2024-25 NHL Divisional Rankings - Atlantic

NHL season is quickly approaching for 30 of 31 remaining teams; Buffalo and New Jersey have already begun competing overseas in Czechia’s Global Series tournament. Over this summer there has been significant movement within every division, as many top players found new teams.
At the outset of every season, optimism runs high. Elite teams set their sights on hoisting the Stanley Cup while those rebuilding hope to remain competitive and show improvements; yet only one will ultimately take home this prized trophy.
As is tradition at NHLRumors.com, NHL Rumors will preview both conferences by providing rankings of each division within them. Let’s kickoff our season by exploring the Atlantic Division Rankings: [NHL Atlantic Division Rankings].
1. Florida Panthers (Last Year Finished First)
As they did last season, the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers will once again finish first in the NHL Atlantic Division. Despite losing Brandon Montour, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Steven Lorentz, and Ryan Lomberg due to retirements or trades away, their roster remains deep enough for another run at glory in 2016.
Are the Florida Panthers an Unstoppable Force This Season?
General manager Bill Zito made some big additions, namely Adam Boqvist and Nate Schmidt to join Dmitry Kulikov on defense; Tomas Nosek joined Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk Sam Reinhart Carter Verhaeghe Sam Bennett among others as part of an overhauled forward group; Anton Lundell also signed an extension.
The Panthers are loaded, and Sergei Bobrovsky remains as their goalie – two reasons that make them favorites to capture another Stanley Cup this season. While winning may prove challenging, they understand this season is all about now and not last season’s results.
2. Toronto Maple Leafs (Last Year Finished Third) One of the more improved teams in the NHL Atlantic Division are the Toronto Maple Leafs, particularly on defense. Adding Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Chris Tanev and Jani Hakanpaa as well as Anthony Stolarz for Joseph Woll is sure to boost this squad to success this season.
Management decided that Craig Berube would be an appropriate head coach to get this core over the finish line and become free agents next summer, leaving Mitch Marner and John Tavares free to pursue other opportunities elsewhere. It’s an exciting new era with Auston Matthews captaining and William Nylander hoping for greater progress this season.
But the question still stands: can this team win in the playoffs? Their depth and physicality hasn’t been their issue in this playoff run; scoring goals has. With Berube as head coach, hopefully everyone buys into his system of play and all will come together as one unit to secure success for this Maple Leaf squad.
This team may not be perfect yet, but they need to show more fire if they want to win when it counts. Every year we say: changes may come if this team falters in the playoffs; let’s wait and see what unfolds this time as the Maple Leafs try their luck in running it back again.
3. Boston Bruins (Last Year’s Finish: Second)
Things can become complicated quickly in the NHL Atlantic Division; Boston is still a strong team; you should never count them out! Goaltender Jeremy Swayman recently agreed on an extension and will become their number-one goalie when ready.
Are the Bruins Goaltender Jeremy Swayman Breaking Through into the Premier Tier of Goaltenders?
Joonas Korpisalo serves as his backup goalie while Linus Ullmark recently signed with Ottawa Senators; Boston boasts an excellent goalie coach in Bob Essena who has proven successful with other goalies; Boston addressed areas of weakness through signing Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov to augment Jeremy Swayman and now stand amongst top-3 teams within their division thanks to Swayman!
4. Tampa Bay Lightning (Last Year Finished Fourth)
In the NHL Atlantic Division, one team that’s making headlines for all the right reasons is Tampa Bay’s Lightning team. General Manager Julien BriseBois recently made headlines when he chose Jake Guentzel over Steven Stamkos as captain; Ryan McDonagh returned while Mikhail Sergachev went back home – adding another layer of intrigue surrounding this franchise.
Last Summer, Tampa Bay and Steven Stamkos parted ways.
So this team is different; Victor Hedman has taken over as captain. Yes, their first line consists of Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Guentzel; however they lack other offensive players beyond Brandon Hagel who has decent scoring ability while Cam Atkinson no longer brings much.
BriseBois made some questionable decisions over time. One was his Tanner Jeannot trade and subsequent return. If Tampa Bay do not experience similar success this season, critics will point to Stamkos’ contract dispute as yet another mistake; even though Andrei Vasilevskiy and Ryan McDonagh remain, without Sergachev, defense corps capabilities took an enormous hit and eventually they fell off of contention altogether. Once more Tampa Bay will find itself playing on the fringe of success this season.
5. Detroit Red Wings (Last Year Finished Fifth) Should Tampa Bay finish fourth this season, Detroit could make the playoffs again under general manager Steve Yzerman and may resemble some of those teams from mid to late 1990s that made playoffs back then.
Are the Detroit Red Wings Needing a Playoff Spot This Season?
Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider recently extended their contracts, as Patrick Kane returned after surgery and Vladimir Tarasenko signed a two-year contract extension. Alex DeBrincat is healthy; Dylan Larkin as well. They also boast key pieces like JT Compher, Andrew Copp and Tyler Motte among their ranks for balance in scoring options.
This team boasts strong defensive capabilities with Erik Gustafsson joining them, but goaltending may prove problematic as Ville Husso, Alex Lyon and Cam Talbot struggled during previous campaigns despite making appearances. Detroit nearly qualified last season but lost on tiebreakers.
Are they making this year their break through year? There certainly seems to be potential. Let’s see if they can come through with any key saves this time around.
6. Ottawa Senators (Last Year Finished Seventh)
Many expect something big from Ottawa this season despite two disappointing campaigns; hopes have been raised with Linus Ullmark as goalie replacement, though.
NHL Rumors: Linus Ullmark and Ottawa Senators Not Hastening to Make Extension Possible
Ullmark has made an impressionful preseason debut for the Senators and it will be critical they begin on a strong footing this season. Nick Jensen from Washington Capitals for Jakob Chychrun will help bolster their defense while David Perron joins Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Shane Pinto and Claude Giroux on offense to form a potency trio for them to unleash.
The Senators must score goals early and get off to an excellent start this season, or else their playoff chances may dwindle further. Travis Green will need to get his team playing more cohesively defensively; having Shane Pinto for all 24 games should help immensely with that endeavor.
Ottawa will certainly improve, but will that be enough to reach the playoffs? This division can only get tougher.
7. Montreal Canadiens (Last Year Finished Eighth) This season is expected to bring change for Montreal as they look for progress with their rebuild. No matter what management says, Montreal would love meaningful games between March and April; failing that would be a serious let down.
Montreal Can Help Patrik Laine Succeed with Canadiens
Patrik Laine was expected to help Montreal Canadiens’ cause, but unfortunately suffered an ACL tear in preseason which will prevent him from helping score as often. Montreal continues being an attractive family for players so the next man up approach may help Laine adjust.
Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Nick Suzuki, Alex Newhook and Kaiden Guhle have proven themselves once again this season for Montreal Canadiens. If Kirby Dach can remain healthy he could prove instrumental for them while Lane Hutson will also join in support, making an unexpectedly large contribution on defense. Keep an eye on Montreal.
8. Buffalo Sabres (Last Season: 6th Place)
Unfortunately, the Buffalo Sabres will once more finish near the bottom of the Atlantic Division this year. In terms of changes made this off-season by Buffalo, we hardly found anything noteworthy other than signing Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to an extension and signing Jason Zucker before making a questionable trade that sent Matthew Savoie packing to Philadelphia for nothing in return.
2024-25 NHL Divisional Rankings: Metro Division They also brought back Lindy Ruff as head coach – his second stint with Buffalo! In his previous incarnation when Ruff made it back into the playoffs as head coach? Unfortunately for Buffalo though, rebuilding seems an endless journey and even with all this talent at its disposal they couldn’t reach playoff contention despite attempts.
Now the Sabres boast a formidable defense with Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Bowen Byram and Mattias Samuelsson on defense and JJ Peterka, Jack Quinn, Tage Thompson Alex Tuch Jordan Greenway on offense; therefore they need a way to score goals quickly.
Buffalo will face another challenging year; potentially this marks 14 consecutive seasons without making the playoffs.