Hidden Gem: Unearthing Each Teams Next Breakout Player in the Atlantic

In a league known for surprises, let's predict one player from each team in the Atlantic Division who is set to make a significant leap this year.

Boston Bruins:

When looking at the young guns in the B's system, the names of Matt Poitras, Mason Lohrei, Jacob Lauko and John Beecher are a few that come to mind. All of these players had a fair share of ice time, with Poitras having the least at 33 games due to a right shoulder surgery that took place in early February of this year. That being said, Poitras has to be my pick for the next breakout player for the Bruins. His 2.04 points/60 minutes puts him ahead of names like Tyler Bertuzzi, Patrick Laine, Evan Rodrigues and Matthew Knies across the league. This is promising for a 20 year old center entering a league like the NHL, and I fully expect him to fill the 2/3C role for the Bruins this season and succeed in that role.

Poitras has proven time and time again to succeed, going all the way back to his time with the U16 Whitby Wildcats, through to his time in the OHL with the Guelph Storm. That being said, I think the other players named above had a great showing last season, including Lohrei and his performance in the playoffs. With the Bruins proving to effectively develop centres, it is hard to expect anything but for Poitras to find success this year, as long as he can stay (relatively) healthy.

Buffalo Sabres:

This one is really easy; I think that Matt Savoie will easily - oh wait. Well with that option off the board, let's take a look at the other players that qualify to potentially breakout this season for the Sabres. I want to only look at players 22 and younger, so with that being said, Jack Quinn, Owen Power, Peyton Krebs and Zach Benson are the players I feel most qualify for this title. All of these players have shown that the 2024-25 season may present them with a breakout season, but Jack Quinn is my pick. I fully expect Owen Power to continue to progress as a player and be a force next year, but that is just a boring pick so I won't do that to you.

Jack Quinn only played 27 games last season, but put up 19 points and played majority of his time on the second line. When looking at Sabres players last year with at least 90 minutes of total ice time, Quinn finds himself second on the team trailing just Tage Thompson for Expected Goals / 60 Minutes. That means he finished higher than teammates like Dylan Cozens, Alex Tuch and JJ Peterka. All of that being said, Jack Quinn is my pick for Sabres breakout player next year, proving that he is QUINNtessential to this roster moving forward.

Detroit Red Wings:

Although Lucas Raymond is 22 years old, his team-leading 72 points in 82 games means he has already had his breakout season, and then some (and Moritz Seider is 23). This leaves a major name in my mind, being Simon Edvinsson - the 21 year old, 6'6" LHD that just finished another season for the Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHL.

Currently projected to play on the second-pairing alongside Jeff Petry, Edvinsson has all signs pointing to him having a year full of growth and learning. There are a fair amount of veterans on this roster to help guide his growth including Ben Chiarot, Jeff Petry and Erik Gustafsson; with Moritz Seider trailblazing a path for defensemen within the Red Wings system. In just 16 games this past year, Edvinsson posted 26 hits and 25 blocked shots, alongside only 4 PIM's. Detroit has a bunch of great young players in their system, just many won't get a shot at the NHL level consistently this year, making Edvinsson my #1 pick.

Florida Panthers:

Since the Cats just won the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in franchise history, I will cut them some slack; but their prospect pool and list of break-through eligible players isn't great. After deciding between just about two names that fit the criteria, Anton Lundell is my pick for a player that might just take a big jump during the 2024-25 season. The 6'1" centre doesn't turn 23 until this October, and posted 35 points through 78 games this past season; nothing special. Now, that being said, Lundell tallied up 17 points through 24 games this post season, helping to push this team all the way to the promised land. That post season performance puts him at 4th for points on the team, ahead of Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennet and Evan Rodrigues.

If Lundell can carry this momentum into next year, maybe there is a chance he can slide into the 2C role and play alongside Matthew Tkachuk and Evan Rodrigues. Quick side note; the Florida Panthers D-core is atrocious right now, so they better enjoy the cup while they have it (sorry for the pessimistic end to an optimistic projection) ...

Montreal Canadiens:

The first player that comes to mind has to be Juraj Slafkovsky, and he is 100% my pick. The 6'3" 20 year old just signed an 8-year, $60,800,000 contract with the Habs - a contract that will either be incredible value or hard to digest. in 82 games, Slafkovsky put up 50 points (4th on the team) and threw the third most hits of all forwards on the roster, coupled with the 3rd best Fenwick % on the roster behind just his line mates of Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. With another year under every players belts, the rebuild continues and I expect this team to soar from the 8th seed in the Atlantic all the way to a battle for the 7th seed with the Senators. As depressing as that may be, I do think that Slafkovsky could have a really good year, likely even eclipsing the 65+ point mark.

Ottawa Senators:

Much like the Detroit Red Wings, Tim Stutzle has already had his breakout season and therefore won't be my pick for this blog. Now despite already having a great last season, I expect Jake Sanderson to take another major step in the nation's capital. Jake Sanderson is one of the better players in the league, likely already more skilled than names like Miro Heiskanen and Adam Fox; while maybe even at the level of Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar. Ok, I am done acting like an average Senators fan and will continue unbiasedly explaining why I actually believe Jake Sanderson will take another huge step this year.

The 5th overall pick from the 2020 draft now has 2 full seasons under his belt, tallying 32 and 38 points. So, if this past season was his "sophomore slump", then this next year could be huge for him - especially with Jacob Chychrun no longer taking away minutes on the left side. He improved from a -3.2 to a +4.8 for On-Ice Expected Goals Differential, symbolizing his improvement on the defensive end and his overall impact while on the ice. I am looking forward to seeing how he progresses, even though the Senators aren't actually done the rebuild that the fanbase claims ended in 2020.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Man this team is old

As I touched on in my previous article, I am still very upset with Julien Brisebois for his cutt-throat treatment of Steven Stamkos, so if you are reading this, do better. With that now out of the way, I can share the player that I most expect to take a major jump for the Bolts this season is: no one.

When looking at the roster that the Lightning are most likely to ice for their season-opener, there isn't a single player 22 or younger on the ice. Although, if training camp goes well enough, it would be really cool to see Conor Geekie make the opening night lineup. He was setting himself up for a roster spot in Utah before being traded to Tampa for Mikhail Sergachev. That being said, Tampa and Utah have far different rosters and internal competition for a roster spot. After being selected 11th overall in 2022, the 6'4" centre posted 50 points through 29 games in the WHL for the Swift Current Broncos. I do believe in a world where Conor Geekie gets a shot over a guy like Luke Glendening who didn't have the best year last year, maybe putting him in a position to develop as a player in the NHL. Morale of the story: this early retirement home better perform well because it isn't looking pretty afterwards.

Toronto Maple Leafs:

There are a lot of variables at play that can affect my answer here, and for that reason I want to mention a few names. I won't do that though because that is boring and a lot of work. Bobby McMann is a candidate, in my eyes, as he only played 10 games in 2022, and 56 last year. He is yet to get a real season under his belt, and I do think he could have a great year under new Head Coach Craig Berube. With that being said, due to McMann being 28, I have narrowed down my picks to either Matthew Knies or Easton Cowan. With Easton Cowan impressing early on in the Leafs' development camp, I want to say that he will make the opening night roster; but that uncertainty has lead to me deciding to leave him off of this list; so, Matthew Knies it is.

The 6'3" power-forward is coming off of his first full season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he had 35 points through 80 regular season games, including 169 hits. Nice. Ask any Leafs' fan and they'll likely tell you that Knies didn't meet expectations last year, but then again Leafs' fans were likely hoping for him to have just become Matt Tkachuk over the summer. I could see Knies having a huge year for the blue & white this year, especially with HC Craig Berube manning the bench and the departure of Tyler Bertuzzi, which will have Knies slotted into that 1LW slot (at least for now).