It’s the second week of September and Training Camps across The NHL are just a couple of weeks away from opening. Many teams will have some form of a Rookie Camp over the next two weeks and the pre-season slate of games is due to start on Saturday the 21st. There’s so much hockey to look forward to as hope springs eternal at this point in the calendar. But now it’s time for us to get down to business. Last week, Blittner’s Blue Line answered one question about each team in The Metropolitan Division and now it’s time to do the same for The Atlantic Division. 

So, without further ado, here are your Atlantic Division questions and answers…

BOSTON BRUINS

When will Jeremy Swayman get signed and what will the number be? 

Now that Linus Ullmark has been traded to Ottawa, Boston’s net belongs to Swayman; there’s just one problem. Swayman is still a restricted free agent and by all accounts the negotiating process has not gone smoothly. The 26-year-old netminder is said to still be displeased with how his trip through arbitration went the last time around. 

Swayman proved he could handle the load for Boston during last season and especially shined in the playoffs. Now he wants to get paid and paid well. He won’t get an upper-tier contract but a long-term deal (if he’s willing to stay in Boston) will likely feature a cap hit that begins with an eight. 

For now, the clock is ticking, and every day that passes without a deal is one more reason for the Bruins to sweat. 

BUFFALO SABRES

Will the re-hiring of Lindy Ruff be what ends their playoff drought?

The last time the Sabres made an appearance in the post-season, Lindy Ruff was still in his first tour of duty as their Head Coach. The year was 2010-11 and Buffalo was a fairly steady franchise; they’d even been a fairly regular participant at The Dance, having qualified 29 times in the previous 40 seasons. 

However, Ruff was fired a-year-and-half later and the Sabres have been stuck at home watching the playoffs ever since. They’ve had next to no stability at the Head Coaching position and they’ve failed to take multiple consecutive steps forward; even going as far as to alienate Jack Eichel, who they drafted second overall in 2015 and was supposed to be their beacon of hope.

Ruff isn’t a miracle worker, but he did show that he can still work some magic when he steered the Devils into the playoffs back in 2022-23. It won’t be quick or easy to turn things around in his second tour of duty in western New York, but for Sabres fans, it’s finally a step in the right direction.

DETROIT RED WINGS

What are reasonable expectations for Patrick Kane?

Last season, Patrick Kane signed with the Red Wings in November after undergoing hip resurfacing surgery during the offseason. He proceeded to put up a solid 47 points (20-G, 27-A)  in 50 games. Now that he is further removed from the surgery, will the soon-to-be-36-year-old be able to keep up the near point-per-game pace or will he run into the same issues that caused Nicklas Backstrom to step away from the Capitals a year after recovering from his own hip resurfacing surgery? 

The short history of NHL players attempting to prolong their careers after this particular surgery is not an encouraging one. In fact, Kane and Backstrom are two-thirds of the list! If Kane can avoid the issues that plagued Backstrom, he might just end up being the key to getting the Red Wings back into the playoffs. Only time will tell.

FLORIDA PANTHERS

Can they repeat?

The Florida Panthers enter the 2024-25 season as the defending Stanley Cup champions. They’re also back-to-back Eastern Conference Champs. The core of the team has remained the same and there are no notable players who are expected to miss the start of the season due to lingering injuries, so that’s a good sign. 

However, all those playoff games over the course of two seasons take their toll on the players’ bodies. And since they went to the Stanley Cup Final in consecutive years, the Panthers have had shorter offseasons than every other team in The League. That means they’ve had less time to recuperate from those deep playoff runs. 

The Tampa Bay Lightning were the last team to go to three straight Cup Finals but their run “benefitted” by having two COVID-shortened seasons as part of it. The last team to go to three straight Cup Finals without having any of the seasons shortened was the Oilers from 1983-1985. So history isn’t exactly on Florida’s side. 

MONTREAL CANADIENS

Will Juraj Slafkovsky take another step forward?

In 2022, the Canadiens selected Juraj Slafkovsky first overall in The Draft. He proceeded to put up a disappointing 10 points (4-G, 6-A) in 39 games as a rookie. Then, last season, he broke out to the tune of 50 points (20-G, 30-A) in 82 games. That’s a very strong jump and a necessary one for the Canadiens. But does the Slovakian native have another gear to get to? 

At the time of his draft, there was some thinking he would be a 30+ goal scorer. That’s certainly within reach, but will it be enough to get the Canadiens back into playoff contention? Can the 20-year-old winger perhaps get to the 40-goal plateau? That might be pushing it but you never know. What we do know is that Montreal’s hopes will rise or fall with Slafkovsky.

OTTAWA SENATORS

What will Travis Green get out of the Senators young roster?

Shortly after being let go by the Devils, Travis Green landed on his feet as the new Head Coach of the Ottawa Senators. And while his interim run at New Jersey’s helm was middling at best, there’s something intriguing about this marriage between Green and Ottawa. 

The British Columbia native made his bones in coaching as a strong developmental presence with the Portland Winterhawks. Once he made it to The NHL as a Head Coach, Green helped develop the Vancouver Canucks’ roster into the high-octane group it is today; although he rarely gets credit for it. 

It wasn’t a smooth ride in Vancouver, nor will it be in Ottawa, but there’s enough young talent on the Senators’ roster that Green can work his magic on. Should anybody expect them to be a playoff team this year? No. However, a couple of steps forward after several years of being stuck in place will be a positive development for the franchise. 

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

What will the loss of Steven Stamkos do to the Lightning?

For 16 years Steven Stamkos was the heart and soul of the Tampa Bay Lightning. He was the face of the franchise and its Captain. So, when the Lightning and Stamkos couldn’t agree on a new contract earlier this summer, the longtime Bolt bolted out the door to Nashville, leaving a gaping hole in Tampa’s lineup. But more than just his prodigious production will be missed. He was as much the heartbeat of the team off the ice and in the community as he was on the ice. 

Tampa is unlikely to name a new Captain anytime soon, mostly out of respect for Stamkos’ legacy. It will be up to players like Victor Hedman to unofficially fill that void in the room. The Lightning still have plenty of talent on their roster, but sometimes heart is more important than talent. Nobody is doubting their ability to still have a successful campaign, but the first time they face adversity in the form of a losing streak, all eyes will be on the Lightning to see how they handle things without Stamkos to pull them together. 

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

How will Auston Matthews adjust to being the new Captain?

Let’s start things off by saying that this is a bit of a weird situation. It’s not often a team names a new Captain while still having the old Captain on its roster; although the San José Sharks did the same thing last decade. John Tavares is still a Maple Leaf and he has publicly stated his love and support for Auston Matthews, but while the two of them may be friends, how will the rest of the team respond? 

Tavares wasn’t stripped of the captaincy because he lost his teammates’ respect. Toronto’s front office made the change because they wanted to shake things up after yet another playoff disappointment. Will the Maple Leafs players still look to Tavares when times are tough or will they lean on Matthews? There is a fine line that needs to be walked by all involved and there’s certainly a way for it to work. But if we’ve learned anything about the Toronto Maple Leafs over the past 20 years, it’s that things rarely work out as planned.