The 2026-2027 NHL season could be another wild race for the Atlantic Division. Last season the division fielded 5 of the 8 playoff spots in the Eastern Conference: the Buffalo Sabres, Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, and Ottawa Senators. While those teams look to repeat and build on last season’s successes, the Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, and Toronto Maple Leafs aim to push into a playoff spot. Several major players returning from injury, along with this year’s first overall pick, will all be things to look forward to in the 2026-2027 Atlantic Division preview this year.
For the first time since the 2009-2010 season, the Sabres won the Atlantic Division, and it was their first playoff appearance since 2011. Going into this year, expectations are high, and they look to build on an excellent season, but they lost 2 of their more productive players from this past season. Alex Tuch (sign and trade with Washington Capitals) was their second leading scorer with 66 points scoring 33 goals and 33 assists; Bo Byram (traded to Chicago Blackhawks) ranked 9th on the team and had 42 points with 11 goals and 32 assists.
The Sabres still have a strong and young core led by Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson. They will rely on the development and growth of players like Zach Benson, Josh Doan, and Owen Power. They will need to find contributions throughout the lineup to hold the top spot. Particularly in goal, where they finished in the top-10 in team goaltending a season ago.
X-Factor: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Goaltender – It is time he locks down the starter role for good.
Bold Prediction: Josh Norris has a season of full-health and scores 60 points.
A year with playoff aspirations for the Lightning seems to be the norm. They have the longest playoff streak in the Eastern Conference, with 9 consecutive appearances. Led by a veteran core of Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Brandon Hagel, Victor Hedman, and Andrei Vasilevskiy, the team always finds a way to play their game and win. Adding Veteran blue-liner John Carlson in free agency will add to the experience and help fill the hole left after trading Darren Raddysh to Toronto.
A category they hope not to be atop this year is the quality-weighted impact of injuries. Hedman missed 49 games, Ryan McDonagh missed 34 games, and Point missed 19. The organization’s depth isn’t the strongest asset, and they can’t keep relying on unsung talent to keep showing up. If healthy, head coach Jon Cooper knows how to lead this group deep into the playoffs.
X-Factor: Brayden Point, Forward – After a down year, he will look to regain his elite goal-scoring.
Bold Prediction: They regress to a Wild Card team and barely make it into the playoffs.
The wait for Canadiens fans for a Stanley Cup contending team is over. After losing in the Eastern Conference Final to the eventual Cup-winning Carolina Hurricanes in 5 games, this young team looks to take the next step. Players coming off career-high numbers, like Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, will face pressure to continue producing. They will also look for Jakub Dobes or Jacob Fowler to lock down the starter role.
With the amount of young talent on the roster, they have the depth to contribute up and down the lineup. Montreal has built a long list of promising prospects alongside its established young talent. The continued development of young stars Lane Hutson, Ivan Demidov, and Juraj Slafkovsky has them confident they will have the chance to compete for many years to come.
X-Factor: Jacob Fowler, Goaltender – He looks to be the permanent fixture in the Habs crease for years to come.
Bold Prediction: They win the Atlantic Division, and Head Coach Martin St. Louis wins the Jack Adams Trophy.
The Bruins were a bit of a surprise to have made the playoffs, but with world-class players like David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, and Jeremy Swayman, it shouldn’t be that hard to imagine. They will look for production from their young prospects hoping to make the roster, such as James Hagens and Matt Poitras. The team hopes Mason Lohrei can regain some confidence in his development as well.
The offseason addition of J.J. Peterka aims to improve a middle-of-the-pack offense from a season ago. The team will also need a follow-up season from Pavel Zacha, who set new career highs in goals and points. A tough challenge to keep their playoff spot in what looks again to be a strong Atlantic Division.
X-Factor: Fraser Minten, Forward – After a strong first full season in the NHL, he looks to take on more responsibilities.
Bold Prediction: James Hagens finishes top five in Calder voting and scores 20 goals.
The Senators made the biggest trade of the offseason when they traded Brady Tkachuk to the division rival Florida Panthers. Quickly flipping this year’s 9th overall draft pick acquired in the trade, they got a young player ready to contribute now, acquiring William Eklund from San Jose. Overall team speed should be better, but they lost a significant physical presence.
The team’s young star players like Tim Stutzle and Jake Sanderson will be relied upon for more leadership, and their production will need to remain strong. For Ottawa to avoid any steps back this year, depth scoring, goaltending, and the health of the defense will be crucial.
X-Factor: Linus Ullmark, Goaltender – Still looking to find the same consistent game from his Vezina season in 2023.
Bold Prediction: Free of the distraction of a looming trade, they finish top three in the Atlantic Division and win a playoff series.
The offseason drama in Detroit is all but resolved. Dylan Larkin still has his pending request to be traded, and Steve Yzerman remains with the organization, but not as general manager. Red Wings fans remain with more questions than answers about what the upcoming season’s team will look like.
The team hopes to end the current longest playoff drought of 10 seasons. The growth of Marco Kasper, Axel Sandin-Pellikka, and other young players will require big steps. Especially if Larkin is traded or doesn’t report, forcing a trade. On a positive note, Moritz Seider has shown signs of a Norris Trophy-caliber defenseman, and Alex DeBrincat continues to be a top goal-scorer in the league.
X-Factor: Lucas Raymond, Forward – Looks to become the new face of the franchise once the trade of Larkin happens.
Bold Prediction: Seider wins the Norris Trophy and has an offensive breakout season, but they still miss the playoffs.
Following back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2024 and 2025, the Florida Panthers missed the playoffs. They had the second-most man-games lost with 541, and the laundry list of players featured some major players. Aleksander Barkov missed all 82 games, Matthew Tkachuk missed 47 games, Seth Jones missed 30 games, Brad Marchand missed 19 games, and Sam Reinhart missed 17 games.
A fully healthy Panthers team will look to be a menace in the Atlantic Division and power their way back to the playoffs. They made big changes following the additions of Tkachuk and Jacob Markstrom, and the subtraction of Sergei Bobrovsky and Evan Rodrigues. Expect Florida to bounce back and leap a few teams, bumping someone out of the playoffs.
X-Factor: Aleksander Barkov, Forward – After missing the entirety of last season, he looks to lead the Panthers back to the Playoffs.
Bold Prediction: Both Tkachuk brothers score 30 goals and each get suspended this season.
Last year in Toronto was about as bad as it could have been. They finished last in the division, missed the playoffs, quickly realized what they lost after trading Mitch Marner, and Auston Matthews suffered another significant injury. However, there is a lot of positivity around the team following the selection of Gavin McKenna with the first overall pick this year.
A new management regime in Toronto is already making its mark on the team. Following the selection of McKenna, management signed Bobrovsky, traded for Darren Raddysh from Tampa Bay, and hired Jim Hiller as their new head coach. In the strong Atlantic Division, the Leafs have their work cut out for them to move forward and show last year was an anomaly.
X-Factor: William Nylander, Forward – For the Leafs to have a chance to contend for the playoffs, they need his desire to compete on a nightly basis.
Bold Prediction: They trade Matthew Knies at the Trade Deadline and miss the playoffs for a second consecutive season.
Every team in this division has true expectations to be competing for the playoffs, but reality is, only up to 5 teams from the division can.
Florida hopes to be much improved with the players returning from injury-filled seasons, but the chemistry could take time to build following all the roster changes in the offseason.
Montreal will be playing with more confidence and experience after making it to the Conference Finals last year. The team feels like they should be the favorites to win the division this season.
Buffalo and Ottawa look to build upon solid seasons and remain in the playoff picture this season. Following major roster changes, expect to see different-looking teams, but the expectations remain the same.
Tampa Bay, Boston, and Detroit look like they could be on the outside looking in, but don’t expect them to give away any divisional games easily; they expect to be in the mix until the end.
Toronto is hopeful that McKenna can replenish the playmaking abilities they lacked last year, but they could be looking at another top-5 draft pick next summer if they can’t improve majorly as a team.
Predicted Final Season Standings:
See rest of the Divisional previews on my page here.
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