NHL Playoff Race: A New Look For This Season

If you are only a casual Hockey fan and you don’t start getting interested until we get close to the playoffs, you may be checking in and wondering what is going on this year. The NHL realigned the teams this season so now some of the teams, like the Detroit Red Wings for example, have switched conferences. We are now down to two divisions in each conference and the top three teams in each division are guaranteed not only a playoff spot, but no worse than a sixth seed regardless of points. The seventh and eighth seeds will go to “wild cards” which are the top two remaining teams in the conference regardless of division. Got all that?

So let’s look at the playoff races as of right now:

In the Eastern Conference we have the Atlantic Division and the Metropolitan Division. that top teams in the Atlantic Division are the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning, both with 60 points. The Bruins have played 46 games to date and the Lightning has 47. In third is the Montreal Canadiens with 57 points in 47 games. The Metropolitan division has the Pittsburgh Penguins in first with 68 points. They would be the number one seed in the playoffs today. In second and third are the Washington Capitals with 52 points in 46 games and the Philadelphia Flyers with 52 points in 47 games played.

The Wild Card teams in the East would be the New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs, both with 51 points in 48 games played. However, three teams are only one point back with 50, those being the Red Wings, Ottawa Senators and New Jersey Devils. The Wings have played only 46 games and the Sens 47, so in reality those two have an advantage. The only team really out of the race right now is the Buffalo Sabres with only 31 points. Everyone else has at least 43.

In the Western Conference we have the Central Division and the Pacific Division. The top three in the Central are the Chicago Blackhawks with 71 points, the St. Louis Blues with 69 points and the Colorado Avalanche with 63 points. In the Pacific we have the Anaheim Ducks with an NHL leading 75 points, the San Jose Sharks with 64 points and the Los Angeles Kings with 61 points.

The Wild Card spots would go to the Vancouver Canucks who have 57 points and the Minnesota Wild with 55 points. The closest team to them would be the Phoenix Coyotes who trail them by four points. So the picture is a bit more clear in the West than the East.

Hopefully this clears things up for you a bit.