NHL Insights: Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, and Buffalo Sabres

Welcome to another edition of NHL Insights. The dog days of the NHL offseason are here. Free Agent Frenzy has come and gone. Arbitration hearings have been set. But things have cooled off some since the beginning of July. There are names still out on the board, but we are getting to the point where those players will get PTOs. But some teams, especially in the Atlantic Division, have made noise. Those teams include the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, and Buffalo Sabres.

Every offseason brings new hope for teams that did not make the playoffs or even win the Stanley Cup. But as Brian Burke said, they only hand out one Stanley Cup. However, there have been a lot of changes this offseason, especially in the Atlantic Division. A prominent player retired. There are three up-and-coming teams we will get to in a minute. Not to mention, other teams have gotten better, while the defending Eastern Conference champion Florida Panthers had a makeover and deal with injuries heading into this season. For once, the Atlantic Division is wide open. Not to mention the big trade between two teams in the division and a signing that replaced said player involved in the trade. In this edition of NHL Insights, we look at the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, and Buffalo Sabres.

Time to dive into some NHL Insights for this week.

NHL Insights: Senators, Red Wings, and Sabres

Ottawa Senators

Entering this season, there are a lot of expectations for the Ottawa Senators. Murray Pam of Full Press Hockey has documented this already. Last year was the Summer of Pierre Dorion. And this summer, he continued again. The Senators were a goalie away from making the playoffs last season. Out with Cam Talbot. Enter Joonas Korpisalo. Dorion is hoping Korpisalo is the answer between the pipes. The Senators just needed a healthy goalie and a save because they were right there.

Ottawa is primed to make a run to the playoffs this season. Yes, they traded Alex DeBrincat to Detroit. As part of the deal, they got Dominik Kubalik. But Dorion also took another risk this offseason after the ownership mess got settled. He signed Vladimir Tarasenko to a one-year, $5 million deal. That is an excellent replacement for the Senators. He will provide offense especially on the power play. Tarasenko can still put up 30 goals and will slot right into the top six.

The big key for the Senators is health. Can Josh Norris stay healthy? Missing the past couple of seasons with shoulder issues has really hurt this team down the middle. Throw in the mix, Artem Zub and the Senators improve right there. Oh yeah, Brady Tkachuk, Thomas Chabot, Jake Sanderson, and Tim Stutzle are only getting better. The Senators are primed for the playoffs in a wide-open Atlantic Division.

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Detroit Red Wings

Another team on the rise in the Atlantic Division is the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings are poised to take the next step by adding Alex DeBrincat. Detroit finally got the goal scorer they needed to play alongside Dylan Larkin. However, general manager Steve Yzerman feels his team is still in a rebuild, but with that move and subsequent four-year contract extension, this Red Wings team is ready to take the next step.

The Red Wings also added Josh Holl, Klim Kostin, Daniel Sprong, and J.T. Compher during free agency as well. For the Red Wings, it will come down to goaltending. Ville Husso has to be better than he was last season. Outside of one or two teams, the division is wide open. Detroit has a big opportunity this season to make the playoffs. It will come down to execution, but having Larkin and DeBrincat is a great start.

Buffalo Sabres

And, of course, there is the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres are another team in this wide-open division looking to take the next step and make the playoffs this season. A lot of people peg the Sabres to make the playoffs. It is going to be tough for sure. Even with the offensive ability up front with Alex Tuch, Tage Thompson, JJ Peterka, Peyton Krebs, and others it will come down to defense and goaltending.

The Sabres defense is vastly improved from last season with the addition of Connor Clifton and Erik Johnson to go along with Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power. We know what these players can do, and the Sabres were right there last season, but again is the duo of Devon Levi (rookie) and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen enough for the Sabres to win? It was a tough market to read for goaltenders, and the Sabres believe those two goalies will get the job done. They will need too with so much on the line in a wide open division.

Boston Bruins

Then there are the Boston Bruins—lots of changes with Boston this year. First, congratulations are to Patrice Bergeron as he announced his retirement from the NHL after 19 seasons. Bergeron will go down as one of the best centers in the game. He has done it all; Gold medals at the Olympics, World Championships, and World Juniors, and, of course, a Stanley Cup in 2011. Number 37 will go up in the rafters of the TD Garden, and Bergeron is a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

As for the Bruins this season, they handle some business getting Trent Frederic re-signed to a two-year contract with a nice pay raise. Jeremy Swayman was awarded a one-year deal by the arbitrator at $3.475 million as the Bruins bring back their dynamic duo between the pipes. Down the middle will look different with Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle as the number one and two centers.

The question will be, do the Bruins go after a center, or is this the team we see to start the season? One thing is for sure the Atlantic Division is wide open than ever.

That does for this edition of NHL Insights. Stay tuned for another edition in the coming weeks.