Canadiens are the team that will take Bruins' place in Atlantic Division

It's easy to miss the days when the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens were playoff contenders at the same time. For 10 years, through the 2000s to the early 2010s, the century-long rivals were always on the cusp of facing off in a playoff series. It gave one of the greatest rivalries in sports an extra boost, and those playoff series were what helped shape the Bruins' culture that led to their considerable success.

Unfortunately, it can't last forever, which is why the Canadiens went through a considerable lull for the past decade. They did have the miraculous run to the Stanley Cup Final during the Covid-19 bubble playoff, but other than that, it's been mostly rebuilding for the Canadiens.

Well, now the rebuild is in the rearview mirror, as Kent Hughes turned Montreal into what looks like a juggernaut of the future. It's going to be tortrous to watch Ivan Demidov dominate for as long as the Canadiens can hold on to him, and they also have last year's Calder Trophy winner in Lane Hutson. Add in Boston College standout Jacob Fowler between the pipes and a plethora of other talent on their roster, and the Canadiens look like the next team up in the Atlantic Division.

We likely won't get to see any important Bruins-Canadiens battles for the next couple of seasons at least. Boston looks like they will now take a page out of their rival's playbook and opt for a lengthy rebuild to get their roster back on track.

We can only hope that both teams will be back in contending mode soon. There is nothing quite like a Saturday night at the Garden or the Bell Centre with both teams vying for a playoff spot or if we're lucky, an actual playoff series. For now, it seems like the Canadiens will take the Bruins' spot as contenders alongside the Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, and Tampa Bay Lightning.