The 2024-25 NHL campaign is just around the corner, and after a few months of off-season roster moves it’s time to take a closer look at how each team’s puzzle will come together.
While a winning season requires full commitment from everyone in the lineup, there are some players facing a few extra questions about whether they can raise the level of their game — and, in doing so, help those around them thrive, too.
From stars skating into new situations and role players with plenty to prove to young skaters eying fresh starts on familiar rosters, we’re looking at one player from each Atlantic Division team who needs to step up and deliver in 2024-25.
(Teams are listed in order of last year’s final division standings.)
Florida Panthers: Adam Boqvist
While Panthers general manager Bill Zito made some impressive maneuvers to keep much of his championship core in place — defenceman Gustav Forsling signed a bargain of an eight-year pact back in March, while leading scorer Sam Reinhart took a home-team discount to stay this summer — some losses were inevitable. And some of the biggest came on the blue line, where the team will open 2024-25 without Brandon Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
While veterans like Forsling, Aaron Ekblad, and Dmitri Kulikov will be leaned on heavily, Zito also brought in some low-risk, affordable free agents, including Adam Boqvist. The 24-year-old defender has played parts of five seasons since the Chicago Blackhawks drafted him eighth overall in 2018 but has yet to really hit his stride. Dealt to Columbus as part of the deal that sent Seth Jones to Chicago in 2021-22, Boqvist started to find his game but struggled with consistency. After he was ultimately unable to harness his first-round potential with the Blue Jackets, the club bought out the final year of his deal — a $2.6-million cap hit. Zito signed Boqvist to a one-year deal for league minimum, handing the young rearguard an opportunity to prove he can turn his career around.
It’s worked before in Florida — look at Ekman-Larsson, who took his post-buyout opportunity and turned it into a Stanley Cup ring and a four-year pact with the Toronto Maple Leafs in free agency this summer. Forsling, too, turned his fortunes around after Zito took a flyer on him. Could Boqvist be next? The opportunity is there for him to step up and take it.
Boston Bruins: Joonas Korpisalo
After boasting the league’s most successful goalie tandem the past three years, Boston’s crease is going to look different in 2024-25. The Bruins broke up BFFs Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark, dealing the latter to Ottawa in a trade that included Joonas Korpisalo in the return. That Swayman, a restricted free agent for the second straight off-season, still hasn’t signed makes the Bruins’ crease all the more intriguing.
Korpisalo signed a five-year contract in Ottawa last summer, eying a long-term home after a short stint as a rental with the Kings. The veteran netminder spent the first eight years of his career in Columbus, where he was often stuck playing behind a less-than-stellar d-corps and was considered a solid upgrade in Ottawa. But the fit simply wasn’t there, the 30-year-old struggling to hit his stride as the team in front of him did the same. Korpisalo’s season ended with some of his worst numbers to date, including 3.27 goals-against average and .890 save percentage to go with his 21-26-4 record.
There are plenty of questions about how, exactly, he’ll be used in Boston. While the starter’s slot is still Swayman’s, assuming a deal gets done with the RFA, will the Bruins keep up their tandem approach with Korpisalo, or will the former Blue Jacket take a step back into a more conventional backup role? The veteran has plenty to prove with a fresh start behind a strong blue line that he can, in fact, still be a starter in the NHL.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Nick Robertson
After a summer of discontent, including a lingering trade request and a months-long contract stalemate, Nick Robertson is officially under contract with the Maple Leafs after the team signed their RFA to a one-year pact worth $875,000 ahead of camp.
It’s a quintessential show-me deal for a player who’s brimming with offensive potential but has yet to carve out a regular spot in Toronto’s lineup — a lineup that has an obvious need at left wing this year following the departure of Tyler Bertuzzi, who spent plenty of time manning Auston Matthews’ left side last year.
Whether forced by injuries or prompted by desires to spark a little extra offence at times, the Maple Leafs saw quite a few variations of its top six last season. While Bertuzzi, who’s now in Chicago, got comfortable there for much of the year, Matthew Knies got some looks as well and thrived. Knies, too, is a top candidate to step up and skate into that top-line job full-time after playing up and down the lineup in his rookie year.
With a new head coach in Craig Berube and job openings at left wing, Robertson has a renewed opportunity to grow into an everyday NHL role — the Maple Leafs need him to do just that if they’re to take another step in contention themselves.
Tampa Bay Lightning: Jake Guentzel
Sure, it’s easy to single out the new guy, but the Lightning’s decision to let longtime captain and franchise cornerstone Steven Stamkos walk away in free agency and hand that money over to Guentzel made a real statement in Tampa Bay.
Let’s see if the winger’s play can do the same.
Now that we’re (mostly) over the initial shock of a Stamkos-less Lightning, it’s not hard to see why GM Julien BriseBois so coveted Guentzel — his speed and skill matches what Tampa Bay does best, and at 29 years old he’s a safer long-term bet. But Stamkos’ shoes will be hard to fill. The captain scored 40 goals last year and is coming off a three-season stretch of 80-plus points each. He was the heart and soul and face of the franchise, too.
Guentzel, who played alongside Sidney Crosby for the first eight years of his career, is no stranger to jumping into new situations — he did just that last spring when he was dealt to Carolina as a rental, and found instant success.
Doing the same in Tampa Bay will go a long way in helping the winger embrace this next chapter of his career — and have the fans embrace him in return.
Detroit Red Wings: Jonatan Berggren
The Red Wings ranked ninth in goals per game last year (3.35) but lost a little fire power this off-season with the departures of David Perron, Daniel Sprong, and Robby Fabbri. While the signing of Vladimir Tarasenko and the return of Patrick Kane definitely addresses some of that, the team will also need to lean on internal promotions to fill out the lineup and bring more offence. Is Jonatan Berggren ready to take on a larger role?
After suiting up for 67 games in 2022-23, registering 15 goals and 28 points, the 2018 second-rounder took a step back last year. He appeared in just 12 games in 2023-24, recording six points, but couldn’t stick.
With reliable goal-scorers atop the lineup in Lucas Raymond, Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat, and hopefully Kane and Tarasenko, too, the Red Wings will need some of their younger players like Berggren to deliver on their potential if they are to take the next step into contention.
Since being dealt to Buffalo as part of the package that sent Jack Eichel from the Sabres to the Vegas Golden Knights, Alex Tuch has been an instant fan favourite — fitting, considering he’s from the area and grew up a Sabres fan himself. The forward fully embraced suiting up for his hometown team, and his play has reflected that. After tallying 38 points in 50 games in 2021-22, Tuch broke out in a big way with a whopping 36 goals and 79 points — both personal-bests by a pretty wide margin.
While last year was still productive for Tuch individually, it did bring a step back — and he wasn’t alone in that. The Sabres’ scoring was down across the board, with teammate Dylan Cozens even reportedly stating last winter the team was playing “way too soft.”
Enter Lindy Ruff, who in a full-circle moment makes his return to the Sabres’ bench as its new-again head coach. Tuch sounded excited about the hire:
“I think I’ve probably watched Lindy coach about as many games as I’ve actually played [in the NHL] — and more than I’ve played for the Sabres,” he told reporters following the hire. “He was my favourite coach. That was the team that I watched, that I sat on the couch with my dad. … Lindy’s a great coach, a really smart guy. I’ve always been a huge fan of his.”
Tuch should play a massive role in reviving the Sabres’ flat offence this year.
Ottawa Senators: Linus Ullmark
Linus Ullmark’s arrival marks the sixth straight season the Senators will start the year with a different No. 1 goaltender, and while there’s no rush on either side to sign the netminder to an extension just yet, the team is no doubt hoping this one sticks.
Ullmark is certainly an upgrade over Korpisalo & Co., but still comes with a few questions. He’s played his best hockey the last three seasons in Boston as one half of the Bruins’ excellent tandem. At times, he’s been the better half and at others he’s taken more of a supporting role. How will he respond to a heavier workload with the Senators as a true No. 1?
The 31-year-old has a big opportunity to set the record straight that he’s more than a 1B goaltender and can own a crease all his own. Should he find success behind a Senators squad that appears ready to (finally) leap into contention, he’ll have an even bigger decision on his hands.
Montreal Canadiens: Juraj Slafkovsky
The 2023-24 campaign was a tale of two seasons for Juraj Slafkovsky. After a shaky start to his second season — which felt like a continuation of his uninspiring rookie year — the Canadiens’ 2022 first overall pick suddenly hit his stride to the tune of 18 goals and 42 points in the final 51 games of last year. It wasn’t just his production that popped off the page but the way he was playing — with confidence and a little grit, too.
Now, as Montreal appears ready to take a step forward in its youth movement, the pressure will be on for Slafkovsky to pick up where he left off. That kind of play and production would go a long way in making Montreal’s top line, centred by Nick Suzuki with Cole Caufield most likely suiting up on the right side, a real offensive force.