2024-25 NHL Atlantic Division Odds and Predictions

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What a difference a couple months makes. The 2024-25 NHL season got underway in October and we’ve now passed the true halfway point as all teams have played at least 41 of the regular season’s 82 games. In the Atlantic Division, it was no surprise for the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers to be picked to win the division again.

What is surprising in January is that the Panthers are not the current betting favorite to win the Atlantic Division. That honor belongs to the Toronto Maple Leafs (+120), who got off to a great start and have led the division for most of the season. Florida is still the overall favorite to win the Eastern Conference.

Both Detroit and Boston were longshots to win the Atlantic Division this season. The Bruins have taken a dive after winning the division in 2022-23 and finishing just one point behind Florida last season. The Bruins began the season with +450 odds to win the division. At 22-19-5 after 46 games, Boston is fourth in the division. Their odds have ballooned to +5000 to win it.

The Bruins fired head coach Jim Montgomery after starting the season 8-9-3. Montgomery has since become the head coach in St. Louis where he had previously served (2020-22). Like Boston, Detroit also fired their head coach, Derek Lalonde, during the season. The Red Wings continue to hang out at the bottom of the Atlantic Division standings. Detroit’s opening odds of +1100 now sit at +20000.

The surprise, for some, is Toronto which has led the division for most of the season. The Maple Leafs (+120) are also right behind Florida in the race for the Eastern Conference. Toronto, Carolina, and New Jersey are all contenders and near the top of the Eastern Conference betting board. Let’s dive into the Atlantic Division at the halfway point of the 2024-25 NHL season.

2024-25 NHL Atlantic Division Odds

Check out the latest NHL odds for the Atlantic Division.

NHL Atlantic Division Teams

Let’s take a closer look at the following NHL Teams competing in the Atlantic Division:

Florida Panthers

The Panthers and Maple Leafs have jockeyed back and forth at the top of the Atlantic Division standings this season. The Panthers did lose a few pieces from last year’s Stanley Cup champions, but the core of the teams remains.

Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart are back and continue to lead the Panthers offense. Reinhart leads the team with 27 goals (second in the NHL) and 51 points. Tkachuk has 40 points (14 goals) and Carter Verhaeghe (31) and Aleksandre Barkov (38) each have over 30.

Florida’s offense continues to put pressure on defenses around the league. The Panthers are a top ten scoring team and the power play is one of the league’s best. After 45 games, Florida ranked No. 7 in power play percentage, converting on 25.4 percent of their power play attempts.

With a solid roster that has tons of playoff experience, the Panthers will be in the mix to win the Atlantic Division and earn an automatic playoff spot. Florida has played in each of the last two Stanley Cup finals and has the talent to get back in 2024-25.

Toronto Maple Leafs

If the Panthers don’t win the Atlantic Division, it will be because of Toronto. The Maple Leafs are off to a great start in 2024-25. It’s no surprise though as the Leafs have been one of the more dominant regular season teams in the NHL over the past several years. After the regular season, it’s been another story for Toronto.

For now, Toronto leads the Atlantic Division. The Leafs and Washington are the top two Eastern Conference teams in the President’s Cup race. Toronto is kind of an enigma though. They have some great forwards and Mitch Marner is the teams’ leading scorer. He’s got 60 points and ranks in the top ten in the NHL.

After Marner though, Toronto doesn’t have another scorer in the top 25. But, William Nylander is in the top 10 in goals with 24 through 45 games. John Tavares (20) is also a 20-goal scorer for Toronto. Still, the Maple Leafs rank 13th in goals per game. The defense is adequate, but only ranks 13th in the NHL in GAA.

The one area where Toronto excels is in penalty killing. The Leafs rank seventh, killing 75.4 percent of all power play situations. There’s no question Toronto will make the postseason again. The bigger question is will they hold onto the lead in the Atlantic Division and win it in 2024-25?

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning were kind of an afterthought when the season began, sitting tied for third on the betting board in the division race. Tampa Bay may still be in that boat for many bettors, but there may be good reasons to hop on the Lightning in both the division and conference races.

Despite losing Steven Stamkos in free agency, the Lightning still has one of the most talented rosters in the NHL. To replace Stamkos, who is now in Nashville, the Lightning signed former Penguin and Hurricane Jake Guentzel. He totaled 77 points last season between Pittsburgh and Carolina.

Don’t forget, the Tampa Bay roster still includes stars like Nikita Kucherov (60P), Brayden Point (47P), and Victor Hedman (34). Kucherov, Point, Guentzel, and Brandon Hagel all have at least 21 goals so far this season. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is still one of the best at the position in the NHL.

The Lightning are the top-scoring team in the NHL, averaging 3.67 goals per game. After starting the season 7-6-1, Tampa Bay has gone 16-10-2. They had another spell where they lost six of nine games from the end of December through mid-January, but there is no question the Lightning are one of the premier teams not only in the Atlantic Division, but in the NHL.

Boston Bruins

Firing your head coach after 20 games ought to tell you how Boston is doing in 2023-24. But, since the firing of Montgomery, the Bruins are a respectable 14-10-2. They were in fourth place in the division after 46 games and are right in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race.

If the regular season ended now, the Bruins would make the postseason. The top three teams in each division automatically make the playoffs. The other two teams in the Eastern Conference are selected based on their point total. After 46 games, the Bruins had the highest point total of all remaining teams.

The Bruins have underachieved in 2024-25. David Pastrnak, a perennial candidate in the Hart Memorial Trophy race, continues to lead the Bruins in scoring with 20 goals and 48 points in 46 games. But his numbers place him 18th in the NHL. His play in January has improved. Pastrnak has seven goals midway through the month after scoring just five in all of December.

Goalie play has left a lot to be desired too. Jeremy Swayman is a very pedestrian 15-15-3. His save percentage is under .900, but his GAA is 2.89. Boston’s problems putting the puck in the net, especially early in the season, have put Boston in their current position.

Ottawa Senators

The Senators haven’t made the postseason in any of the last seven seasons. They last made the playoffs in the 2016-17 season. Ottawa advanced to the Eastern Conference finals that season. They lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games. Don’t expect anything close to that this season.

After 43 games, the Senators are still hovering around .500. They have a goal differential of +4. Three Ottawa skaters have 30-plus points – Brady Tkachuk (38), Drake Batherson (39), and Tim Stutzle (43). The Senators are the poster child for the average NHL team.

Ottawa ranks eighth in goals against, but they rank 21st in scoring.

Montreal Canadiens

The Canadiens are one of the most storied franchises in the NHL. Montreal has 24 Stanley Cups in franchise history. They will not win another one in 2025. Montreal hasn’t made the postseason in the past three seasons. The Canadiens were fortunate in 2020-21 to make the postseason. The NHL realigned the divisions because of COVID-19 and Montreal was able to make the Stanley Cup finals.

Since then, they haven’t won more than 31 games in a single season. This season, the Canadiens are right back in the Atlantic Division’s bottom three. They struggle on defense, ranking 25th in goals allowed per game. Nick Suzuki (43P) and Cole Caufield (42P) are two pretty prolific scorers for Montreal. After those two, the Canadiens don’t have much firepower.

What Montreal does have, however, is the opportunity to rebuild the franchise. They’ve got Juraf Slafkovsky and Ivan Demidov, two young players that should become stars. The Canadiens will have another top pick in this year’s NHL Entry Draft as they continue to rebuild.

Detroit Red Wings

This was supposed to be the year. The Red Wings toyed with the postseason last year, going 41-32-9. With young stars like Dylan Larkin and Moritz Seider along with new addition Alex DeBrincat, 2024-25 was going to be the breakout season for Derek Lalonde and the city of Detroit.

Instead, Lalonde has already been fired and the Red Wings are just about back to square one. Lucas Raymond (47P), Larkin (38P) and DeBrincat (36P) all have at least 18 goals, but the Red Wings struggle on defense. Detroit ranks 25th in goals allowed per game at 3.23.

What’s surprising about Detroit is that their power play ranks No. 2 in the NHL. That’s right. The Red Wings are successful on 28.1 percent of their power plays. Through 43 games, the only team better than Detroit on the power play is Winnipeg, the first-place team in the Central Division.

What isn’t surprising in Detroit and is one of the reasons why the Red Wings are nowhere near playoff contention is the penalty killing unit. Detroit ranks 31st in penalty killing at 68.5 percent. The Red Wings are one of just two NHL teams under 70 percent. The New York Islanders are the other.

Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres have performed pretty much as expected. They were a longshot at +1300 to win the division when the season kicked off. Buffalo opened the season with one win in its first six games. In 44 games, the Sabres have just 17 wins. They aren’t in last place in the division, but they also have seen their odds to win it skyrocket.

Interestingly, Buffalo ranks 12th in the NHL in scoring, averaging just over three goals per game. The Sabres have six double-digit goal scorers with two more that will hit 10 very soon. Five players, led by Tage Thompson (19G, 35P), have at least 31 points for Buffalo.

The Sabres problem is defense. They rank 27th in goals against average (3.34) and they aren’t very good on the power play. After 44 games, Buffalo ranked No. 27 in the NHL in power play percentage, scoring goals on just 17.9 percent of their opportunities.

Buffalo hired former head coach Lindy Ruff to come back and give it another go. While the Sabres won’t likely make the postseason, Ruff will get this year to continue to rebuild the franchise.

NHL Atlantic Division Predictions

The safe bet is on the Florida Panthers (+130) to win the Atlantic Division. They have won two of the last three division titles and have played in each of the last two Stanley Cup finals. The roster is still elite and they play good enough defense. But, the Panthers don’t really need to win the division.

Barring a collapse of monumental proportions, the Panthers are going to win enough games to finish among the top three in the Atlantic. That, of course, is good enough to get Florida back to the postseason where they can defend their Stanley Cup championship.

Scores & Stats hockey experts actually like a different team to come through and win the division. Toronto currently leads the division and, as we noted, the Maple Leafs have been outstanding in the regular season for most of the past decade. That is why they are the current favorite at +120 to win the Atlantic Division. Like Florida, this is a safe bet and one that, in all likelihood, could play out in your favor.

However, if you’re looking for more bang for your buck, S&S hockey experts like the Tampa Bay Lightning at +450. Our experts have been at it all season and will continue making winning NHL picks all the way through the end of the regular season and the playoffs.

The Lightning haven’t won the division since winning it in back-to-back seasons in 2018 and 2019. Tampa Bay failed to make the Stanley Cup finals in either of those seasons but would go on to win back-to-back Cups in 2020 and 2021.

Tampa Bay’s lineup is full of stars. As mentioned earlier, the Lightning lead the NHL in scoring. Kucherov is among the league leaders in scoring with 65 points. Kucherov, Point, Hagel, and Guentzle have all already surpassed 20 goals and Anthony Cirelli is closing in with 18.

Andrei Vasilveskiy is still an elite goaltender with a 2.38 GAA this season. That ties him for seventh in the NHL. Don’t forget, Vasilevskiy won the 2019 Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goalie. He was a big reason why Tampa Bay won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021. Vasllevskiy won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the ‘21 Stanley Cup playoffs.

If the Lightning can avoid injury and stay consistent, they will have a chance to overtake both Toronto and Florida in the Atlantic Division standings. Tampa Bay has four games – two against each team – against the Maple Leafs and Panthers remaining this season. Those games could prove to be the difference.

Bet: Tampa Bay Lightning (+450)