The NHL trade deadline shaped the future of each Atlantic Division team for the rest of this season and beyond. Are the stocks rising or falling for the Panthers, Bruins, Maple Leafs and the rest of the division?
With the 2024 NHL trade deadline now passed, it’s a good time to take stock of each team in all four NHL divisions in relation to their goals at this stage in the season.
Whether it's winning a Stanley Cup, simply making the playoffs or rebuilding, each team's choices at the trade deadline affected the likelihood of reaching their season goals.
We’re going to kick things off with a look at the Atlantic Division, with teams ranked by points percentage.
1. Florida Panthers, 44-17-4, 92 PTS, .708 Point Percentage
Stock: High and rising
The Panthers added star sniper Vladimir Tarasenko and grizzled veteran forward Kyle Okposo at the deadline, making an already dangerous Florida squad even more powerful. Panthers GM Bill Zito is clearly all-in, moving out his next two first-round draft picks and Florida’s second-rounder in the 2024 draft.
The Panthers need a long and successful Stanley Cup post-season run to justify Zito’s belief in them, but as it currently stands, Florida is one of the most dominant teams in the NHL. They now have a deep and skilled roster, and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is holding up his end of his lucrative contract.
The Panthers look ready to fend off the Boston Bruins for first place in the Atlantic. It’s now a matter of how effective they can be the rest of the regular season and in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Fans should hope fervently that their team doesn’t face Florida in the playoffs, but you never know about the post-season – the Panthers could be upset as they take on a wild-card team. That’s why they play the games, but the Panthers’ stock couldn’t be higher right now.
2. Boston Bruins, 38-13-15, 91 PTS, .689 Point Percentage
Stock: High and stable
Like the Panthers, the Bruins are a serious regular-season menace, and Boston could overtake Florida for the top spot in the Atlantic.
The Bruins picked up checking forward Pat Maroon and defenseman Andrew Peeke at the trade deadline. They currently have an elite top-nine group of forwards and a competitive and solid top-four defense corps.
Maroon isn’t going to do a lot on Boston’s fourth line – a group that is the weakest on the team – but Peeke should shore up the Bruins’ third defense pairing.
Every time some observer looks at the Bruins’ roster and counts them out, they prove that observer wrong. We should be giving Boston credit for continuing to adapt and thrive, and its stock is still very high.
The Bruins could be facing a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round, and if that comes to pass, Boston would rightfully be the favorite to win it and go on.
3. Toronto Maple Leafs, 37-19-8, 82 PTS, .641 Point Percentage
Stock: High and slightly improving
The Maple Leafs were a top-10 team heading into the trade deadline. Toronto GM Brad Treliving acquired a pair of depth defensemen in Ilya Lyubushkin and Joel Edmundson and a fourth-line worker bee in former Minnesota Wild forward Connor Dewar but otherwise left his roster alone.
Treliving did not sacrifice his first-round draft picks or youngsters, such as Nick Robertson, Matthew Knies, Fraser Minten and Easton Cowan. If you’re a Leafs fan, you must like that discipline on Treliving’s behalf.
The bottom line for the Buds remains centered around their “Core Four” group of forwards in Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares. The Leafs need elite play from their best players if they’re going to get out of the first round of the playoffs for the second consecutive year.
They’re another team you probably don’t want to face in the post-season, and their additions give them depth and internal competition that’s a very positive thing.
Like all teams, Toronto has its flaws, but there’s so much to like – and so many good things we see when the Maple Leafs are winning far more often than not. They’ve earned the respect of all the NHL’s teams.
4. Tampa Bay Lightning, 34-25-6, 74 PTS, .569 Point Percentage
Stock: Above average but volatile
The Lightning currently hold the first wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference, but there’s intense competition from teams like the Detroit Red Wings and New York Islanders, who have games in hand on the Bolts. Unless the Lightning reel off a string of wins in the next few weeks, they could find themself on the outside looking in as a non-playoff team.
Tampa Bay did get slightly better at the trade deadline, landing winger Anthony Duclair from San Jose and acquiring veteran D-man Matt Dumba. But they’re getting into territory where their destiny is out of their hands.
Every successful team like the Lightning winds up having to rebuild. If we’re being honest, we see Tampa as a team that is no longer dominant as it was through its two recent Cup wins.
The Lightning may have one final deep playoff run, but they’ve been so Jeykll-and-Hyde this season that they may get edged out of a post-season berth.
5. Detroit Red Wings, 33-25-6, 72 PTS, .563 Point Percentage
Stock: Above average and stable
If the playoffs began today, the Red Wings would be outside the playoff picture – just behind the Islanders, with the same number of points, and the Isles have one game in hand. You can understand Detroit fans feeling a little angst at the moment.
The Wings didn’t do much at the trade deadline besides trading Klim Kostin. While we see GM Steve Yzerman doubling down on the mix of youngsters and veterans as a potential positive, the Wings don’t have a slew of top-end talent as other Atlantic teams do.
We’re not ready to count out Detroit in the playoff race, as the Red Wings’ stock does have a good amount of talent. But they will be under enormous pressure in the days and weeks immediately ahead, and we’re not overly confident they’ll secure a wild-card slot.
Internal development will be key for the Wings, and they have to fend off other wild-card contenders for the right to play Florida, Boston, or the New York Rangers in the first round. That’s a tough row to hoe.
6. Buffalo Sabres, 30-30-5, 65 PTS, .500 Point Percentage
Stock: Down from September and flawed
The Sabres’ stock on the back end is significantly better after acquiring defenseman Bowen Byram from Colorado, but they did take a step back overall with the trades of defenseman Erik Johnson, Okposo and Casey Mittelstadt.
Buffalo needs a long run of wins just to be in the mix for a wild-card spot, and Sabres GM Kevyn Adams effectively has told his young core they need to step up if the group is going to earn a wild-card berth. That’s a tall order for a group that hasn’t had its core of young talent stepping up this season.
Buffalo’s early struggles to be consistently in the win column have hamstrung them now. We liked the Sabres’ stock in our pre-season predictions, but we’re now skeptical they can overcome the six (!) teams ahead of them in the wild-card race and take on a top team like Florida, Boston or the New York Rangers in the opening round.
Disappointment could be ahead for the Sabres, and they really only have themself to blame.
7. Montreal Canadiens, 24-30-10, 58 PTS, .453 Point Percentage
Stock: Rising slowly
The Canadiens did make a few trades at or near the deadline, including sending Sean Monahan to Winnipeg and shipping out goalie Jake Allen to New Jersey.
Habs GM Kent Hughes clearly is on a long rebuild with his roster, so the stock here could be much better. But in two or three years, the Canadiens could be an up-and-comer, especially if they win the NHL draft lottery this season and get the right to select junior phenom Macklin Celebrini.
That said, even if the Canadiens don’t win the lottery, they will likely get a top-five pick. With it, their draft and development team will be under major pressure to select another cornerstone competitor to employ at the NHL level as soon as possible.
If you’re a Habs fan, you have to be happy with the direction Hughes is taking the team. Patience is still a virtue, and patience in Montreal will eventually pay off with a bona fide Cup contender. It just won’t happen for the rest of this season and, more than likely, in the next two years at least.
8. Ottawa Senators, 25-33-4, 54 PTS, .435 Point Percentage
Stock: Down but has the potential to be on the rise.
The Senators began the year believing they had what it takes to make the playoffs for the first time since 2016-17. They instead let down new owner Michael Andlauer and new GM Steve Staios with subpar play.
Imagining they’d be at the bottom of the Atlantic Division wasn’t possible early on, but here we are with the Sens posting worst point percentage in their division.
Staios did trade pending UFA sniper Vladimir Tarasenko to the Panthers for a third-round pick and a conditional fourth-rounder. Other than that, the Senators did nothing crucial to improve their ability to win in this season and in the years to come.
It’s good that the Senators are getting draft assets in this lost season, but we’re expecting big changes to the lineup this summer. The Sens have “mushy-middled” themselves this season, and even if they do go on a late-season winning stretch, Ottawa will need a miracle to land a wild-card spot. It won’t happen, which is why Staios didn’t just jump at the first opportunity to remake his roster. He knows the Sens will likely get a top draft pick this season, and that addition will be part of Ottawa’s core.
There’s too much talent on the Senators for them not to be significantly better next season, but they do have to go out and prove their supporters right. That didn’t happen this season, but there’s major pressure on the current group to change that result next year.