If your favorite team happens to reside in the Atlantic Division and you want to see how they were built to the team they have become, you have come to the right place. Maybe you are just genuinely curious about how these teams were created. That is great, glad to have you. Each team has their own ideas about how to build a team whether it be by trade, free agency or the draft. So far we’ve looked at the Central and Metropolitan divisions. Now it is time for the Atlantic.
If you want to read how the Central Division teams were built, click here.
If you want to read how the Metropolitan Division teams were built, click here.
Goaltenders are included in the lists but are not factored in to the statistical analysis.
Another quick note, the Corsi-for-percentages are for even-strength and are only factored in for players who have played at least 100 minutes this season.
Florida Panthers
Acquired via trade – Jaromir Jagr, Brandon Pirri, Reilly Smith, Brian Campbell, Steven Kampfer, Roberto Luongo
Acquired via free agency – Dave Bolland, Jussi Jokinen, Derek MacKenzie, Shawn Thornton, Willie Mitchell, Al Montoya
Acquired via draft (round and year in parenthesis) – Quinton Howden (1st in 2010), Jonathan Huberdeau (1st in 2011), Corban Knight (5th in 2009), Logan Shaw (3rd in 2011), Vincent Trocheck (3rd in 2011), Aaron Ekblad (1st in 2014), Erik Gudbranson (1st in 2010), Dmitry Kulikov (1st in 2009), Alex Petrovic (2nd in 2010), Aleksander Barkov (1st in 2013), Nick Bjugstad (1st in 2010)
Analysis
- The players that Florida acquired by trade have accounted for almost 35% of goals and 31.5% of points scored by the above players this season.
- They have an average 48.76 corsi-for-% (CF%) and a $3.12M cap hit.
- Free agent pick-ups by Florida have scored just over 12% of goals and 16.5% of points this season. They have an average CF% of 45.49 and an average cap hit of $3.25M.
- Panther draft picks above have scored 65 goals and 164 points this season, good for just under 53% of goals and 52% of points scored by the above team.
- They have an average CF% of 46.86 and an average cap hit of $1.82M per season.
The Panthers are on a great run right now despite some of the underlying numbers being a little ominous. One thing that stands out to me is some of the rough free agent contracts they have, mores specifically Dave Bolland. He has a cap hit of $5.5M this season and is signed for three more seasons after that. Ouch. Tons of first-round picks make up a majority of the scoring by the Panthers this season.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Acquired via trade – Ryan Callahan, Jonathan Marchessault, Braydon Coburn, Jason Garrison, Ben Bishop
Acquired via free agency – Brian Boyle, J.T. Brown, Erik Condra, Valtteri Filppula, Tyler Johnson, Matthew Carle, Mattias Ohlund, Anton Stralman, Andrej Sustr
Acquired via draft – Alex Killorn (3rd in 2007), Nikita Kucherov (2nd in 2011), Vladislav Namestnikov (1st in 2011), Ondrej Palat (7th in 2011), Cedric Paquette (4th in 2012), Steven Stamkos (1st in 2008), Victor Hedman (1st in 2009), Nikita Nesterov (5th in 2011), Andrei Vasilevskiy (1st in 2012)
Analysis
- Players who came to Tampa Bay by trade have made up for just over 13% of goals and 12% of points scored this season, despite carrying an average cap hit of $3.875M per season.
- Those players have an average CF% of 51.22.
- Free agent finds of the Lightning make up for just under 28% of goals and 33% of points scored this season.
- They have an average CF% of 51.85 and an average cap hit of just under $3M per season.
- Tampa draft picks make up for over 58% of goals and 55% of points so far.
- They have an average CF% of 53.3 and an average cap hit of $2.54M.
It has been pretty well documented, but I’ll reiterate it here. The Lightning will be in some contract trouble next season with players like Killorn, Palat, Johnson, Namestnikov and Kucherov due some hefty raises. The Carle and Callahan contracts are absolutely brutal for them. We’ll see how they manage the cap in the coming season. Those draft picks have produced extremely well for them.
Detroit Red Wings
Acquired via trade – Kyle Quincey
Acquired via free agency – Luke Glendening, Drew Miller (waivers), Brad Richards, Danny Dekeyser, Mike Green
Acquired via draft – Justin Abdelkader (2nd in 2005), Joakim Andersson (3rd in 2007), Pavel Datsyuk (6th in 1998), Johan Franzen (3rd in 2004), Darren Helm (5th in 2005), Tomas Jurco (2nd in 2011), Dylan Larkin (1st in 2014), Gustav Nyquist (4th in 2008), Teemu Pulkkinen (4th in 2010), Riley Sheahan (1st in 2010), Tomas Tatar (2nd in 2009), Henrik Zetterberg (7th in 1999), Jonathan Ericsson (9th in 2002), Niklas Kronwall (1st in 2000), Alexey Marchenko (7th in 2011), Brendan Smith (1st in 2007), Jimmy Howard (2nd in 2003), Petr Mrazek (5th in 2010)
Analysis
- Poor Kyle Quincey is the lone player on the above roster that was acquired via trade, he has accounted for less than 1% of goals and 1% of points this season. His CF% is 44.71 and his cap hit is $4.25M.
- Players who signed in free agency by Detroit have made up over 13% of goals and 18% of points this season.
- They have an average CF% of 46.82 and an average cap hit of $2.63M per season.
- Draftees of Detroit have made up for almost 86% of goals and 81% of points this season.
- Their average CF% is 52.19 and they have an average cap hit of $2.86M.
This is now the third division I have done in this little project and I have yet to see something as ridiculous as the Detroit Red Wings drafting ability. I knew it was good but I have never sat down and looked at it all like this. I really don’t have much to say about it. I’m speechless.
Boston Bruins
Acquired via trade – Brett Connolly, Loui Eriksson, Jimmy Hayes, Chris Kelly, Zac Rinaldo, Max Talbot, Adam McQuaid, Colin Miller, Joe Morrow, Dennis Seidenberg, Tuukka Rask
Acquired via free agency – Matt Beleskey, Landon Ferraro (waivers), Joonas Kemppainen, Zdeno Chara, Torey Krug, Kevan Miller, Jonas Gustavsson
Acquired via draft – Patrice Bergeron (2nd in 2003), David Krejci (2nd in 2004), Brad Marchand (3rd in 2006), David Pastrnak (1st in 2014), Tyler Randell (6th in 2009), Ryan Spooner (2nd in 2010), Zach Trotman (7th in 2010)
Analysis
- Bruins who arrived via trade have made up for over 31.5% of goals and 31.5% of points scored this season by the above roster.
- They have an average CF% of 47.21 and an average cap hit of $2.05M per season.
- Free agent signings of the Bruins make up for over 18% of goals and 24.5% of points scored. Their average CF% is 48.19 and their average cap hit is about $2.65M.
- Bruins draft picks have scored over 50% of goals and just under 44% of points this season.
- Their average CF% is 49.9 and their average cap hit is about $3.1M per season.
The Bruins have some decent balance throughout their lineup of traded for, free agent and drafted players. Obviously the big draft picks of Bergeron, Krejci and Marchand have a bulk of the points and you can throw Spooner in that group so far this season. They have landed some very good players via trade in Eriksson and Rask. They have a few iffy contracts with McQuaid, Kelly and Seidenberg but injuries have made those deals look worse than they really were.
Montreal Canadiens
Acquired via trade – Lars Eller, Brian Flynn, Torrey Mitchell, Devante Smith-Pelly, Dale Weise, Jeff Petry, Greg Pateryn
Acquired via free agency – Paul Byron (waivers), David Desharnais, Tomas Fleischmann, Tom Gilbert, Daniel Carr, Mark Barberio, Mike Condon
Acquired via draft – Sven Andrighetto (3rd in 2013), Alex Galchenyuk (1st in 2012), Brendan Gallagher (5th in 2010), Max Pacioretty (1st in 2007), Tomas Plekanec (3rd in 2001), Nathan Beaulieu (1st in 2011), Alexei Emelin (3rd in 2004), Andrei Markov (6th in 1998), P.K. Subban (2nd in 2007), Carey Price (1st in 2005)
Analysis
- Players acquired via trade have scored over 28% of the goals and just under 23% of the points totaled by the list of players above this season.
- Those same players have an average CF% of 51.52 and an average cap hit of about $1.93M per season.
- Free agent signings in Montreal have scored 25% of goals and under 19% of points so far. They have an average CF% of 53.57 and an average cap hit of $1.57M per season.
- Draftees of Montreal have scored just under 47% of the goals and over 58% of the points this season.
- They have an average CF% of 54.74 and an average cap hit of $4.06M per season.
The majority of Montreal’s talent comes from their success in the draft. That extends to the goaltending, as Carey Price looks like the biggest reason this team is competitive (as noted by their severe struggles in his absence). This team still looks like it could use a top-scorer. Pacioretty has been fantastic and is on one of the better contracts in the league but they need a little more around him.
Ottawa Senators
Acquired via trade – Alex Chiasson, Milan Michalek, Bobby Ryan, Kyle Turris, Marc Methot, Craig Anderson
Acquired via free agency – Clarke MacArthur, Andrew Hammond
Acquired via draft – Mike Hoffman (5th in 2009), Curtis Lazar (1st in 2013), Chris Neil (6th in 1998), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (4th in 2011), Shane Prince (2nd in 2011), Matt Puempel (1st in 2011), Zack Smith (3rd in 2008), Mark Stone (6th in 2010), Mika Zibanejad (1st in 2011), Mark Borowiecki (5th in 2008), Cody Ceci (1st in 2012), Jared Cowen (1st in 2009), Erik Karlsson (1st in 2008), Chris Phillips (1st in 1996), Chris Wideman (1st in 2009), Patrick Wiercioch (2nd in 2008)
Analysis
- Players who came to Ottawa via trade have made up for over 31% of goals and almost 28.5% of points this season.
- Their average CF% is 45.7 and their average cap hit is $4.17M per season.
- Clarke MacArthur is the only skater who was a free agent signing in the above roster and he has only appeared in four games and has yet to register a point.
- Draft picks of Ottawa make up for almost 69% of goals and 71.5% of points so far this year.
- Those players have an average CF% of 46.24 and an average cap hit of $1.96M per season.
Detroit gets a ton of credit for how they draft (and rightfully so) but Ottawa isn’t too bad themselves. A lot of their top talent is homegrown with guys like Hoffman, Stone and Karlsson leading the way. Free agency has not been fruitful for the Senators and that is probably due to ownership and the internal budget that Ottawa has.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Acquired via trade – Michael Grabner, Peter Holland, Joffrey Lupul, Nick Spaling, James van Riemsdyk, Jake Gardiner, Martin Marincin, Dion Phaneuf, Roman Polak, Jonathan Bernier
Acquired via free agency – Brad Boyes, Tyler Bozak, Byron Froese, Shawn Matthias, P.A. Parenteau, Daniel Winnik, Frank Corrado (waivers), Matt Hunwick
Acquired via draft – Nazem Kadri (1st in 2009), Leo Komarov (Originally drafted by Toronto in 6th round of 2006 draft, came back via free agency), Morgan Rielly (1st in 2012), James Reimer (4th in 2006)
Analysis
- Players traded to Toronto have made up for over 41% of goals and 40.5% of points scored by the above roster this season.
- Those players have an average CF% of 49.74 and an average cap hit of $3.33M per season.
- Players signed as free agents have made up for over 31% of goals and 33.5% of points so far.
- They have an average CF% of 48.89 and an average cap hit of about $1.67M per season.
- Players drafted in Toronto make up for over 27.5% of goals and 25.5% of points scored.
- They have an average CF% of 50.19 and an average cap hit of $2.65M per season.
Despite having significantly fewer players, the draftees of Toronto held their own in terms of their overall production on the ice. Komarov has outperformed any and all expectations for him heading into the season and Kadri has been solid despite being somewhat snake-bitten. They have also gotten incredible value out of some of their free agents like Boyes and Parenteau. This team wasn’t built for success this season but they have done well for what they have.
Buffalo Sabres
Acquired via trade – Nicolas Deslauriers, Evander Kane, Johan Larsson, David Legwand, Jamie McGinn, Ryan O’Reilly, Zach Bogosian, Josh Gorges, Robin Lehner
Acquired via free agency – Brian Gionta, Cody McCormick, Matt Moulson, Carlo Colaiacovo, Cody Franson, Chad Johnson
Acquired via draft – Jack Eichel (1st in 2015), Tyler Ennis (1st in 2008), Marcus Foligno (4th in 2009), Zemgus Girgensons (1st in 2012), Sam Reinhart (1st in 2014), Jake McCabe (2nd in 2012), Mark Pysyk (1st in 2010), Rasmus Ristolainen (1st in 2013), Mike Weber (2nd in 2006)
Analysis
- Players who came to Buffalo via trade have made up for almost 44% of goals and 40.5% of points scored by the above roster this season.
- They have an average CF% of 46.56 and carry an average cap hit of $3.46M per season.
- Free agent finds for the Sabres make up for over 12% of goals and 16% of points. They have an average CF% of 47.53 and an average cap hit of just under $3M.
- Draft picks of Buffalo make up for almost 44% of goals and almost 43.5% of points scored this season.
- Those picks have an average CF% of 48.84 and an average cap hit of $1.54M per season.
They have the most McNames out of any team in the NHL (I didn’t actually check that but it must be true). Their top draft choices have performed well, especially the trio of Eichel, Reinhart and Ristolainen. O’Reilly and McGinn have been outstanding for the Sabres and look worthy of the cost to get them. Buffalo is inching closer to contention with some of the players they have acquired over the past few seasons.