It’s always nice to notice when league-wide shifts in power take place. For the longest time, the Western Conference was a beast, the California road trip was death row, and the Metropolitan Division was always the better of the two. But this may be the season where those narratives change or continue to change, and the Montreal Canadiens are a part of it.
Currently, five of the eight playoff spots in the Eastern Conference are being held by Atlantic Division teams. The Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs were easy draws ahead of the season.