The NHL's Atlantic Division remains highly competitive, with five playoff teams from the division this year. The trend of increasing difficulty continues as the division showcases strong teams like the Panthers and Lightning.
Key points
NHL Atlantic Division has five playoff teams this year
Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning won four of six recent Stanley Cups
Division remains one of the strongest in the league
Increasing difficulty in the Atlantic Division is expected
Florida PanthersTampa Bay Lightning
Sabres, Canadiens Show NHL Atlantic Division is Only Getting Tougher
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
For years, the NHL’s Atlantic Division has been one of the league’s strongest with the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning winning four of the past six Stanley Cup championships.
This year was no different when it came to degree of difficulty in the Atlantic with five of the Eastern Conference’s playoff teams coming from the division.
Things appear to only be getting tougher.
Although the Panthers, Lightning, Bruins, and Maple Leafs have dominated the division the past few years, there are now new challengers.
Tonight, the Canadiens can move to the Eastern Conference final with a Game 6 win over the Sabres on home ice.
A Buffalo win forces a Game 7.
Just the fact these two are playing for the right to be in the NHL Final Four — and are legitimate championship contenders — shows how quickly things can change in the NHL.
It wasn’t long ago that these two teams were bottom feeders.
Buffalo missed the playoffs for 14 consecutive seasons before this year.
Montreal finished last in the Atlantic Division for three straight years before making the playoffs last season.
Both teams went through an extensive rebuilding project.
The last time Buffalo qualified for the playoffs they were coached by Lindy Ruff. Six coaches have come and gone before Ruff returned last season.
Q&A
How many playoff teams are in the NHL Atlantic Division this year?
This year, there are five playoff teams from the NHL Atlantic Division.
Which teams have won Stanley Cup championships from the Atlantic Division?
The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning have won four of the past six Stanley Cup championships.
What makes the NHL Atlantic Division so competitive?
The Atlantic Division is competitive due to its strong teams and the presence of multiple playoff contenders each season.
Is the NHL Atlantic Division expected to become tougher in the future?
Yes, the Atlantic Division appears to be getting tougher as it continues to produce strong playoff teams.
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The rebuild started in earnest before the 2018-19 season when the Sabres drafted Rasmus Dahlin first overall.
Days later a big young winger named Tage Thompson, who scored three goals in 41 games for St. Louis the season before, was a small piece of the trade which sent Ryan O’Reilly from the Sabres to the Blues.
Dahlin and Thompson became star performers. Thompson registered as many as 47 goals in a season.
The rebuild took a major turn when superstar Jack Eichel was traded to Vegas early in the 2021-22 season. The Sabres went from being built around Eichel to becoming a well-balanced team.
It didn’t make headlines, but the Sabres received Alex Tuch in the trade. Tuch became a solid power forward and racked up more than 30 goals in three of his five seasons in western New York.
Buffalo had solid goaltending, even in non-playoff season. Linus Ullmark was No. 1 for three seasons, starting in 2018-19. **Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen**emerged as No. 1 in 2022-23 although this past season he shared the nets almost equally with former Panther Alex Lyon.
Bright spots in the 2025-2026 season included newly acquired Josh Doan scoring 25 goals in his first full NHL season and veteran Jason Zucker scoring 24 goals in only 62 games.
Jack Quinn emerged this season as a 20-goal scorer.
Defenseman Mattias Samuelsson had by far his most productive season this year, with 13 goals, 41 points and a remarkable plus-41 rating to lead the team and finish ninth in the NHL in that category.
Zach Benson, in his third NHL season, had his best point production and has been outstanding in the playoffs with four goals and seven points.
The Sabres were No. 5 in the NHL in offense this season and finished first in the Atlantic Division.
When Martin St. Louis was named interim coach of the Canadiens on February 9, 2022, the team was dead last in the NHL with a 8-30-7 record.
Rookie Cole Caulfield and third year man Nick Suzuki were enjoying reasonably good seasons, but their productivity was nowhere near what it became in the years to follow, under St. Louis.
They were the only two twenty goals scorers on a team which employed 46 players during that year, including six goalies.
The great Carey Price was near the end of his career and only played a handful of games. The bulk of the goaltending went to Jake Allenand former Panther Sam Montembeault.
Both ended with a goals against average well north of 3.00.
Goaltending remained shaky until Jacob Dobeš joined the team for start of the 2024-25 season, sharing duties primarily with Montembeault. Dobes took over the No. 1 spot this season and the goaltending took a turn for the positive.
When Lane Hutson joined the team in 2024, the team had instant credibility. Hutson won the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year that season. This year he averaged nearly a point a game offensively. He is a future Norris Trophy candidate and has been outstanding in the playoffs.
Juraj Slafkovský, came of age two seasons back at age 20 and this season produced 30 goals.
Alex Newhook added a Stanley Cup pedigree when he came over from Colorado two seasons ago. His six playoff goals lead the team.
Ivan Demidov, the 5th overall draft pick in 2024, produced 18 goals in this, his rookie season. His NHL future is bright.
Oliver Kapanen had 22 goals this year, his first full NHL season.
In four years since St. Louis took over behind the bench, the team has gone from also rans to fourth overall in the Eastern Conference and is one win away from the conference final.
The patterns for both teams are clear: When the current coaches came in, fortunes began to change.
Florida will face stiff divisional competition next year.
