I see us finishing 3rd in the division, with between 97-103 points.
Boston- Having a slow start, but are also injury riddled. I expect them to get better as the year goes on, and once they get healthy, will be in competition for first in the division.
Buffalo- Terrible team, will obviously win some games throughout the long season (last night), but ultimately a bad team in the league.
Florida- Are actually playing some good hockey right now, and are more competitive than I expected. In the end, they do not have enough offensive production to win in this league, and surely their strong defensive play so far will come back to where it should be. Improving, but not there yet.
Montreal- Despite their hot start, I am not convinced they are anything special. They are still a playoff team, but are not really scaring anybody when they see them on the schedule.
Ottawa- They are surprisingly playing well. They are a young, fast team, who are playing well as a unit. Still, like Florida, not enough offence to be real competitive yet.
Tampa Bay- One of the deepest teams in the NHL offensively. They were already good at scoring goals, throw in Kucherov, Drouin, Namestnikov, and this team could be scary.
Toronto- Similar to last year, extremely inconsistent. They will win some games, and stay in the playoff hunt all year, but I don't really think they are a huge threat.
The way I see the division shaping up:
1- Tampa or Boston
2- Tampa or Boston
3- Detroit
4- Montreal
5- Ottawa or Toronto
6- Ottawa or Toronto
7- Florida
8- Buffalo
If this is the case, we will be in tough with a first round matchup with Boston or Tampa. They are not miles ahead of us, but are definitely better teams. The Atlantic is a far better division than the Metro from top to bottom, so expect some great first round matchups in the division in April.