The Atlantic Division is the most diverse division in the NHL, as it contains teams which have a very realistic shot of hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup in June and clubs which will likely only be contending for the No. 1 overall choice in the 2019 NHL Draft.
For the very first time in recent memory, the Toronto Maple Leafs are the +160 favorites to win the Atlantic at BetOnline, followed by the Tampa Bay Lightning (+165), Boston Bruins (+260), Florida Panthers (+1200), Buffalo Sabres (+3500), Montreal Canadiens (+4000), Detroit Red Wings (+5000) and Ottawa Senators (+6600).
The time is now for the Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs have the best chance to win the Stanley Cup, along with being division favorites. The Leafs set franchise records for wins and points last season and have been a period away from advancing to the second round of the playoffs prior to suffering yet another first-round exit into the Bruins. However, Toronto created the biggest splash of the summer by signing hometown boy John Tavares, providing them a three-headed monster down the centre with Auston Matthews and Nazem Kadri.
Toronto ranked fourth in the league in goals for some time boasting the second-best power play 2017-18, so adding Tavares into the combination is utterly terrifying for the remainder of the NHL. The defense remains a work-in-progress and is clearly the team’s weakest link, and goaltender Frederik Andersen has shown inconsistency at times but remains a very good starter. The Leafs won’t be going anywhere for a longlong time, along with also an Atlantic Division banner is a really realistic chance for Mike Babcock’s team.
Lightning The Lightning have made three trips into the Eastern Conference final in the last four years, yet they have nothing to show for it. On paper, Tampa Bay owns what’s arguably the best team in the NHL, as Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, J.T. Miller, Ondrej Palat, Brayden Point and Tyler Johnson make an extremely talented top-six forward group. Starting goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy looked as the Vezina Trophy favorite for its first half of this 2017-18 effort before falling off as the playoffs approached but will be fresh for the season opener.
The Bruins weren’t anticipated to be so good this quickly, but Boston’s youthful group came ahead of schedule this past year and the Bruins finished with 50 wins and 112 points as a outcome. The B’s, who ranked sixth in goals for and fourth in goals against, also had the fourth-best power play along with third-best penalty kill at the NHL. Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak comprise the top lineup in the league, while the rest of the roster is loaded with both potential and depth.
Apart from the Maple Leafs, Bruins and Lightning, just the Panthers look like a potential playoff team in my eyes. The Sabres, Canadiens, Red Wings and notably the Senators all boast their fair share of problems and shouldn’t be even considered as a prospective futures bet.
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