Atlantic Division 2024-25 Season Preview
This division will be a dogfight once again as the Panthers try and defend their title and repeat as Stanley Cup champions.
Welcome to our series of division previews for the 2024-25 season. First up, we will tackle the always competitive Atlantic Division, which houses the 2024 Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
Florida Panthers
Notable Additions: Nate Schmidt, Jesper Boqvist, Tomas Nosek
Notable Subtractions: Vladimir Tarasenko (Red Wings), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (Maple Leafs), Anthony Stolarz (Maple Leafs), Josh Mahura (Kraken), Kevin Stenlund (Utah), Brandon Montour (Kraken), Kyle Okposo (free agency)
Offence Will Continue to Be Led by Barkov, Verhaeghe, Reinhart & Tkachuk
With Reinhart’s return to the Sunshine State on an eight-year contract, the Panthers will be able to ice their core group of forwards again this season. Reinhart led the team last season with a career-high 57 goals and 94 points and got paid handsomely for it, netting a $69 million payday just before free agency on July 1.
Reinhart will reunite with Aleksander Barkov, Carter Verhaeghe, and Matthew Tkachuk as the top scorers along with Evan Rodrigues, Sam Bennett and Anton Lundell, who also just re-upped with the Panthers on a six-year deal. The depth suffers a bit with the losses of Okposo, Stenlund and Tarasenko, but two of those were deadline acquisitions and didn’t factor into most of the success they had during the regular season. Boqvist and Nosek should be adequate additions to the bottom six, bringing grit and size to an already deep lineup.
Projected Forward Depth Chart
Verhaeghe - Barkov - Reinhart
Tkachuk - Bennett - Rodrigues
Luostarinen - Lundell - Samoskevich
Boqvist - Nosek - Entwistle
Big Changes on the Blue Line
Where the Panthers did lose in the offseason was on the blue line. The biggest being Brandon Montour, taking his 23:27 of average ice time and 40-plus points to the Seattle Kraken. He was a massive part of their defense for three seasons, putting up 37 goals and 147 points in 239 games including a career-high 16 goals and 73 points in 2022-23. I’m sure general manager (GM) Bill Zito wanted to keep him, but after re-signing Reinhart, he just simply didn’t have the money to do it.
The Panthers also couldn’t keep effective veteran Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who jetted to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the underrated Josh Mahura who also joined the Kraken alongside Montour. All of those guys are being replaced by Nate Schmidt at this point, and while he’s proven to be a minute muncher in his career, he’s not going to replace the offence that Montour brought.
As a result, more responsibility will be heaped onto Dmitri Kulikov, Niko Mikkola, Uvis Balinskis, and Tobias Bjornfot, who aren’t used to playing 20-plus minutes a night. If no other changes are made between now and the regular season, the road to another Cup will be a steep one.
Projected Defense Pairings
Forsling - Ekblad
Kulikov - Mikkola
Balinskis - Schmidt
It’s Goalie Bob’s Crease Again
The $10 million man has been playing like it the past couple of seasons, leading the Panthers to the Stanley Cup Final last year and sealing the deal with his first championship this year. Sergei Bobrovsky could have a new running mate this season, or get a familiar one back as newcomer Chris Driedger will battle with Spencer Knight for the right to back him up. Both goaltenders spent the 2023-24 campaign in the AHL, so they will be chomping at the bit to show the organization that they belong in the NHL rather than the minor leagues. It should be an interesting battle to watch in training camp.
More Panthers Season Preview Content…
Boston Bruins
Notable Additions: Elias Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, Joonas Korpisalo, Mark Kastelic, Max Jones
Notable Subtractions: Linus Ullmark (Senators), Danton Heinen (Canucks), Jake DeBrusk (Canucks), Derek Forbort (Canucks), Matt Grzelcyk (Penguins), Kevin Shattenkirk (free agency), Jesper Boqvist (Panthers), Pat Maroon (Blackhawks), James van Riemsdyk (free agency)
Can Lindholm Return Bergeron Vibes to the Bruins?
The Boston Bruins successfully got through the 2023-24 season without their six-time Selke Trophy winner Patrice Bergeron and long-time second-line center David Krejci. Many pundits were predicting that they would go into a free fall and finish outside the playoff picture with Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle as their top options down the middle. But that didn’t happen and they made the playoffs as the second seed in the Atlantic Division with Zacha and Coyle posting career highs in points.
This season they will be joined by Elias Lindholm, someone who has been compared to Bergeron at times in his career. He was the runner-up for the Selke Trophy in 2022, finishing with 21 first-place votes to Bergeron’s 195. While he’s regressed since he put up a career-high 42 goals and 82 points in 2021-22, he’s still an elite defensive presence, penalty killer and faceoff man. He hasn’t dropped below 50 percent in the past four seasons and continues to be relied upon for key draws and special teams situations. So, in other words, the Bruins seemingly have a legitimate top-line center again going into 2024-25.
Projected Forward Depth Chart
Zacha - Lindholm - Pastrnak
Marchand - Coyle - Geekie
Frederic - Poitras - Brazeau
Jones - Beecher - Kastelic
Zadorov In, Grzelcyk & Forbort Out
The Bruins and Canucks swapped not only forwards this offseason but defensemen as well. Big 6-foot-6 Nikita Zadorov will replace 6-foot-4 Derek Forbort and likely take over his role on the penalty kill. He is an upgrade on Forbort in the offense and mobility departments, but they will miss his penchant for blocking shots. Zadorov hasn’t had a triple-digit season in that category since 2017-18, while Forbort already has five, most recently in 2021-22 when he was last healthy for a full season.
Zadorov should join Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, and Hampus Lindholm in the top four with the bottom pairing likely consisting of Mason Lohrei and Andrew Peeke. They lost another physical presence in Grzelyck to the Pittsburgh Penguins, so it will be up to Peeke to return to his 2021-22 and 2022-23 form that saw him hit triple digits in both hits and blocked shots.
Projected Defense Pairings
Zadorov - McAvoy
Lindholm - Carlo
Lohrei - Peeke
No More Goalie Hugs Between Swayman & Ullmark
The biggest change the Bruins will see this season is between the pipes as Linus Ullmark was dealt to the Ottawa Senators for Joonas Korpisalo, Mark Kastelic and a first-round pick. That means no more 1A/1B tandem that usually resulted in the famous goalie hug between Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman after a Bruins win.
Swayman will be given the keys to the crease and will probably start close to 50 or 60 games rather than the career-high 43 he saw last season. It will be interesting to see how head coach Jim Montgomery handles his goalies this season and whether he feels confident playing Korpisalo in more of a 1B role instead of a traditional backup.
More Bruins Season Preview Content…
Toronto Maple Leafs
Notable Additions: Chris Tanev, Philippe Myers, Anthony Stolarz, Jani Hakanpaa, Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Notable Subtractions: Tyler Bertuzzi (Blackhawks), Ilya Samsonov (Golden Knights), Joel Edmundson (Kings), Mark Giordano (free agency), Noah Gregor (Senators), TJ Brodie (Blackhawks), Ilya Lyubushkin (Stars)
The Core 4 Returns; Is 2024-25 Their Last Kick at the Can?
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