NHL: Ranking the best six forward groups of the Atlantic Division

Which NHL team in the Atlantic Division has the best group of top six forwards? We’ve got them ranked right here.

Everyone knows the teams with the best top lines in Hockey, whether its MacKinnon’s line in Colorado, Pasta and Bergy in Boston or whoever is playing with McDavid but the best teams in the league have depth that the middle of the road teams cant match. The teams that make the deeper runs in the playoffs have depth up and down the lineup.

These are my rankings for the top six forwards for each division. I’ve ranked each forward group by their collective plus minus from last season. Though I know some of these players were on different teams last year I still believe this gives a pretty accurate summation of these rankings.

Lets start with the Atlantic. The Atlantic is home to some of the deepest forward groups in the league and of course the defending Stanley Cup Champions. Teams like Boston, Tampa, Toronto and Florida make the division one of the most difficult in the league.

8. Detroit Red Wings

T. Bertuzzi (21 goals, 27 assists, -23) R. Fabbri (14 goals, 17 assists, -29)

D. Larkin (19 goals, 34 assists, -21) V. Filppula (six goals,15 assists, -42)

A. Mantha (16 goals, 22 assists, -7) V. Namestnikov (17 goals, 14 assists, -5)

The Red Wings finished with the worst record in the entire league. It doesn’t seem as if it will get much better this year. The top line has some talent but the lack of depth is indicative of the Red Wings poor record from just a year ago and Steve Yzerman will look to build that depth as he did in Tampa Bay over the last few years.

7. Ottawa Senators

B. Tkachuk (21 goals, 23 assists, -14) A. Anisimov (15 goals, 5 assists, -15)

C. White (7 goals, 16 assists, -12) C. Tierney (11 goals, 26 assists, -6)

E. Dadanov (25 goals, 22 assists, -7) C. Brown (16 goals, 27 assists, -6)

If not for the Red Wings last year, the Senators would have finished with the worst record in all of hockey. Ottawa was clearly in rebuild mode last season concluding with them having 3 picks in the first round with 2 of them coming in the top 5.

6. Buffalo Sabres

T. Hall (16 goals, 36 assists, -14) J. Skinner (14 goals, nine assists, -22)

J. Eichel (36 goals, 42 assists , +5) E. Staal (19 goals, 28 assist, -9)

S. Reinhart (22 goals, 28 assists, -15) V. Olofsson (20 goals, 22 assists, -1)

In the surprise of the offseason the Buffalo Sabres signed top free agent Taylor Hall to a one year deal worth $8 million. He will most likely join a top line of Jack Eichel and newly re-signed Sam Reinhart (one year, $5.2 million).

5. Montreal Canadiens

T. Tatar (22 goals, 39 assists, +5) J. Drouin (7 goals, 8 assists, -6)

P. Danault (13 goals, 34 assists, +18) N. Suzuki (13 goals, 28 assists, -15)

B. Gallagher (22 goals, 21 assists, +9) J. Anderson (1 goal, 3 assists, -8)

The Candiens traded Max Domi this offseason for winger Josh Anderson who subsequently signed an extension for seven years and $38.5 million. Anderson missed most of last year with a shoulder injury and will look to make an impact for the Habs in the first year of that massive contract.

4. Florida Panthers

J. Huberdeau (23 goals, 55 assists, +5) F. Vatrano (16 goals, 18 assists, -8)

A. Barkov (20 goals, 41 assists, +2) N. Acciari (20 goals, 7 assists, +2)

P. Hornqvist (17 goals, 15 assists, +9) B. Connolly (19 goals, 14 assists, -3)

The Florida Panthers will most likely take a huge hit to their Top 6 this offseason as F Mike Hoffman has hit free agency. Though still unsigned it is all but certain he will be playing elsewhere next season. Florida will look for newly acquired Patric Hornqvist to pick up some of that slack while providing leadership and a veteran presence in the locker room.

3. Toronto Maple Leafs

Z. Hyman (21 goals,16 assists, +13) A. Kerfoot (9 goals, 19 assists, -2)

A. Matthews (47 goals, 33 assists, +19) J. Tavares (26 goals, 34 assists, -7)

W. Nylander (31 goals, 28 assists, -2) M. Marner (16 goals, 51 assists, +6)

With a two headed monster up the middle in Matthews and Tavares, the Leafs look to rebound from yet another abysmal playoff appearance. The Leafs have yet to make it out of the first round of the playoffs for FOUR straight years.

2. Boston Bruins

B. Marchand (28 goals, 59 assists, +25) J. DeBrusk (19 goals, 16 assists, -1)

P. Bergeron (31 goals, 25 assists, +23) D. Krejci (13 goals, 30 assists, +14)

D. Pastrnak (48 goals, 47 assists, +21) O. Kase (7 goals, 17 assists, -7)

Anchored by one of the best lines in the entire league the Boston Bruins will look to get greater contributions from players up and down the line up. Jake Debrusk will again look to take a step forward after a 19 goal campaign last year saw a dip in performance following a 27 goal effort just a year before.

1. Tampa Bay Lightning

O. Palat (17 goals, 24 assists, +25) A. Killorn (26 goals, 23 assists, +19)

B. Point (25 goals, 39 assists, +28) A. Cirelli (16 goals, 28 assists, +28)

N. Kucherov (35 goals, 52 assists, +26) S. Stamkos (29 goals, 37 assists, +14)

The defending Stanley Cup Champions come it at No. 1 for the Atlantic Division and it wasnt really close. The balanced scoring and dominance that the Lightning get from their top 6 is incredible. They will look to keep that trend moving forward as they look to repeat next season.