Marner, Maple Leafs bracing for more competition in Atlantic

TORONTO -- Mitchell Marner is expecting the Atlantic Division, already one of the toughest in the NHL, to be a lot more competitive this season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs forward said recent moves by rival teams have closed the disparity gap from the 2021-22 season. The top four teams finished with at least 107 points; the bottom four had 75 or fewer.
"Our division has gotten a lot better, and I think it's good for us," Marner said Thursday at the fourth annual Marner All-Star Invitational in support of the Marner Assist Foundation, which provides resources to significantly impact children's lives through social care, health and education. "It will make our team have a bit more of a challenge every single night and that's what you want, you want to have a challenge every night and be competing every night."
The Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens all finished out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs but have been busy this offseason in an effort to close the gap on the four Atlantic playoff teams, the Florida Panthers, Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins.
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The Red Wings, who missed the playoffs for a sixth straight season (32-40-10), signed forwards Andrew Copp (five years, $5.625M average annual value) and David Perron (two years, $4.75M AAV), defensemen Ben Chiarot (four years, $4.75M AAV) and
Olli Maatta
(one year, $2.25M AAV) and goalie Ville Husso (three years, $4.75M AAV) after acquiring his rights from the St. Louis Blues.
The Senators signed forward Claude Giroux (three years, $6.5M AAV) and acquired forward Alex DeBrincat from the Chicago Blackhawks and goalie Cam Talbot from the Minnesota Wild. Defenseman Jake Sanderson, who was selected No. 5 in the 2020 NHL Draft and had 26 points in 23 games with the University of North Dakota, is expected to challenge for a spot on the roster.
Ottawa finished seventh in the Atlantic last season (33-42-7).
The Canadiens, who finished last in the League standings (22-49-11, 55 points), selected forward Juraj Slafkovsky with the No. 1 pick at the 2022 NHL Draft and acquired forward Kirby Dach from the Blackhawks.
"I think every team is trying to get better each and every year and we've tried to do that as well," Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli said. "At the end of the day, you are playing in the NHL and every single team on any given night is a very good team. But I'm confident in our group."
Tampa Bay, which finished third in the Atlantic (51-23-8) before losing to the Colorado Avalanche in its third consecutive appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, lost forward
Ondrej Palat
, who signed a five-year contract ($6 M AAV)
with the New Jersey Devils
and traded defenseman Ryan McDonagh to the Nashville Predators. But the Lightning re-signed forward Nicholas Paul (seven years, $3.15M AAV) and added forward Vladislav Namestnikov (one year, $2.5 M AAV) and defenseman Ian Cole (one year, $3 AAV). They also locked up three core players in Cirelli (eight years, $6.25M AAV) and defensemen Mikhail Sergachev (eight years, $8.5M AAV) and Erik Cernak (eight years, $5.2 M AAV).
"We have so many great players locked up for a number of years now so it's exciting for sure," Cirelli said. "I think (general manager) Julien (BriseBois) has done a great job of bringing in pieces to help us succeed. It's very exciting to look back, but it's exciting to move forward into the next season. We are going to be competitive. We have a lot of pieces coming back so I think we are excited to get the season going and go on another run."
The Maple Leafs finished second in the Atlantic (54-21-7) but lost goalie Jack Campbell (five years, $5 million AAV) to the Edmonton Oilers in free agency. They replaced him by trading for Matt Murray from the Senators and signing Ilya Samsonov (one year, $1.8 million), who went 23-12-5 with a 3.02 goals-against average, .896 save percentage and three shutouts in 44 games (39 starts) for the Washington Capitals.
"I think our division, it's no secret the quality of division we are in," Toronto defenseman Mark Giordano said. "I think even playing Montreal last year at the end; going back even to my time in Calgary, playing Ottawa, they might not be where they wanted to be in the standings the last few years but they're a tough game every night. I'm sure with the Battle of Ontario, it'll only get better (this year). With Montreal, those games against us are always a battle (between our teams), but everyone is always trying to get better.
"We'll have to wait to see how it all plays out through camp and the start of the season, but it is going to be super competitive this year."