The NHL’s Atlantic Division might well be the league’s most competitive division. And in this short THN.com series, we’re predicting how it will look at the end of the 2025-26 regular season.
As part of this article, you’ll find this writer’s rankings of the Atlantic Division teams. Additionally, you’ll see where each team was placed in The Hockey News’ Yearbook & Fantasy Guide 2025 and their odds of being Atlantic Division winners, as per BetMGM.
1. Florida Panthers
The Hockey News Yearbook Division Rank: 1st
BetMGM Atlantic Division Winner Odds: 2.55 (+155)
Why I've Ranked Them First: Against all odds, the Panthers figured out how to retain the services of three UFA veterans – left winger Brad Marchand, center Sam Bennett and defenseman Aaron Ekblad – who all could’ve done just as well or better financially by signing with a different team. So, while it does sting Florida to be without injured star right winger Matthew Tkachuk until the new year, the Panthers’ all-around depth is about as good as it gets.
You can say a lot of things about Florida – they’re line-crossers, they’re borderline-dirty, they hurt people – but you can’t say they’re not proven winners. And although they’re going to be favorites to win their third-straight Stanley Cup, they showed last season that it didn’t make a whit of difference where they finished in the playoff ranks. This is a team built to win, and the Panthers are going to do a lot of winning in 2025-26.
Why I Could Be Wrong: Maybe Tkachuk’s absence hurts the Panthers’ chances to win close games. Perhaps Sergei Bobrovsky acts his age when he turns 37 in September, and new backup Daniil Tarasov doesn’t work out as envisioned. Maybe the toll of so much playoff hockey starts to bite into Florida’s effectiveness. There are many possibilities that could dethrone the Panthers as the Atlantic’s top team.
Now, we don’t see any of these aforementioned things preventing the Panthers from making the playoffs, but in a highly competitive division like the Atlantic, any of those developments could allow other Atlantic teams to overtake Florida for the top spot. But if they’re relatively good on the health front, and their veterans put in the hard work, it’s hard to see the Panthers not being a top team in the division.
2. Toronto Maple Leafs
The Hockey News Yearbook Division Rank: 3rd
BetMGM Atlantic Division Winner Odds: 4.60 (+360)
Why I've Ranked Them Second: Let’s get the obvious out of the way: the Maple Leafs will be a different team in the post-Mitch-Marner era – a team that won’t make as many highlight-reel offensive plays, and a team that won’t be quite as sharp defensively without Marner. But you know what? The Leafs were not an empty vessel that Marner propped up every game. This Toronto team won the division last season – only its second division title since 1999-2000 – and they have the talent to do so again.
If you’re acknowledging Marner played a major role and will be missed, you also have to acknowledge the Maple Leafs have excellent depth at all positions other than at left wing. And you have to believe the Buds are going to be a home-ice advantage team in next year’s playoffs. Of course, they’ll be judged next season by how far they go in the post-season. But when it comes to the regular season, Leafs coach Craig Berube is going to guide this grittier team to at least get to second-place in the Atlantic, or possibly, to their second-straight Atlantic title win.
Why I Could Be Wrong: The removal of Marner from the picture will ramp up expectations on returning Maple Leafs star forwards Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares and Matthew Knies, and that pressure could send Toronto on a downward spiral. The Leafs were a consistently great team last year, but there’s no assurance everything is going to go their way in 2025-26. And with the improvements of teams like the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens, Toronto could find itself battling just to hang onto a wild-card berth.
The Maple Leafs can’t afford a harsh bite from the injury bug, because if health woes strike one of Toronto’s stars, they don’t have replacement-level value to slot in in their place. That could spell big trouble for the Leafs’ aspirations to win home-ice advantage once again.
3. Tampa Bay Lightning
The Hockey News Yearbook Division Rank: 2nd
BetMGM Atlantic Division Winner Odds: 3.70 (+270)
Why I've Ranked Them Third: In THN.com’s Summer Splash series, the Lightning finished a distant 25th in the league in terms of their off-season. But that’s because their biggest off-season addition was former Maple Leafs fourth-line forward Pontus Holmberg. That said, the Summer Splash series didn’t focus on what teams likely will be dominant next season. And Tampa Bay’s overall high-quality depth is going to make them a surefire playoff team again in 2025-26.
Any team that has multiple future Hockey Hall-of-Famers at forward, on defense and in goal should be regarded as a playoff lock until further notice. And there’s no reasonable reason to believe the Lightning will miss the playoffs next year. The Bolts need to be healthy, but that’s true of every team. So long as superstars Andrei Vasilevskiy, Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, Jake Guentzel and Brayden Point are in their lineup, the Lightning are going to be tough to beat – and they’re going to have a firm hold on a playoff spot.
Why I Could Be Wrong: Remember a couple of years ago, when Vasilevskiy posted the worst save percentage of his career? Sure, he still finished with a .900 SP that season, but for the first time in his pro hockey career, Vasilevskiy looked human. He rebounded in a major way last season, but Vasilevskiy is now moving toward his mid-thirties, and maybe he can’t bail out his teammates the way he often did as he carved out a legacy as one of the NHL’s best netminders.
Losing defenseman Nick Perbix also could hurt Tampa Bay’s status in the Atlantic. Hedman is now 34 years old, and while we’re not suggesting the end is near for the Swedish blueliner, very few continue to beat Father Time year after year, and the Lightning’s many miles on their competitive odometer could start them on a downward spiral – and maybe they get passed by the Ottawa Senators. Tampa may be primed for a fall, if not in terms of making the playoffs, then in terms of being a true top-three team in the Atlantic.
4. Ottawa Senators
The Hockey News Yearbook Division Rank: 4th
BetMGM Atlantic Division Winner Odds: 9.50 (+850)
Why I've Ranked Them Fourth: Let’s look at this placement as a positive for the Senators. It’s probably not realistic to pin all your hope on Ottawa vaulting up to first or second place in the division. Let’s just recognize the Senators are a more experienced group, and a group that may not be able to knock off teams like the Leafs, Lightning and Panthers, but firming up their grip on a wild-card spot would still be progress, so long as they put up a longer playoff fight than they did last year.
The Sens took a step forward this past season. They went from 37-41-4 in 2023-24 to 45-30-7. That’s an excellent first year for coach Travis Green, and it gives them the foundation on which they raise the bar to a new level. That’s the challenge for the Senators, and although we feel pretty good about picking Ottawa as a playoff team, we nonetheless see them as needing a little while longer to develop before they can push into a home-ice advantage position.
Why I Could Be Wrong: The Senators certainly can’t afford a step backward in 2025-26. Missing out on the playoffs would be a catastrophe. So you have to consider the possibility that the pressure to produce playoff games next year is going to be considerable, and Ottawa can’t let the expectations overwhelm them. Otherwise, the playoffs are going to be out of reach.
The Sens’ core of Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle and Jake Sanderson have established themselves as difference-makers. Now Ottawa needs their depth players to overachieve if they’re to keep pace in the Atlantic. The Senators have foundational players, and they have solid goaltending. But in what is arguably the NHL’s toughest division, the Sens aren’t as strong on paper as teams like Toronto, Florida and Tampa Bay are. But that could change if everyone steps up.
5. Montreal Canadiens
The Hockey News Yearbook Division Rank: 5th
BetMGM Atlantic Division Winner Odds: 15.00 (+1400)
Why I've Ranked Them Fifth: After a long time in the wilderness, the Canadiens have come in from the cold and put themselves in a position to be a respectable playoff contender. Last year’s first-round exit at the hands of the Washington Capitals showed Montreal management how far they still have to go before they’re seen as a playoff lock or a team destined to go on a long playoff run. That’s a possibility, we suppose, but there’s also the possibility the Canadiens take a lateral step, still finishing fifth in the Atlantic for the second-straight season, but losing out on a wild-card berth as the Metropolitan Division sends four teams to the post-season.
The Habs pulled off a stunning off-season trade with the addition of former New York Islanders star defenseman Noah Dobson, and it’s now fair to say that Montreal’s defense corps is one of the stronger defense corps in the league. That should make them a tough opponent, but we believed the improved play in the Metro will push them out of the playoff picture.
Why I Could Be Wrong: Montreal’s day in the sun is coming, and maybe it’s coming sooner than we suspected. Canadiens GM Kent Hughes has improved his team’s roster piece by piece, and he’s now at a point where he’s looking to augment his roster with savvy support players. If Hughes can deliver them, Montreal could pull off a shocker and vault over the Senators and put a firm grip on the fourth-place spot.
The Canadiens have shown us the potential Hughes and Montreal brass see in them. Now it’s about pushing down the gas pedal and accelerating the rebuild – and coach Martin St. Louis feels like just the kind of coach who can take them there. The Habs have the foundation you want to see in a true Cup contender, and once they fill out the forward group, they’re going to be extremely tough to beat. And 2025-26 could be the year they figure it all out and confirm their status as one of the teams to beat in the Atlantic and the Eastern Conference.
6. Buffalo Sabres
The Hockey News Yearbook Division Rank: 7th
BetMGM Atlantic Division Winner Odds: 51.00 (+5000)
Why I've Ranked Them Sixth: By the end of last season, the Sabres were relying on journeyman goalie James Reimer, and they finished the season in seventh place in the division. Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams may be under more pressure next season for any GM whose name isn’t Steve Yzerman, and THN’s editorial staff believed the Sabres had the worst off-season of any team in the league. You can understand why Sabres fans are so exhausted by all the years of excuses. If things don’t go right for Buffalo – and any finish that doesn’t include a playoff appearance will be listed as something that didn’t go right for the Sabres – there’s going to be major unrest in Western New York.
Getting one spot better in the division than they got to last year but still missing the playoffs is exactly the kind of hollow victory the Sabres have been used to in recent years. They’ve had years of rebuilding all for naught, and missing the playoffs would call into question management’s ability to do its job. And unfortunately for Buffalo fans, the Sabres are going to be outclassed by five teams in the division, if not more.
Why I Could Be Wrong: Buffalo does have some terrific players – defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, winger Tage Thompson – but one of the knocks on them is that they haven’t been able to augment their lineup with productive veterans. Another knock is that they make a regular habit of trading players – most recently, up-and-coming winger JJ Peterka – and the optics of moves like that one make Buffalo a locale that isn’t at the top of many players’ lists. But we could be wrong, and Sabres coach Lindy Ruff may steer Buffalo into a wild-card berth. That’s probably the ceiling for the Sabres this year, but it should be a ceiling they can get close to.
The Sabres might take all the naysayers’ negativity and use it as motivation to surprise people in 2025-26. It’s certainly not going to be easy to push past teams like Ottawa and Montreal, but the Sabres have every opportunity to prove to opponents they’re a different team – 82 opportunities, to be exact. And miracle seasons have happened for teams like the Sabres, so it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility for Buffalo to end their playoff drought at 14 years. Because if the drought lasts 15 years, Sabres fans may feel like the misery will never end.
7. Detroit Red Wings
The Hockey News Yearbook Division Rank: 6th
BetMGM Atlantic Division Winner Odds: 41.00 (+4000)
Why I've Ranked Them Seventh: It’s been painful to imagine the frustration Red Wings fans feel. This organization was for a very long time the gold standard for hockey organizations, but for the past nine seasons, Detroit has flailed and wailed, and been a non-playoff team. And for the past six seasons, they’ve had franchise icon Yzerman underwhelming in his attempts to build an elite roster.
Thus, the Wings have been unable to consistently compete with actual Cup contenders in the East and the Atlantic. Since 2015-16, the best this franchise has finished is in fifth place (just twice), and every other year was spent in sixth, seventh or eighth place in the division. That’s not an anomaly. That’s what you really are as a team. And that’s why we think Detroit is going to finish in second-last in the Atlantic
Why I Could Be Wrong: Todd McLellan came in as the Wings' coach last season and had some immediate success. However, that success was short-lived, and Detroit’s players once again proved they weren’t a playoff team. But Yzerman added goalie John Gibson in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks this summer, and the defense-challenged Wings could respond very well to Gibson coming in and providing experience between the pipes.
The high end for this Detroit team is a wild-card spot, and you have to figure Yzerman is desperate to use every bit of his $11.9-million in salary cap space during the season. The Red Wings have some components to like, and the newly rejigged roster might catch lightning in a bottle and emerge as a wild-card team.
8. Boston Bruins
The Hockey News Yearbook Division Rank: 8th
BetMGM Atlantic Division Winner Odds: 101.00 (+10000)
Why I've Ranked Them Eighth: The Bruins shockingly plummeted down the Atlantic standings last season, finishing dead last in the division. Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman struggled behind a defense corps that had injuries (to veteran Hampus Lindholm) and behind a team that had multiple trades (that sent veteran Brandon Carlo to Toronto, and captain Brad Marchand to the Panthers). Bruins GM Don Sweeney acknowledged his team was flawed, and he focused on the future with the roster moves he made.
Boston may not be quite so bad this year, but even a slight improvement may only see them add a few standings points to their credit. The Bruins aren’t going to bowl over opponents with sheer skill and dogged determination – instead, they’re going to sink to the bottom of the Atlantic and force Sweeney to look at making more moves with an eye on the future.
Why I Could Be Wrong: Over the years, the Bruins have made their doubters look silly. And that could prove to be the case this coming season, as Boston has numerous veterans (including superstar winger David Pastrnak and rugged defenseman Charlie McAvoy) who could get the Bruins back in the thick of things as they pursue a wild-card berth.
A rebound year from Swayman would be just what the doctor ordered for Boston, and an improved performance from center Elias Lindholm would also help the Bruins’ cause. And given that few people believe Boston will be a playoff team, the pressure on the Bruins won’t be nearly as harsh as it will be for other teams. Boston has too many proud vets to just roll over, and they could pull off an upset by sneaking into a wild-card spot.
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