Now, to finish my little series, let's talk about the atlantic
MTL is a very suspicious team. I like adding Dvorak and considering the team is in a win-now mode, he's a better option than KK and should help to fill the hole left behind by Danault's absence. Evans should take a slightly bigger role and Paquette should fill the rest, Hoffman will join TT and Anderson as a part of the Habs' goal scoring wingers, the return of Drouin should be very interesting, Savard will do an amazing job on the PK and playing 21-22 minutes a game on the backend. But IMO their C depth is still weak, unless Drouin turns out to be a good center, which he wasn't, a few years ago.
BOS is questionnable. Questionnable because Krejci left, leaving a major hole at 2C. Questionable because Bergeron is now 36 years old and seems a likely candidate to regress, questionable because, since their SCF appearance in 2019, they've been on a slow declining curve (conference finals in 2020 in the bubble and 2ns round exit last season). I do like adding Nosek, Foligno and Forbort as well as bringing back Reilly and Hall. One of Coyle (who's been bad at offense in 2021), Foligno, Frederic or Studnicka will have to step up at 2C. IMO they're a wildcard team, at best. Honestly, if injuries happen at a few places here and there (say, Carlo and Hall), I could even see them missing the playoffs. And if Bergy goes down which he has a history to doing, they're screwed, with pretty much no one to replace him at 2C.
OTT is interesting. I like addign MDZ to their D-core, this provides time for Sanderson, JBD and Thomson to develop, Gustavsson, Norris, Tkachuk, Stuzle and Brannstrom should improve and Chabot will, IMO, enter his prime. Zub will now have one NHL season behind him and should be slightly better. They'll miss the playoffs, but with players like Tkachuk, Paul and Brown, they'll be annoying to play against and could play the spoiler role in the atlantic.
TOR will, IMO, have a worse regular season than last season. Mrazek is good, but Ritchie lacks consistency and Kase is, IMO, just bad and doesn't seem to be able to stay healthy. NRob will have to be really good and, if possible, Kerfoot will have to be slightly better than last season. A few more goals from him should be expected/necessary. I wonder what will happen with Liljegren tho, he was drafted in 2017 and he really hasn't made any significant progressed compared to a year and a half ago. IMO they're finishing top 3.
DET: adding guys like Suter and Leddy should stabilize their team and players like Rowney and Oesterle will likely come in and out of the lineup. IMO both Seider and Raymond will make this team, making the Wings exciting to watch, hopefully. Still a growing pains season, but in a year or two they should get closer to the playoffs.
TB: after losing Gourde (
@andrewladd), Goodrow and Coleman, there will have to be players who step up. Well first, PEB and Parry should (partly) replace what Goodrow and Coleman brought, particularly on the PP, for Perry. I like bringing Bogo back. Colton should improve and ABB should be a good bottom sixer. IMO they'll drop, fatigue will likely be a factor for them sometime, but they'll be very solid.
FLA: adding Reinhart is huge for them. The Bennett deal is a high risk, high reward scenario, buying out Yandle and bringing back Montour was the right move to make. IMO they're a top 3 team.
BUF: . . .