Leafs, Sabres will swap playoff spots

The start of the NHL season is upon us, and the Atlantic Division stands out above the rest as being particularly ripe with intriguing storylines for all eight teams.

Notably, the Toronto Maple Leafs are facing an exceptionally crucial season after replacing their front office and head coach after a disastrous 2025-26 season saw them easily miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs after previously holding the league’s longest streak of playoff appearances.

Just across Lake Ontario, the Buffalo Sabres snapped the NHL’s longest playoff appearance drought last year after going on a run from late December on as the best team in the NHL. Will the Sabres be able to sustain last year’s run of excellence?

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff Live, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed why this year’s version of turnover among Stanley Cup Playoff teams could see the Leafs making it in and the Sabres winding up left out.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Let’s do some bold predictions… Let’s start in the East, and Hutts, I’ll just lob it up to you since I kind of ruined it already. What’s your bold prediction for the Toronto Maple Leafs this year?

Carter Hutton: The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to make the playoffs again this year. I think after last year finishing eighth in the Atlantic… I just think the additions that they’ve made, you add Marchenko to that. Gavin McKenna who fell in their lap, Bobrovsky, Nick Paul, [Jack] Roslovic, [Teddy] Blueger, [Colton] Sissons, [Brandon] Duhaime. This is a whole totally different lineup, too. Darren Raddysh you add as that piece on the back end. What can he create? I think the Leafs get back to the playoffs, and that’s my bold prediction. The other one that I want to go off? Somebody’s getting in, somebody’s gotta get out. I’ve got to be bold here… I think the Buffalo Sabres might miss the playoffs this year. That’s my concern. I think that run they went on last year was great, but now you take out Alex Tuch out of there. There’s 33 goals out of your lineup. They’re putting a lot of weight on [Konsta] Helenius and [Noah] Ostlund to pick up the slack and play there. Then you have that goalie issue. Are you going to get that consistent goaltending? UPL has been hit or miss. This is my bold prediction. I hate to say it, but that’s what I’m thinking here, Ty.

Tyler Yaremchuk: I don’t think you’re that far off on that Sabres one. From December on, we do kind of forget because from December on they were the best team in the NHL… Maybe I shouldn’t say it was flukey, I don’t think it was, but we all kind of forget that for the first two and a half months of the season they were an absolute dumpster fire, Hutts. I don’t think it’s an insane thing, and a part of it too is just that division is so good.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…