NHL Insights: Atlantic Division Is More Wide Open Then We Think

Welcome to another edition of NHL Insights as we look at three surprising teams: The Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, and Detroit Red Wings are making life difficult in the Atlantic Division

A new season means NHL Insights has returned. The new NHL season is underway, and while it is still early in the season, it is getting late early for one team in the Western Conference. However, there have been enough games played to see which teams have made positive steps in the offseason. In this edition of NHL Insights, we will dive into the play of the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, and Buffalo Sabres. Plus we will cover the ugliness that is the Vancouver Canucks.

Time to dive into some NHL Insights for the past week.

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NHL Insights: Senators, Red Wings, and Sabres

Ottawa Senators

Entering the season, it was about the summer of Pierre Dorin in Ottawa. The acquisitions he made turned the Senators from a cellar dweller to a competitive team. Last year, the Senators were supposed to have taken the next step. Unfortunately, that did not happen. So what does the general manager do, he makes aggressive moves that are paying dividends early. Dorin trades for Alex DeBrincat from Chicago acquires Cam Talbot from Minnesota and signs Claude Giroux. Not to mention the other moves he made in the offseason signing his young core players to long-term extensions.

Even with Cam Talbot injured to begin the season, the goaltending duo of Anton Forsberg and Magnus Hellberg has been good. The Senators are a fun, fast team to watch that can score goals. Shane Pinto and Brady Tkachuk each lead the Senators with five goals each. Pinto has been an electric addition to the lineup. The product of North Dakota has a five-game goal streak to begin the season. Not to mention the play of Drake Batherson, Tyler Motte, Tim Stutzle, and others has people talking about what the Senators can do. If this continues, there are truly no gimmie wins in the Atlantic Division anymore. The Senators have always been pesky, but now there is a belief the playoffs are not out of reach.

Detroit Red Wings

Another team eyeing the playoffs this season is the Detroit Red Wings. Steve Yzerman is building another winner in Detroit, similar to what he did in Tampa Bay. Stevie Y wanted to upgrade his goaltending and he did with the addition of Ville Husso. Husso has been great thus far sharing duty with Alex Nedeljkovic. In the offseason it showed they were ready to take the next step with the signings of Andrew Copp, Ben Chiarot, and David Perron. Perron has been great, as he can score, especially on the power play. These additions have been outstanding for the young players of Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider. Dylan Larkin will be in need of a new contract this offseason.

Detroit is off to another solid start. Let’s see if they can stay there for the rest of the season. Last year, Detroit held on as long as they could before Boston passed them in the standings. But this year, Detroit is a better team. Like Ottawa, the Red Wings are going to make life difficult in the Atlantic Division not to mention the rest of the Eastern Conference.

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Buffalo Sabres

The third of the three rebuilding teams in the Atlantic Division off to great starts is the Buffalo Sabres. There is a plan now in Buffalo and head coach Don Granato is the benefactor of that plan. Granato has got this team playing the right way. And the start of the season is proof of that. Granato has gotten more out of young players like Casey Mittelstadt, Tage Thompson, John-Jason Peterka, and others. The addition of Alex Tuch has been essential for the Sabres as well. He is providing exceptional leadership and offensive output. The Sabres are playing as a group and guys want to be there.

Rasmus Dahlin has come into his own leading the Sabres defence. He holds the record for defencemen with goals in five straight games to begin a season. He is turning into the player everyone expected him to be. Not to mention, Owen Power on the backend as well. And how about the duo of Craig Anderson and Eric Comrie? These guys are playing exceptionally well. We have seen Buffalo have a great start in the past and fade. Hopefully, they can keep it going this season.

Vancouver Canucks

Then there is the ugly that is the Vancouver Canucks. Vancouver has a lot of issues going on with this team. Defensively they are a bad team and Thatcher Demko covered up a lot of problems last season. This season his play has dropped significantly. Management is coming out talking about the team having a bad camp and it has carried over into the start of this season. That is the kind of stuff you don’t want to hear. Vancouver continues to find ways to lose games. It is getting late early in Vancouver.