puck with one scout saying, “But now you’re seeing the intensity away from the puck, too. It’s a work in progress but he has come a long way in making himself more rounded“. It’s difficult to see where exactly Kulich fits into the opening night roster for the Sabres Still, a strong showing at camp could allow Kulich to wrestle away ice time from anyone currently pencilled in the team’s bottom six.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • If you ask Scott Wheeler and Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic, the Sabres got the steal of the draft in 2022 (Subscription Article). Defenseman Vsevolod Komarov was a relatively unknown commodity after scoring two goals and 19 points in 60 games with the QMJHL’s Québec Remparts during his draft year. He helped the Remparts to a Memorial Cup championship in 2023 but became another player entirely after being traded to the Drummondville Voltigeurs last year. Komarov exploded for 11 goals and 50 points in 38 games for the Voltigeurs while adding another five goals and 15 points in 19 postseason contests. The 2023-24 QMJHL Defenseman of the Year and Playoff MVP is expected to join the AHL’s Rochester Americans this season with plenty of excitement around him.
  • The Detroit Red Wings are eager to see how the ninth overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft, Nate Danielson, responds to more pressure at this year’s training camp says Max Bultman of The Athletic (Subscription Article). Danielson played well in training camp last year but was assuredly headed back to the junior level no matter how well he played. Bultman asked assistant director of player development, Daniel Cleary, where he thought Danielson would end up this year to which he responded, “I have inner thoughts that I don’t want to say out loud. But not a lot would surprise me, for Nate“. He’s showing more offensive talent than previously expected finishing last year’s WHL playoffs with seven goals and 24 points in only 18 games.

Red Wings Sign Jonatan Berggren

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The Red Wings have signed restricted free agent winger Jonatan Berggren to a one-year deal worth $825K, per a team announcement.

It’s a fair pact for a player looking to return to a regular NHL role in 2024-25. After recording 15 goals and 28 points in 67 games during his rookie campaign in 2022-23, the 24-year-old Berggren spent most of last season with the Wings’ AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. He was limited to 12 NHL appearances in various call-ups throughout the year, still managing a pair of goals and six points while averaging 10:52 per game.

Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman hoped to save Berggren’s deal until after they came to terms with a pair of household-name RFAs in Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, but it wasn’t to be. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported earlier this month that having Berggren signed by the time training camp begins was a must for the Wings, giving him a full-length runway to reclaim a roster spot over the coming weeks.

Raymond and Seider remain without deals and will officially be training camp holdouts if they don’t sign by Wednesday morning. After signing Berggren, the Red Wings have $16.82MM in cap space to accommodate the RFA duo, per PuckPedia.

Despite the demotion, Berggren was electric in Grand Rapids. The 2018 second-rounder led the Griffins in scoring with 56 points (24 G, 32 A) in 53 games and added 10 points in nine playoff contests.

Even upon Raymond’s return, Berggren has a decent shot at claiming a top-nine role in Detroit this season with Robby Fabbri, David Perron, and Daniel Sprong out of the picture. If he holds out into the regular season, Berggren could even serve as a top-six placeholder for his countryman.

Berggren is no longer waiver-exempt, so the Red Wings would likely lose him to another club if they attempt to send him back to Grand Rapids again. He’ll have arbitration rights if he reaches restricted free agency next summer.

Buium Injured In Rookie Tourney

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  • Red Wings prospect blueliner Shai Buium was injured today after taking a shot off the ankle, relays Max Bultman of The Athletic (Twitter link). The team is hopeful that he will be able to take part in Detroit’s training camp but it’s too early for that to be known just yet.  Buium is getting set for his first professional season after spending the last three years at the University of Denver.  He finished up his college career on a high note with 36 points in 43 games last season before making his debut with AHL Grand Rapids for one game.

Brandsegg-Nygård Held Out Of Today's Game

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  • On the other side of the border, the Detroit Red Wings are dealing with mild injury news to one of their forward prospects. Max Bultman of The Athletic reports that Michael Brandsegg-Nygård tweaked his groin in yesterday’s matchup against the Dallas Stars and will not play today. There’s no cause for concern for the recent 15th overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft after registering an assist in yesterday’s win. He’s expected to join Detroit in Traverse City on Thursday to begin training camp as the team did not want to force a quick turnaround on their new prospect.

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Larkin Likely To Be A Cap On Raymond And Seider's Contracts

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As the Red Wings work through the process of signing their two top remaining RFAs in defenseman Moritz Seider and winger Lucas Raymond, Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press suggests that their preference is to keep the cap hit for both players below Dylan Larkin’s $8.7MM price tag.  With the price tag for top blueliners coming off their entry-level deals going up relatively quickly, Seider has some comparables past the $8MM mark (Ottawa’s Jake Sanderson and Buffalo’s Owen Power) so it wouldn’t be surprising to see his cost come in relatively close to Larkin’s.  Raymond, meanwhile, might be using Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle ($8.35MM) as a possible comparable which could result in his cost coming close to the captain’s as well.

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