Well, the 2023-24 NHL season is rapidly approaching and there are plenty of questions that need to be answered for the Atlantic Division teams. While every team has questions, these are the most pressing.
Boston Bruins Will their lack of depth at center doom them?
Last season, the Boston Bruins set the league record for the most points in a season and had an unbelievable +128 goal differential. So can removing two players significantly hurt their team makeup? Well, when it's their captain Patrice Bergeron who played for their franchise since 2003 and the reigning Selke trophy winner who took on the opponents' top line of the other team every night, YES IT'S MASSIVELY IMPORTANT. I didn't even get to David Krejci, who was a pretty good player too. Right now the Bruins top two centers are Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle; good players, but a steep drop off from Patrice Bergeron and Krejci. Can they handle what their predecessors handled so well? Bergeron won SIX Selke Trophies as the league's best defensive forward (including the last two) while providing a 50-point pace for over a decade. Asking ONE of these players to embody ONE side of the production he contributed is asking a lot. Imagine trying to ask them to do BOTH! Yes, they still have Pastrnak and Marchand to help, but how are they going to fill those shoes?
Buffalo Sabres Can this team keep the puck out of the net?
Only two teams in the NHL put the puck in the net more than the 293 times the Buffalo Sabres have. Surprise! It's Connor McDavid's Oilers (325) and the All-Time great season Boston Bruins (301). Channeling my inner Homer Simpson to say, "That's good." The problem was that they allowed 297 goals which ranks them at 7th worse in the NHL. "Oooo That's bad," Homer would also say. This team could not keep the puck out of their own net. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen posted a 3.61 Goals Against Average with a .891 Save %. To put that in perspective, Seattle's Martin Jones and Philipp Grubauer recorded Save percentages of .886 and .895 with GAAs MUCH LOWER (Jones 2.99, Grubauer 2.85) than UPL's. Though Northeastern's Devon Levi impressed with his 7 games (5-2, .895 save %, 2.95 GAA), Buffalo goalies averaged 33 saves per game so they NEED to cut down on the shots against. That's not good. This team has an elite level of offense, but a defensive posture of a slouch. If they can get to a +20 Goal Differential, they're a playoff team. That's not asking for much. Just cut down from nearly 300 goals against.
Detroit Red Wings Did Yzerman add the right pieces?
For years in Tampa and then his migration home to Detroit, the term "Yzerplan" was uttered so often that it's become a myth. After all Steve Yzerman basically built the Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup dynasty. Not saying that Julien Brisebois didn't put them over the top, but let's face it, Yzerman built the foundation, frame, electrical, and plumbing and installed most of the appliances and furniture. In Detroit, he drafted Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond to go with Dylan Larkin and then he started spending last season (Ben Chiarot, Andrew Copp, Ville Husso, and David Perron). This offseason he added J.T. Compher, Klim Kostin, Daniel Sprong, Shayne Gostisbehere, Justin Holl, James Reimer, Alex Lyon, Christian Fischer, Alex DeBrincat, and Jeff Petry via trades and free agency. That's a lot. Did he add enough to get Derek Lalonde's team into the playoffs? Hard to say. The lineup should be much more competitive than two seasons ago, but the Atlantic is a crowd that could have 7 teams competing for the playoffs. Seider fell into a sophomore slump but came out of it late last season. If he improves from his rookie season, the Red Wings can make the jump.
Florida Panthers Will the Cup Run injuries cost them a playoff spot THIS season?
The Florida Panthers run to the Stanley Cup Finals last season was one of the most miraculous runs that a team ever went on in the NHL playoffs history. Think about it: from facing elimination in Game 5 vs the All-Time Single Season Point Leaders Boston Bruins to the Stanley Cup Finals, the Panthers lost ONE game. ONE! That was to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2nd Round and they were lucky to get it. However, the Panthers run took its tool by the time the puck dropped in the Finals. The injuries were just too much. Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour will miss the beginning season. Even though goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky returned to his Two-Time Vezina trophy form in the playoffs, it's unrealistic to believe he'll continue that form since he hasn't looked THAT good for 4 years in Florida. Bobrovsky's lowest GAA in Florida is comparable to his HIGHEST in Columbus. Can he and the Panthers get into the playoffs or will another slow start kill their Cup dreams?
Montreal Canadiens Are the Canadiens going to needlessly speed up the rebuild?
I'm going to keep this short. The Canadiens have been assembling talent and rebuilding the right way, but will they follow the New York Rangers and speed up their rebuild? Hopefully not, but if Marty St Louis can get his young team to play well enough to be in the hunt, will GM Kent Hughes try to make the playoffs? After all, his boss Jeff Gorton tried to fast-track the Rangers rebuild and those moves aren't looking as great as previously thought. Don't rush this one. You're on the right track . Figure if Sam Montembeault is the answer in net first.
Ottawa Senators Do they have the goaltending?
The Ottawa Senators feature the most exciting group of young forwards in the league with Tim Stützle, Brady Tkachuk, Shane Pinto (who is unsigned), and tack on Jake Sanderson on defense for good measure. Led by veterans Claude Giroux and now Vladimir Tarasenko, Ottawa looks to make the playoffs for the first time since 2017 when they lost Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals to the Penguins. There's one fault that could stand in their way; goaltending. Last season, the Sens used 7 goaltenders with their main tandem of Anton Forsberg and Cam Talbot leading the way. Anton Forberg has the better save % with .902 over Talbot's .898, but Talbot's 2.93 GAA was MUCH better than Forsberg's 3.26. Even Mads Sogaard, who played 19 games, didn't post better numbers. So Pierre Dorion turned to Joonas Korpisalo in free agency with a 5-year / $20m deal to tend the net. Korpisalo has never played more than 39 games in a season and hasn't posted a GAA below 2.60 in his career. While he recorded a 7-3-1 record in his 11 games in LA, Korpisalo was dreadful in the playoffs with a .892 save % with a 3.77 GAA. If the Sens want to make the playoffs, they'll have to fix their -10 goal differential, I just don't know if Korpisalo is the right goalie for this team.
Tampa Bay Lightning Will their lack of depth and Vasilevskiy injury doom them?
No matter how much you spend on your credit card, eventually, you're going to have to pay it. Right now, the Tampa Bay Lightning are finding that out. Big applause to Julien Brisebrois for making a mockery... I mean "maneuvering" the salary cap for the last 5 years. Brisebois's "maneuvering" helped the Lightning become the best league's dynasty since the '90s Red Wings. However, when it came time to keep his core together, he re-signed everyone to extensions that kick in THIS season. Anthony Cirielli, Erik Cernak, and Mikhail Sergechev's extensions kick in now with Brandon Hagel's coming next season all while Steven Stamkos is looking to sign his extension to stay a Lightning for life. Their depth isn't what it used to be, even though the Lightning still features some of the best top-end talent in the league, but the deeper into their lineup you go isn't so scary. The bill is due and as Brisebois transitions his team, they will have to do it without Vezina trophy-winning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, who is out the first two months of the season after undergoing back surgery.
Toronto Maple Leafs Will Brad Treliving's new vision lead to playoff success?
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been bridesmaid to Boston and Tampa Bay for years, but last year the Leafs got to the second round beating Tampa as Boston fell to Florida. Only problem was that they were out-gritted by the Florida Panthers in their 5-game series loss. So exit GM Kyle Dubas to Pittsburgh and enter former Calgary GM Brad Treliving with a vision of making this team more gritty with Tyler Bertuzzi, Ryan Reaves, and Max Domi to go with the talented core of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and William Nylander. Could Treliving be following the blueprint of the team that eliminated them last season?
Those are my questions. What's yours? Comment Below
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