Maple Leafs' Divisional Rivals Preview – Hockey Writers – Toronto Maple Leafs

It is often said about the Toronto Maple Leafs that nothing is ever proven until the season begins. The club, after all, has never had a shortage of regular season success, but that hasn't stopped it from chasing the Stanley Cup. That said, we can't just jump ahead to April, so there's still a matter of 82 regular season games to play. And while all eyes will be on Toronto's next first-round game, targeting the Atlantic Division title before that is a big part of the puzzle.

This eight-year stretch of postseason appearances also featured impressive regular-season performances, including two franchise-highest points (115 points in 2021-22 and 111 points in 2022-23). One thing the Maple Leafs haven't won, however, is a division crown. If they had finished at the top of the Atlantic three seasons ago, it would have meant that instead of two first-round meetings with the Tampa Bay Lightning and one with the Boston Bruins, they would have faced the aging Washington Capitals, upstart Florida. Panthers and Lightning.

None of those playoff games would guarantee victory, but it would at least provide a diversion from a situation that has not worked so far. This season, the division title looks like an attainable target, with the Atlantic wide open and a Maple Leafs team that is strong, deep and strong on defense (despite what the last two games have shown). To better assess the club's chances at the top of the division, let's take a closer look at some of their rivals so far:

Tampa Bay Lightning

It feels like a long time ago considering Toronto's recent slide, but it still had to feel good Monday night to dominate the long-time rival Lightning while chants of “Where's Stamkos?” echoed throughout the Scotiabank Arena. In fairness, Tampa Bay came out of the gates hot amid a storm-plagued start to the season (before the last two outs) and Steven Stamkos' replacement Jake Guentzel has been a point man in each game so far. Meanwhile, Nikita Kucherov picked up where he left off last season with an NHL-leading eight goals.

But as defeats in three of their last four games show, there are still questions surrounding this Nyazi team. The club has allowed 14 goals in all three losses, and star goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevskiy hasn't looked like himself. This shouldn't be too much of a concern five games into the season, but the 30-year-old Russian hasn't been at his best since undergoing back surgery last September. A couple with questions about depth and stuff may not be as hot as a 3-0 start would suggest.

While many teams (including the Maple Leafs) would kill for the Lightning's recent record of success, their postseason victories have come without recent division dominance. They haven't won the Atlantic since putting up an incredible 128 points in 2018-19 (before being upset by the Columbus Blue Jackets) and haven't finished as high as second since the pandemic shortened the 2019-20 season.

Boston Bruins

Toronto visits the Boston Bruins on Saturday, which will give the Maple Leafs an opportunity to quickly see their winners, who have been inconsistent and inconsistent to start the 2024-25 season. On the other hand, starting goalkeeper Jeremy Swayman seems to be coming into his own following a contract extension that lasted until the start of the Boston season. On the other hand, they hold a mediocre record of 3-4-1 and have managed just three goals in their last three games.

Brad Marchand got off to a slow start, collecting four assists and eight goals in the first eight games. On the other end of the performance spectrum is Cole Koepke, a free agent signing to a two-way contract who survived a training camp battle to play a deep role and suddenly shares the team lead in scoring with three goals and six points (while averaging just 11:03 of ice time per game ).

While there was a lot on the hot bench between Marchand and head coach Jim Montgomery over the weekend, there's not much to rule out in the Bruins' start. It's not the 9-0-1 start they enjoyed last season, but it's safe to say that no one in Boston is lifting any weights.

The Florida Panthers

The Florida Panthers' 5-3-1 record has been good enough to put them atop the Atlantic for now, mostly due to playing more games than anyone else in the division. Still, it's a credit to the defending Stanley Cup champions that they were able to hold on without Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov, two of last season's top three scorers.

Tkachuk returned from Tuesday night's 5-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild after undergoing what he called a “minor procedure”, while Barkov is expected to return soon after suffering a hamstring injury in the season-opening loss to the Ottawa Senators. In their place, Sam Reinhart has done well in his new big contract, following up last season's 57-goal performance with five goals and 13 points in nine games.

Speaking of absences, the Panthers are still looking for answers on the blue line, where the front four was impacted by the offseason departures of Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, not to mention the loss of Anthony Stolarz in net. While Nate Schmidt was brought in to add depth, the losses of Montour and Ekman-Larsson were largely offset by increased roles for the existing defensemen. Aaron Ekblad, Gustav Forsling, Nikko Mikkola and, most importantly, Dmitry Kulikov saw their roles expand. Whether all four men can sustain more minutes over time remains to be seen.

Ottawa Senators

A delayed start to a muscle strain in goaltender and offseason addition Linus Ullmark caused some confusion in Ottawa, but Anton Forsberg and the Senators appear to be doing well for now. Known in recent seasons for handcuffing themselves with slow starts, they are 4-2 through six games, and Forsberg was recently beaten 4-0 by the Utah Hockey Club.

Adding to the encouraging nature of their start is who they started well against. Tuesday's shutout marked Utah's first home loss at the Delta Center. Prior to that, the Senators had already managed to beat the Panthers, the Lightning and the Los Angeles Kings, all playoff teams from last year.

The growth and development in Ottawa is already evident, and a playoff berth would be a huge step forward for a franchise currently mired in a seven-year drought. When it comes to their level of threat to the Maple Leafs, however, let's not get too carried away. The Senators finished 24 points behind Toronto in the standings last season, so making up that kind of gap may not be possible this season.

The Montreal Canadiens

Things looked promising for the Montreal Canadiens at the start of the season, as their talented young core looked ready to make their mark. That hope was also emboldened by opening the season 1-0 at home against the rival Maple Leafs where Samuel Montembeault stole the show. After about two weeks, things are not looking so good.

After winning two of their first three games, the Canadiens dropped four straight, including an embarrassing 7-2 home loss to the New York Rangers. In that game, defenseman Justin Barron joined the likes of Patrik Laine, Juraj Slafkovsky and Kaiden Guhle on the sidelines for a brutal check from Jacob Trouba. For those healthy, Cole Caufield is scoring at an impressive rate, but rookie blueliner Lane Hutson has looked lost defensively.

It is not uncommon for a small group to need time to prepare before meeting. The 2016-17 Maple Leafs, led by rookie Auston Matthews, went 1-2-3 but finished with 95 points and a playoff spot. For now, however, getting things back on track will be a test of the maturity of Montreal's young players and their leadership, including captain Nick Suzuki.

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The Buffalo Sabres

It's been a rough start for Buffalo, but signs of life are suddenly showing when it comes to the Sabers. A disappointing season-opening trip to Czechia to face the New Jersey Devils over two games in the Global Series resulted in two losses and just two goals on seven allowed. Things didn't get much better when they returned to the United States, dropping three of the next four. And yet, similar 4-2 wins in Chicago and at home in Dallas over their last two games provide some reason for hope.

While star players Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch have gotten off to a good start, the same cannot be said for Rasmus Dahlin and Dylan Cozens, who are still looking to find their game. New additions Ryan McLeod and Jason Zucker seem to be finding their place, but the Sabres' playoff hopes rest more on the concept of internal development than any big additions they've made this summer.

While it's reasonable to expect such internal growth with a young core that includes the likes of Thompson (26), Dahlin (24), Cozens (23) and Owen Power (21), a postseason appearance may be the highest hill for Buffalo this season. . The Sabers finished seven points out of the second wild card spot last season and would have to jump four teams to get there. So far, they haven't looked much better than the Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers, all teams that stood between them and a playoff spot last season.

The Detroit Red Wings

Speaking of the Red Wings and teams that could come up after a slow start, Detroit looks a lot better now that they hit the road to take out the Nashville Predators and New York Islanders after what was a 1-3 start.

While the offense still needs improvement (15 goals in six games), the goal prevention has been a key area of ​​improvement early on so far. In three starts, goaltender Alex Lyon (1.46 goals-against average, .955 save percentage) has stood out among Detroit's net triumvirate that includes Cam Talbot and Ville Husso. Ahead of him, Moritz Seider thrives in his role as No.

Similar to last season, when they missed the postseason just by having five fewer wins in regulation than the majors, the Red Wings look poised to compete for a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference in April. With Seider, Lucas Raymond and Dylan Larkin, there is some talent here, but not enough to compete with the top teams in the Atlantic Division.

There is a certain level of mystery about who can win in every division of the NHL, but perhaps none is more open than the Atlantic. The Metropolitan will probably come down to the Rangers and the Carolina Hurricanes, while the Central and the Pacific have a small group of people who will dominate at the end of the season, and any of Toronto, Boston, Florida or Tampa can apply for Atlantic, there may be a surprise team yet to emerge. It's going to be an interesting race all season, and the Maple Leafs should be in the thick of it.