The Montreal Canadiens made a loud statement last season by getting all the way to the Eastern Conference Final, and that run showed their rebuild is ahead of schedule. The problem now is the road back. In a division that already felt brutal, the Atlantic looks just as crowded and unforgiving heading into the new season.
Last year, the Atlantic was arguably the NHL’s deepest division. Five teams - the Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators - made the playoffs.
The Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs both had seasons that fell short of expectations, mostly because of injuries and inconsistency, but neither club looks like an easy out when healthy. Even the Detroit Red Wings hung around the playoff race for most of the year before missing by just a few points.
That leaves essentially eight teams entering the season with real playoff hopes. No other division can match that kind of depth, and there are no soft spots here. Every divisional game is going to matter.
The offseason did nothing to calm things down. Florida looks ready to rebound after an injury-riddled regular season, and the additions only make them nastier to deal with.
Brady Tkachuk gives them one of the league’s premier power forwards. Garnet Hathaway and Radko Gudas add more bite and physical edge to a team that was already tough to handle.
If they stay healthier, the Panthers should be right back in the mix in both the Atlantic and the Eastern Conference.
Toronto also made moves that keep it in the contender conversation. The Maple Leafs addressed their biggest question in goal by acquiring Sergei Bobrovsky, then added veteran defenseman Darren Raddysh for depth.
Winning the draft lottery and selecting Gavin McKenna gives them one of hockey’s brightest young talents, too. On paper, Toronto still looks loaded.
Tampa Bay wasn’t standing still either. The Lightning added veteran defenseman John Carlson, and even with an aging core, Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy still give them the kind of star power that can tilt a game any night.
Buffalo and Ottawa both lost important pieces, but neither team simply folded into the background. The Sabres found ways to replace Bowen Byram, while the Senators moved on from Brady Tkachuk and brought in players meant to help absorb that blow. Neither club should be written off.
Montreal, meanwhile, mostly trusted what got them here. The Canadiens kept the young core together and are counting on more growth from Ivan Demidov, Lane Hutson, Juraj Slafkovsky, Jakub Dobes and others. Sometimes the biggest offseason move is believing your own players are ready for another step.
That’s the reality of this division: nothing is handed out. Last season proved there are very few easy points to be found in the Atlantic, and that won’t change now.
For the Canadiens, the standard has to stay grounded. An Eastern Conference Final appearance was a huge accomplishment, but it doesn’t guarantee anything this time around.
Montreal absolutely has the pieces to get back to the playoffs. Nick Suzuki keeps setting the tone, Cole Caufield remains one of the NHL’s top goal scorers, Hutson already looks like a franchise defenseman, and Demidov has the ceiling to become another major offensive weapon. Add Noah Dobson to that group, and the Canadiens have every reason to believe they belong in the race.
But belief won’t be enough. The Atlantic Division looks like the NHL’s toughest again, and for Montreal, the task is simple and brutal at the same time: survive an 84-game grind against seven other teams that all think they can make the postseason. If the Canadiens get back in, they’ll have earned every point.
In Other News...
Trevor Zegras Deal Just Made Kent Hughes Look Even Smarter
Trevor Zegras landing in Philadelphia has added another useful data point for front offices trying to balance upside, age and cost on their next wave of talent. For Montreal, it is a reminder that Kent Hughes has spent the last stretch of roster building with a clear eye on value, especially when it comes to players who are still young enough to grow into bigger roles without forcing the club into an immediate financial corner.
The comparison gets even more interesting when Zegras is lined up beside Ivan Demidov and Lane Hutson, two Canadiens pieces who are younger and, in Montreals view, carry a different kind of long-term appeal. Zegras is getting paid more per year than either of them, which only sharpens the argument that Hughes has been disciplined in the way he has handled the teams contract strategy, even if the full payoff on that approach is still ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Proposed Top Six Shakeup Creates One Huge New Question
A speculative idea floated by Marc-Olivier Beaudoin has stirred up another round of Canadiens lineup debate, and it starts with a simple premise: Montreal still needs help in its top six. In the scenario, the club would try to solve that by adding winger Will Cuylle, a move meant to bring more bite and production to the forward group while reshuffling the middle of the lineup in a meaningful way.
The ripple effect is where things get interesting. Oliver Kapanen would be pushed into the second-line center job, flanked by Juraj Slafkovsky and Ivan Demidov, which gives the Canadiens a look that is easy to imagine on paper but harder to project in practice. The appeal is obvious, but so are the questions about how the pieces fit, what roles each player can handle, and whether Montreal would be better served by making that kind of bet now. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Suddenly Have A Real Opening Night Edge Over Toronto
The NHL has once again lined up Montreal and Toronto for the opener, marking the seventh straight season the Canadiens will start against the Maple Leafs. This one feels a little different, though, because Toronto spent the offseason remaking itself from the top down, with a new general manager, a new coach and a noticeable wave of roster change, while Montreal is mostly coming back with the group that already knows what it can be together.
For the Canadiens, that continuity matters. They are not walking into a brand-new situation so much as a familiar one against a rival still sorting out its identity, and that gives Montreal a chance to lean on stability right away. The Leafs have added fresh faces and new voices, but there is still one major question hanging over their side of the matchup, and it could shape how much of an edge Montreal really has when the season opens. [Read more 🡒]