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Heading into this season, there are a lot of question marks surrounding the teams in the Atlantic Division. Yes, there are one or two teams that you can identify as the bottom dwellers of the division. However, it is more difficult to predict who will be sitting at the top when the 2017-18 regular season comes to an end.

The Detroit Red Wings appear to be in for another rough year as they try to figure out the best way to move forward with a headache of a roster. After a questionable offseason, the Florida Panthers also seem to be heading in the wrong direction and look like the team that could finish just ahead of Detroit. It is unclear how the Buffalo Sabres will prefer because although there seem to be improvements made throughout the organization, it is the Sabres we are talking about here. The way things look right now, things can obviously change, it is a safe bet to put Detroit, Florida, and Buffalo as the bottom three teams in the Atlantic.

As for the other five teams, things are still very much up in the air. Can Ottawa repeat what they did last year or was it just a fluke? Will the Maple Leafs continue to progress or experience a hiccup this season? Is this the year Montreal becomes a legitimate challenger for the Stanley Cup? What in the wide world of sports is Boston going to look like? Most importantly, will Tampa Bay be able to stay healthy or will it be last season all over again? All of these questions make attempting to predict what the Atlantic Division standings will look like next spring quite challenging.

For Tampa Bay, the key is staying healthy. The Bolts were the favorite to win the Stanley Cup this time last season and still have a lot of their key assets on the roster this year. Yes, they will be without Jonathan Drouin but will hopefully insert a repaired and rejuvenated Steven Stamkos back into the lineup.

Some of the offseason moves were a little question, especially the Dan Girardi signing. However, none of these acquisitions should prevent this team from being in the playoff picture. To put it bluntly, there is no reason the Lightning shouldn't be a playoff team in 2018. Even if Montreal has another strong regular season and Toronto keeps trending upwards, Tampa still has a better team than the likes of Boston and Ottawa.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have a legitimate chance of being the team sitting at the top of their division when the 2017-18 season comes to an end. Toronto may spend some time battling for that top spot for a little while but it will eventually come down to the Bolts and Montreal. Of course, Tampa would love to win the division. However, just getting into a position where they make the playoffs will suffice. That way they can look to reach their true objective, bringing back the Stanley Cup to Tampa Bay.

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