The Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, and Buffalo Sabres have all spent what feels like Titanic-levels of time near the bottom of the Atlantic. Covered in plankton, they have the longest active playoff droughts in the NHL.
Ottawa gets the bronze at seven years, Detroit checks in with eight to claim the silver, and Buffalo is dominating as your gold medalist – the Summer McIntosh of missing the playoffs.
The Sabres have been absent from the postseason for 13 years, longer than anyone in league history.
So, is this the year that one of these flailing clubs ends its drought?
Florida, Boston, Toronto, and Tampa Bay still look like the class of the Atlantic. If that’s the case, then the Sens, Wings, and Sabres will be duking it out for a single wild-card spot. Metro Division squads like Pittsburgh, Washington, New Jersey, and Philadelphia will be pressing for that one spot as well.
So, to recap, we’ve got seven teams gunning for one playoff spot? Yeesh.
When framed that way, it seems like a long shot for any of the three Atlantic Division teams to get off the playoff schneid. But in the world of NHL guesswork, we can’t simply look at last season and assume history will repeat itself.
Tampa Bay just parted ways with Steve Stamkos and Mikhail Sergachev.
Boston’s decline has been predicted (very wrongly) for a couple of years now.
Maybe Florida has a Cup hangover or Sergei Bobrovsky reverts to bouts of inconsistency that he’s had in the past.
Maybe this is the year the Leafs implode during the regular season instead of the playoffs.
As a fan, you can drive yourself crazy worrying about what other teams may or may not do. The Sens, Wings, and Sabres will simply focus on what they control—their own performances. Their goal is to get to, say, at least 95 points this season, and things should take care of themselves.
So which of these three teams is most likely to do that?
Ottawa Senators:
2022-23 Record: 39-35-8, 86pts, 6th in the Atlantic, six points out of Wild Card Spot
2023-24 Record: 37-41-4, 78pts, 7th in the Atlantic, 13 points out of Wild Card spot
Additions: G Linus Ullmark, D Nick Jensen, F David Perrron, F Michael Amadio, F Noah Gregor
Subtractions: G Joonas Korpisalo, D Jakob Chychrun, D Erik Brannstrom, F Mathieu Joseph, F Parker Kelly, F Mark Kastelic
Ullmark is the major addition this season, turning a position of weakness into an area of strength. A bounce back for Tim Stutzle and getting full seasons out of Shane Pinto and Josh Norris will be huge. The other…