The Buffalo Sabres snapped their 15-year postseason drought, winning the Atlantic Division and advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but after an offseason that saw Bowen Byram and Alex Tuch being dealt, the task of repeating as division champion or finishing in the top three of the Atlantic could be significantly more difficult.
This week, we will look at the seven other teams in the Atlantic to see where they stand in comparison to where they were at the end of last season and see where they potentially stack up as competition with the Sabres.
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The Florida Panthers finally had the long arduous journeys that resulted in three trips to the Stanley Cup Final and two straight Cup victories catch up to them. The club lost team captain Aleksander Barkov to an ACL injury in training camp, were without top winger Matthew Tkachuk for a significant chunk of the season, and endured a slew of other injuries that resulted in the club finishing out of the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
GM Bill Zito was extremely active after the season in the trade market, adding winger Brady Tkachuk in a massive deal with the Ottawa Senators and other moves that are expected to help a healthy Panthers squad return to the postseason.
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Additions
Brady Tkachuk – Averaged nearly a point-per-game with Ottawa last season.
Garnet Hathaway – Veteran enforcer acquired from Philadelphia
Lars Eller – Veteran depth forward who played one season in Ottawa signs an incentive-based one-year deal.
Radko Gudas – 36-year-old former Panther signs a six-year, $9 million contract
Jacob Markstrom –Â Veteran goalie acquired from New Jersey
Akira Schmid – Played 34 games for Vegas last season, acquired for a third-round pick.
SubtractionsÂ
Evan Rodrigues – scored 31 points last season, swapped to the Devils in Markstrom deal.
Jesper Boqvist – depth forward who played 73 games for the Panthers last season, swapped to the Devils in Markstrom deal
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AJ Greer – signed a free agent deal with the Anaheim Ducks
Sergei Bobrovsky – signed a free agent deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs
Daniil Tarasov – signed a free agent deal with the Detroit Red Wings
Mackie Samoskevich – traded to the Seattle Kraken for a pair of draft picks
Outlook
The Panthers will benefit just as much from the new additions as they will from getting their existing players back 100% healthy. Barkov is one of the best two-way forwards in hockey and already showed he is back playing for Finland at the World Championships. Tkachuk is expected to be fully back, and his younger brother joins one of the deepest groups in the NHL, with Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe, Brad Marchand, Eetu Luostarinen, and Anton Lundell up front, and Seth Jones, Aaron Ekblad, Niko Mikkola, and Gustav Forsling on the back end. The biggest area of question is in goal, where a contract dispute led to Bobrovsky leaving in free agency.
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Markstrom is experienced and will benefit from playing behind a veteran crew who plays solid defensive hockey, but there are questions of whether the 36-year-old goalie is up to the task of replacing Goalie Bob.
The Sabres benefited from the Panthers decline and fall last season, but will not be as fortunate this time around. Florida appears to be assembling the closest version of the Charlestown Chiefs and unless they are hit with catastrophic injuries for two years in a row, they are a virtual lock to finish in the top three in the Atlantic.
The Panthers and Sabres have similar questions between the pipes, and a blueline that has won two Stanley Cups is equal or better than the Sabres defensive corps. Florida has a distinct advantage over Buffalo in experience and depth up front, but the Sabres forward corps has much more speed than the veteran Panther group. The Sabres slight step back after the loss of Tuch and Byram likely has the them finishing behind the Panthers next season.
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