Everyone improves in the Atlantic... except the Canadian

Everyone improves in the Atlantic… except the Canadian

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In the past few years, we didn’t have to worry too much about predicting which teams would (or wouldn’t) make the playoffs in the Atlantic Division.

In fact, the Senators, Red Wings, and Sabers have been in the basement for several years. These teams respectively missed the spring tournament for five, six and 11 consecutive years.

Even the Panthers were one of the biggest laughingstocks in the league, but they just won the Presidents’ Trophy.

Things are slowly changing in this division and it’s not a good sign for the Canadian. These teams, which had been stagnant for years, have just improved drastically, while the opposite is true for the Habs.

Ottawa, which already had a growing pool of youngsters, will see Jake Sanderson, Alex DeBrincat, Claude Giroux and Cam Talbot join its roster next year.

And Pierre Dorion still has $18 million under the salary cap to keep improving his team. Could he get a player like Matthew Tkachuk to give his offense even more punch?

We are witnessing a very similar situation on the Red Wings side. The young group made up of Lucas Raymond, Moritz Seider and Dylan Larkin among others continues to progress, then Steve Yzerman has just added excellent veterans to this group.

Although, unlike the Senators, we’re not talking about stars here, Detroit has landed some great hockey players that will make this team even more competitive.

The Sabers haven’t made any big signings, but after 11 years of misery, all these big picks will one day lead to something. The team finished fifth in the division last year and hopefully they will be even better.

After joining Buffalo late in the season, former No. 1 overall pick Owen Power is expected to play a full season, which should help, too.

While the Panthers, Leafs, Lightning and Bruins haven’t necessarily improved today, their core remains intact and hopefully these rosters remain competitive.

Where is the Canadian – who finished the season ranked 32nd and last in the NHL, I repeat – among all these teams? Handcuffed by the salary cap, Kent Hughes couldn’t move today. Despite the acquisitions of Dadonov, Slafkovsky and Dach, the team has not improved much since its lackluster 2021-2022 season.

The lack of experience in defense is glaring and the second chapter of the Allen-Montembeault duo risks being very difficult.

Knowing that the CH will play 26 of their 82 games against a very powerful Atlantic division, it is very difficult to imagine a different scenario than the club still finishing last.

Unless Carey Price comes back…

But even the Metropolitan division, which the team will face 24 times, has improved a lot.

The Flyers had finished last in this division, but with the arrival of John Tortorella, there is no indication that the club will begin a rebuild.

The Devils just signed Ondrej Palat and they should be better too. Then, with the signing of Johnny Gaudreau, the Blue Jackets sent a clear message to the rest of the league that they wanted to be competitive.

In short, the Canadian’s chances of finishing last in the East are excellent. This should allow the team to get their hands on a first pick in the excellent 2023 draft. Several people dream of Shane Wright Connor Bedard. The current CH lineup shouldn’t bother you too much.

At least it is almost impossible for the club to finish last again…

A lot of

– Finally, it is today that Kent Hughes will speak to the media.

– Completely agree

– If so, it is very thin.

– But the Klingberg situation will have a big impact on this case.

– Will it be enough for the fans to be there?


#improves #Atlantic.. #Canadian

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