Once LA plays their game tomorrow it will be official that every team is halfway through with their season.
The East is entertaining. Top 3 in each division is probably set. Toronto, Florida, and Tampa (iffy but they have games in hand). Washington, New Jersey, Carolina.
Everything else is completely up for grabs. WC1 is Boston with 47pts in 45GP. WC2 is Columbus with 46pts in 43GP. Boston got a muuuuuuuuch needed win last night vs Florida. Columbus on a 4 game win streak which is pushing them above the line.
Ottawa 45pts in 42GP is next. Then you have Detroit and Montreal 44pts in 42GP. Both are on pretty big runs to pull themselves back into the picture. Detroit is coming off a coaching change from Lalonde to McLellan which is definitely helping, 7 game win streak. Then Pittsburgh with 44pts in 45GP. They are slipping since the New Year. NY Rangers 42pts in 42GP… they have looked better in recent weeks, they’re trying to get themselves back in…. As are the NY Islanders with 41pts in 42GP, 3 game win streak. Philadelphia is desperately clinging on after a huge win vs Anaheim but… 41pts in 43GP, not impossible but going to be hard. Then Buffalo… lowly Buffalo. 37pts in 43GP. To their credit they look better lately but that 13 game losing streak pretty much ended their season. Not sure if they have a Detroit-style turnaround in them.
Not as cutthroat in the West because the good teams are actually good and occupy the playoff spots. Top 4 in Central is set. Winnipeg, Minnesota, Dallas, Colorado. Top 3 in Pacific is also set. Vegas, Edmonton, LA. Last WC spot probably coming down to either Vancouver (48pts in 42GP) or Calgary (47pts in 41GP). The rest…. Ehhhh. St. Louis is too inconsistent. 44pts in 44GP. Utah 43pts in 42GP also inconsistent but pretty young. Anaheim also young, 41pts in 43GP. Not mathematically impossible but they probably won’t make it. Seattle has been a disaster lately, 39pts in 44GP, that’s probably it. Nashville, San Jose, and Chicago have all been out for months now.
Not sure who makes it out of the East. I hope Columbus because I’d love to go to some playoff games this year. But the road record is a major problem as is the defense and goaltending. Boston in general may be running out of their magic. Lots of teams have games in hand on them. Detroit, Montreal, and Ottawa reaaaaaally wanna take the next step. Rangers need to get back in, that roster is designed to win divisions not fight for wildcard spots. Islanders prob need to as well to delay a 10 year rebuild. They have the worst prospect pool in the league so it’ll be a while before they’re good again. Philly is in the rebuild now but Torts prob doesn’t wanna miss again like last year. Buffalo is just pain.
Vancouver needs it more than Calgary in the West. They have issues with Pettey and JT Miller which seems to be inching towards a trade. Vancouver can’t let the window go, Calgary is just chilling. They were supposed to be bad this year. St. Louis and Seattle might be bothered about missing. Anaheim and Utah won’t care that much. Chicago might be upset they aren’t a little better this year, San Jose is just happy to be here. Nashville… well we’re past the point of anger and disappointment. Seasons over let’s hope next year we can try again.