With the regular season behind us and the NHL playoffs set to kick off on a quick turnaround, the 2025-26 season is officially over for some teams while others are getting ready to push ahead on a quest for the Stanley Cup.
While some teams face a re-tooling after a surprisingly poor season, others finally turned it around in the hopes of a Cinderella-type run. Regardless of where they finished in the NHL’s Atlantic Division, here’s a look at the top two storylines for each team in the division, kicking off with the Buffalo Sabres.
Sabres Are Playoff Bound With Lindy Ruff Resurgence
Making it to the Dance
For the first time in 15 seasons, the Sabres locked in their spot for the NHL playoffs. In fact, they finished the season atop the Atlantic Division and securing home-ice advantage – at least in the first round. After finishing seventh in the division a year ago, the Sabres went on an absolute heater in the second half of the season in 2025-26, finishing 50-23-9 with 109 points.
Ruff Earning His Reputation…Again
With the playoff berth came a new respect of head coach Lindy Ruff and a believe – by most – that the long-time NHL coach could still get the job done.
On top of an outstanding record in the regular season, Ruff’s coaching staff helped the Sabres to an 81.9 percent penalty kill, good enough for fourth in the NHL this season. They had the fifth most goals for (283) and gave up the 10th fewest goals against (240).
On paper, they may not have been the strongest team in the east given the unknowns on the backend and in net, however the team pulled together and finished the year as the number one seed thanks to both the players on the ice and the coaches in behind it.
Lightning Remain Contenders Led By Raddysh, Kucherov
Kucherov Locked In for the Lightning
One of the storylines for the Lightning this season could’ve easily been the supporting cast around the main stars with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Even Jon Cooper deserves some of the recognition, as he always does with this perennial contender.
But the main storyline on this team, this season, has to be Nikita Kucherov. The star forward finished with 130 points in 76 games for the Lightning, including 44 goals to lead the Lightning. He recorded his 400th career goal in his 873rd career game and over a 27-game span from February to March, he recorded 19 goals and 58 points.
He’ll be up for the Hart Trophy and it’s safe to say he was the MVP for the Lightning this season.
Raddysh Breaks Out Offensively
Another player that helped keep the Lightning atop the Atlantic this season was the emergence of Darren Raddysh. The 30-year-old defenceman having never had more than 37 points in a season, recorded his first 20-goal season with 22 and and finished with 70 points in just 73 games for the Lightning this season.
He was tied for third in the league amongst defenceman with goals and seventh in points – all while averaging over 22 minutes of ice time per game. His previous high was 19:06. With an annual average value (AAV) of just $975,000 the past two seasons, hitting unrestricted free agency at the end of the season couldn’t come at a better time for the veteran defenceman. The question is, will the Lightning be able to bring him back or has he earned himself a costly raise?
Caufield’s Electric Season Headlines Canadiens Season
Caulfied Reaches 50-Goal Plateau
There shouldn’t have been much question as to whether or not the Montreal Canadiens would make the playoffs this season, given their success in 2024-25. Still, there were some questions around the team and who would continue to progress to the next level of their development amongst their young core.
For Cole Caufield, he didn’t leave much up to the imagination with a hot start that continued throughout the regular season. His goal scoring ability has always been on display, however, his 51-goal campaign was not on a lot of bingo cards to kick of the year.
He became just the seventh player to reach 50 goals in a season in Canadiens history. It was the 13th time a player has reached the plateau in franchise history, joining Guy Lafleur (6), Stephane Richer (2), Steve Shutt (1), Maurice Richard (1), Bernie Geoffrion (1) and Pierre Larouche (1) as the only players to do it. It’s also the first time since Richer did it in 1989-90 that a player has reached the 50-goal mark for the franchise.
Dobes The Dark Horse for the Calder Trophy?
Next to Caufield and Nick Suzuki’s 100-point season, this team had a number of player success and storylines, but the second most important might have been the emergence of Jakub Dobes. While the conversation for the Calder Trophy has centred around Ivan Demidov, Matthew Schaefer and Beckett Sennecke, many forget that Dobes still qualifies for rookie of the year votes this season.
Consider this – the last time a goalie won the award was in 2009 with Steve Mason. That year, Mason’s numbers were 33-20-7 with a 2.29 goals against average (GAA) and .916 save percentage (SV%) with 10 shutouts.
In comparison, Dobes went 29-10-4 this season with a 2.78 GAA and .904 SV% with just one shutout. But considering the way he held down the fort for the Canadiens throughout the season, it’s hard not to think he deserves some more top-three votes in the Calder race – at least a few more than he’ll ultimately receive considering the stiff competition.
Misfits Got the Bruins Back Into the Playoffs
Morgan Geekie’s Band of Misfits
Maybe the biggest demonstration of just how strong the Atlantic was this season was the fact that the Boston Bruins worked their way back into the playoffs on the shoulders of David Pastrnak, obviously, and his band of misfits. There were 29 skaters who played a game for the Bruins this season, but none more impressively than Morgan Geekie.
Geekie played 81 games and had analysts debating whether or not he should’ve made the Olympic roster with the season he was having. He finished with 68 points in 81 games and just one goal shy of being the 16th player with 40 goals in the NHL this season. He made up for nearly 15 percent of the Bruins goals scored this season and had a hand in another 11 percent.
While he slowed down in the second half, his first-half performance helped take the Bruins from a team looking for answers last season to one on the hunt for a deep playoff run in 2025-26.
Minten Magic Brings Thanks to the Maple Leafs
Another rookie with a big year was the topic of conversation for the Bruins this season as well – mostly because he came over in a trade from their rival Toronto Maple Leafs last season. Regardless, Fraser Minten stepped in out of camp and continued to produce – albeit at a consistent rookie pace.
What might be most notable is the fact that the rookie forward played in all 82 games for the Bruins, adding 17 goals and 35 points to sour the mood in Toronto on the Brandon Carlo trade. If this is a starting point for the kid, expect big things and another decade of discussing the what ifs for the Maple Leafs.
Senators Dealt With Blows, But Made It
Ullmark’s Absence Headlines Senators’ Goaltending Woes
The Linus Ullmark storyline may have been the most mysterious and long-winded of the NHL season, but it was one the affected the Ottawa Senators. Not just from the standpoint of him stepping away to deal with his mental health issues that were affecting him personally, but from an overall goaltending perspective for the team.
Of the playoff teams this season, the Senators had the worst collective save percentage at .882 for the year. In fact, only the Vancouver Canucks had a worse save percentage in the NHL this season. What’s even crazier is that they gave up the second fewest shots of any team this season and still managed to carry that abysmal save percentage.
Not a single one of their four goaltenders to play a game this season had a save percentage of .900 or higher and – as it pertains to Ullmark – their starter who has been known to struggle come playoff time finished the year 28-12-8 with a 2.73 GAA and .891 SV%. Surely, that won’t get you far in the playoffs.
Injuries Affected Senators’ Season From the Start
In saying that about the team’s goaltending, the Senators are fortunate to be where they are given the injuries they were dealt during the regular season. From losing Brady Tkachuk to Thomas Chabot in November to the Ullmark absence, the Senators managed to maintain a consistent pace in the standings and steadily earn themselves a playoff spot despite the injuries and absences from the lineup. Pesky may, in fact, be the right word for these Senators after all.
Yzerplan Is Starting to Show Holes With the Red Wings
Yzerman’s Influence Hasn’t Paid Dividends… Yet
It’s officially been seven years since Steve Yzerman returned to the Detroit Red Wings as their general manager. His goal? It was to get the Red Wings back into the playoffs, not just as first-round opponents, but as perennial contenders. However, the team has yet to get back to the playoffs, peaking as high as fifth in the division back in 2023-24.
Yzerman has brought in guys like Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat as well as going out and getting John Gibson to play between the pipes. All of these moves have been placed under the umbrella fans and media refer to as the Yzerplan. Only it hasn’t worked.
The plan, instead, has kept the Red Wings in the bottom half of the division with their prospect pool piling up without major success to this point. While there’s no word yet on his future, assuming he stays with the Red Wings, Yzerman will be the focal point of the franchise in the 2026-27 season as the so-called Yzerplan continues to leak deeper into the Atlantic.
Kane’s Milestone-Filled Season in Motown
On the other side of the coin, Kane’s season was filled with individual milestones. In January, the 37-year-old became just the 50th player to reach 500 goals in the NHL. He followed that up on April 2 by passing Brett Hull (1,391) for the most points ever by an American-born skater before becoming the 24th player in NHL history later that month to record his 1,400th career NHL point.
Even at his age, with a team that lacked overall productivity, Kane’s 16 goals and 57 points in 67 games were impressive. As rumours swirl around regarding his future, it might not be a bad idea to keep the future Hall-of-Famer in Red Wings’ colours for the young team that Yzerman plans to ice in 2026-27.
Injuries Plagued the Two-Time Champion Panthers
Panthers Bitten By the Injury Bug Early and Often
You knew this season was going to be different for the Florida Panthers who, before the season started, were out Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov due to injuries. Something about how they kicked off the season seemed tired – and rightfully so after three consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Final, including two consecutive wins.
Injuries continued to plague the Panthers throughout the season from Seth Jones to Brad Marchand and the list goes on. Maybe call it a one-off – a season in which the Panthers bit the bullet in order to be ready for another run in 2026-27. Either way, I don’t think anyone had them pegged this low in the division, but get ready for another push starting in October.
Bobrovsky Potentially On the Move
Another storyline that seemed to keep popping up around the Panthers was the future of Sergei Bobrovsky. The 37-year-old has been considered a top goaltender in the league for some time now and with two Vezina Trophies to his name – the last coming in 2016-17 – questions around his future with the team seemed to be an ongoing topic of conversation throughout the year.
That said, this was the final year of a seven-year deal with the Panthers at an AAV of $10 million and given the cap of the Panthers and what Bobrovsky could potentially earn for another two to three seasons, his future in the Sunshine State could be in question as free agency approaches following the conclusion of the postseason.
Maple Leafs, Matthews and Cultural Discrepancies in Toronto
Matthews’ Future With the Maple Leafs is Foggy
Finally, while there are a plethora of storylines that came out of the Maple Leafs’ season, two that really stuck out were the consistent rumours swirling around Auston Matthews‘ future with the team and the head office turmoil that came to light in the last week of the season.
The Matthews storyline is fairly easy to put to rest for now. Assuming the Maple Leafs aren’t looking to conduct a full-scale rebuild, Matthews has stated his interest in seeing out the final two years of his current contract. Beyond that, for now, is up in the air. But the Maple Leafs have some wiggle room if they can start to build a competitive team again.
While Matthews dealt with a handful of injuries again this season, his ceiling for productivity might be a bigger question than what his current future plans are for where he calls home.
Maple Leafs’ Culture Faced With Adversity at the Top
As for the changes to the front office, they come following Keith Pelley’s firing of general manager Brad Treliving. By all accounts, Treliving’s moves at the deadline and the overall performance of the team this season were catalysts for the change.
However, recent reports suggest that Pelley’s handprints were all over the Maple Leafs’ trade deadline, suggesting he used artificial intelligence to suggest returns for potential trades and ultimately taking away the autonomy that Treliving should’ve had as the team’s general manager.
As Treliving was the one getting the boot, the future of the team and the autonomy of their next general manager might still be in question, which can only add more fuel to the fire of the first headline coming out of the Maple Leafs’ season.
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