Buffalo’s goaltending is young and inexperienced but their blueline is improving rapidly and it will be the strength of the team soon. They have two absolute studs that can carry that blueline for the next decade plus.

While I agree that those areas will become strengths soon, right now I think they are weaknesses. In the next few years I think Buffalo will become a real threat for a division spot but right now I don't see the as a playoff team

As a Leaf fan I have been waiting for Boston to fall and some how they always seem to make it work.

I don't think its even been 8 but yes with the parity int he NHL there is always change.

I don't think anyone would be surprised if the made the playoffs however I don't see many insiders taking them as cup contenders as Dubas claims

Fair enough lol. I mean they'll still probably be decent, but they're definitely going to fall. Not only is it basically impossible to repeat what they did last year - but losing Bergeron and Krejci just adds to it

Sure but even last season almost nobody picked Boston to be more than a wild card team. And they are old as hell too. Granted I think they have more young elite players, but they're old players are worse than Pittsburgh's collectively in my opinion. Hockey is a notoriously difficult sport to predict and the gambling lines prove that.

Fingers crossed I was thinking the same when they lost Chara. I really do think they will drop this year but how far is the question.

Funny thing as I see your Avatar I was at the Last Leaf's game in the old igloo in Pittsburg and after the game I met one of the Hanson brothers (I don't remember what one) we chatted in the lower bowl after most people left the arena.

Definitely fingers crossed haha. I get your point about Chara - but I do think losing Bergeron/Krejci is a lot more impactful than losing Chara. Combine that with just natural regression from having the greatest regular season ever - and they should fall. But yeah - the question is definitely how much.

And for what it's worth - they did kind of fall a little bit after Chara. Their point pace dropped like 11 points the following season and they went from 1st to 3rd in the Atlantic.

Wait.... I'm confused haha. Are you saying you think they will drop or won't?

I think they have a couple things going for them that could still fit them into a playoff spot:

1 Pasta is a legit superstar.

2 Charlie Mac is one of the best RHD in the league

3 Ullmark (if he isn’t traded) and Swayman may still be the best tandem in the league.

Lastly and probably most undervalued they signed two cheap UFAs that I wanted to see us get, Boqvist and Geekie. Those guys are perfect for a 3rd line. I don’t think they’re cup contenders I do think they’ll get in.

Oh I agree - I was just saying they're going to fall from where they were last year. I fully expect them to be in the wild card mix still - at worst.

The wording of that guys comment just confused me a bit haha - that's why I was asking for clarification

I think the only teams I'd bet money on to make the postseason in the EC are CAR, NJD, TOR, and NYR. There could be four new teams (PIT, OTT, BUF, and DET) and it wouldn't surprise me in the least.

Okay gotcha - we're on a similar page then haha.

The beginning of your comment just confused me a bit lol

People on here act like it is the NBA where 80+% of the games and postseason is extremely predictable when in reality it is closer to 50/50. There's so many surprises like Boston and Florida every year.

BOS was definitely a huge surprise last year. To be fair, FLA was a favorite to win the cup at the beginning of the year though. Them making the playoffs wasn't really unexpected.

What I meant was that Florida and Boston were big surprises in the regular season, and then again in the postseason. I actually had Florida beating Boston in 7 but I thought they would lose against a healthy Toronto so my predictions weren't great either. Also these outlier goaltending seasons like Ullmark in 2023 or Shesterkin 2022 has make HUGE differences. Or Bobrovsky this postseason.

Oh haha - I gotcha. Yeah I agree with your overall point for sure. It's more or less the same one I was trying to make