NHL Playoff Picture Early Look: Who Stays, Who Goes
By Santagata JJ
NHL Playoff Picture: An Early Look at Which Current Teams Will Stay in a Postseason Position and Which Are Destined for the Draft Lottery
As we near the quarter mark of the 2016-17 season, we get an early glance at the NHL playoff picture. A few surprising teams stand out, including some unfamiliar faces sitting in Wild-Card spots and atop their respective divisions.
As of right now, 20-23 games into the season, the NHL playoff picture is a bit different compared to last year.
Eastern Conference
Looking to the Eastern Conference, Montreal sits in first (16-4-2), the NY Rangers are second (15-7-1), Pittsburgh is third (13-6-3), Ottawa sits fourth (14-7-1), Washington is fifth (13-6-2), Tampa Bay ranks sixth (13-9-1), Columbus in the first Wild-Card spot (11-5-4), while New Jersey occupies the final WC slot (10-6-5)
If things were to end today, it would make for a cast of surprising playoff participants. We still have a long season ahead of us, and as expected, things will change over the next 59 games or so. A few teams that are on the brink right now, just flirting with the possibility of being a Wild-Card team are the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, Philadelphia Flyers, and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Now, some may be saying there’s no way New Jersey or Columbus keep this production up and beat out the former Atlantic Conference Champions or even outperform this highly skilled Boston Bruins team. Well, let’s talk about the teams that will stay and the teams that will fall off down the road as the season goes on.
Columbus Blue Jackets
One team that will fall off and more than likely miss the playoffs are the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Columbus had arguably the worst season among all NHL teams last year, posting a 34-40-8 record with 76 points. To see a team with that type of record last season do a complete 360 and turn their season around in such a short time-span, whilst adding little to nothing to their roster definitely raises a few eyebrows after looking at their record for the 2016-2017 season.
The only notable transactions Columbus made in the offseason were, signing Sam Gagner as a free agent, locking up Seth Jones to six years and Ryan Murray to a two-year extension. Columbus is getting production up and down their lineup along with solid goaltending from Sergei Bobrovsky. The only reason this Columbus team gets bumped out of the playoff race is simply due to the strength/experience of teams behind them – the Bruins are just one that comes to mind.
New Jersey Devils
Another team that will miss the playoff race despite playing great hockey as of late are the New Jersey Devils. New Jersey has been quite unlucky of late with injuries, Taylor Hall going down recently and expected to miss a lump some of games this season, as well some minor injuries to their roster is not helping their playoff hopes. The good news is that Hall is set to return soon after being ahead of schedule in his rehab.
Without Cory Schneider though, this team would not have won the majority of their games this season. Granted Schneider is a great goaltender and if he can keep up his play of late and translate that throughout the whole season, then yes, New Jersey is a possible playoff team. The team that could knock them off are the Toronto Maple Leafs – yes Toronto.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Quite frankly this Toronto team looks to have a whole new identity. With the production of Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and Auston Matthews, these three players have helped propel this team into a real contender for a playoff spot. Now, if Toronto can get Frederik Andersen to keep up his play along with James van Riemsdyk and Nazem Kadri keeping up their solid production, then without a doubt this team is a serious contender for that eighth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Western Conference
Moving over to the Western Conference NHL playoff picture, similar to the Eastern Conference a few teams here that definitely raise some questions about the possibility of continuing their great starts and translating that throughout the rest of the season.
As of right now, the Western conference is as follows: Chicago sits first (14-6-3), St. Louis in second (13-7-3), Edmonton occupies the third spot (12-9-2), Minnesota ranks fourth (11-7-3), San Jose is fifth (12-9-1), Los Angeles at six (12-9-1), Anaheim in the first WC spot (10-8-4), while Dallas sits in the final Wild-Card slot (9-8-6).
Edmonton Oilers
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One team right off the bat that will not be able to maintain consistent play are the Edmonton Oilers, who in their last 10 games have gone 3-6-1. Edmonton got off to an extremely hot start and since then they have slowly declined.
A lot of production comes from Connor McDavid who has 21 points through 23 games and after that only three other players have 15 or more points this season. It’s unrealistic to think McDavid will be able to push this Oilers team into playoffs all by himself or with the help of only three other players considering the competition of these other teams. Don’t be surprised if the Oilers are bumped out and replaced by the Nashville Predators.
Nashville Predators
The Predators started off extremely slow but as of late, they have found a way to string together some wins and get back to the Nashville team many expected them to be. In their last ten games, Nashville is 7-3-0.
One main reason Nashville will surpass Edmonton is goaltending and balanced production throughout the lineup. There’s no question Pekka Rinne is a better goaltender than Cam Talbot so that goes without even saying, no need to go into detail there.
Filip Forsberg has yet to find his scoring touch, so once Forsberg finds his game, it will only help the Preds secure a playoff spot. Another early disappointment is Roman Josi, who is definitely underperforming, but Josi is capable of a lot more than his game is reflecting. The same could be said for Ryan Johansen who only has four goals this season. Here’s a guy capable of producing in the 30-plus range.
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Minnesota Wild
Another team that is getting some unexpected production from certain players (which is the main reason for their early success) is the Minnesota Wild. Eric Staal has the most points on this team with 16 and Charlie Coyle ranks second with 15 points – two players many did not expect these type of numbers from. Then there’s Devan Dubnyk who has 9 wins, 4 shutouts, and a 1.66 goals against average putting him in the conversation as a top goaltender in the league right now.
Can Minnesota keep this production up? Most definitely. Can a team surpass and bump them out of a playoff spot? That’s possible as well. Now what team might be capable of doing this is unknown right now. Winnipeg is a game and a half behind Minnesota among points, Calgary is a possibility but more than likely will not surpass this Minnesota team.