Every day brings us closer and closer to the playoffs. You can feel the tension rising with each passing week. Every two points collected feels like you’ve just earned a million dollar cash reward. The non playoff contending teams are battling to either try and end the season on a high note, or better their odds at winning the draft lottery. There’s no no shortage of competition this late in the season and with each team having an average of 12 or less games remaining, you can’t miss a single moment. Let’s see how each team is doing and rank them appropriately.
32. San Jose Sharks (Previous week: Unchanged)
Winning the draft lottery would be the only salvageable thing from this dumpster fire of a season San Jose has had. Even then, a first overall pick isn’t going to work a miracle and that’s exactly what this team needs if they want any hope of being a playoff team anywhere in the near future.
31. Chicago Blackhawks (Previous rank: Unchanged)
The Hawks are in an almost identical situation as the Sharks, but they get to at least say, “Hey, we have Connor Bedard!” That alone gives them a decent edge over San Jose. That doesn’t make them any closer to glory however as they are still miles away from being a contending team anytime soon. Ride that Bedard train until the wheels come off I guess.
30. Anaheim Ducks (Previous rank: Unchanged)
I feel a bit fooled by the Ducks. Multiple times throughout the season they had me believe that they were on the right track to something. Now I’m not so sure that they’re anywhere close and those moments of success might’ve just been smoke and mirrors. And what are going to do about John Gibson? He hasn’t been the elite goalie he was pandered to be for years now and his frustration probably isn’t helping matters.
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29. Columbus Blue Jackets (Previous rank: Unchanged)
All eyes are on Johnny Gaudreau right now. He’s had the worst season of his career, on a team where he was promised much better. You know he has to be frustrated, but with his long term contract what exactly are the options here? Things probably aren’t going to be much better with this team, but where will he go if he decides to leave? Does he waste what’s left of his prime here?
28. Montreal Canadiens (Previous rank: Unchanged)
It’s been depressing watching Montreal slowly collapse since the start of the season, but it’s not without highlights. Goalies Primeau and Montembeualt have shown promise for the future in net. Juraj Slafkovsky has really found his game in the second half of the season as well. This team should just need to add a couple of stars and maybe marinate for a bit longer and they could be back to competing.
27. Arizona Coyotes (Previous rank: 26)
It’s sad really. Had the Coyotes not gone on that long losing streak, they would be in the playoff hunt right now. As it were, that streak came at one of the worst possible times and even their recent uplifting play will most likely not be enough to bring themselves back into contention. It shouldn’t be called a wasted season as they made a lot of strides forward, but it certainly hasn’t been concluding the way that it could have.
26. Ottawa Senators (Previous rank: 27)
Ottawa’s upset win over Edmonton at the end of the week was pretty dang exciting. Too bad it has absolutely no implication outside of Ottawa playing spoiler. All season long people have waited for Ottawa to get hot and finally put everything together and it just hasn’t happened. And with twelve games left to play there’s little hope that it ever will. This was a wasted year for Ottawa and a massive step back for them.
25. Seattle Kraken (Previous rank: 21)
The bindings holding the Kraken together have snapped and the entire team has fallen apart. There was so much promise and hope after they upset Colorado in the playoffs last year, but now it looks as if they’re going to miss the postseason once again. So, what happened? Well, the scoring disappeared. The players that produced last year did not produce again this year and it seems Seattle lacks any real core or franchise players to build around.
24. New Jersey Devils (Previous rank: 25)
Speaking of teams that never lived up to their promise, we have the Devils. Coming off a phenomenal season where they looked like they were the future of the Metro division, upsetting the Rangers in seven games and truly announcing their presence to the league, you can understand why expectations were so high this season. The Devils haven’t just failed to meet expectations, they’ve fallen completely flat on their face. So much for that right? Despite all of that they still find themselves just five points out of a playoff spot. The Eastern Conference has just been crazy this year.
23. Buffalo Sabres (Previous rank: 20)
Just when you thought the Sabres were going to go all in and make a late season push, they’ve gone back to just middling around. They still have a chance to make the playoffs, but they have to earn at least six points in their last ten games in order to keep that chance alive. Given how they’ve played this season, and the way this team is at it’s core, it doesn’t seem likely that that will happen.
22. Detroit Red Wings (Previous rank: 24)
The Wings snapped their long losing streak, but have so far been unable to recapture any real momentum. They’ve just kind of been back and forth and at this point of the season, with the race as close as it is, that could end up really biting them in the backside. Detroit has worked hard to hold a playoff spot nearly all year and now they’re in danger of watching it slip through their fingertips.
21. Pittsburgh Penguins (Previous rank: 22)
It’s hard not to laugh. This team arrogantly refused to acknowledge their slipping and aging core was finally catching up to them and now they’re reaping what they’ve sown. Crosby tries desperately to put this team on his shoulders and carry them, but the rest of the team just deadweights him and has him dragging them along through the dirt. They were up 4-0 on the Avalanche and somehow still lost.
20. Calgary Flames (Previous rank: 18)
The Flames deserve some praise for the moves they’ve made this season as it shows they’re acknowledging the future. However, they absolutely have to do something about that blue line. The one they have now has just been hastily thrown together. There’s no chemistry, no one to lead it, everyone kinda just middles about. Until they fix that issue, there’s nothing in the future to really look forward to.
19. St Louis Blues (Previous rank: 22)
How the Blues have had some of the worst stats in the league all season long yet still find themselves knee deep in the playoff race is absolutely baffling to me. They’ve obviously had a lot of help from their goaltending, but that shouldn’t have been nearly enough to keep them in it. They’re only four points out of a spot!
18. Minnesota Wild (Previous rank: 17)
You gotta think that the absolute thrashing this team took at the hands of the Kings has done a load on this team’s morale. They’ve already been working exponentially hard in order to catch up to the other playoff teams and to have losses like that at this point of time? That can be very crushing. To their credit though, Minnesota has appeared to have shaken it off and attempted to get right back to work.
17. New York Islanders (Previous rank: 14)
The Islanders make me sad. Every time I think they’ve found it and have all but locked themselves in, they fall right back out of it. At the very least, this team’s defense has been absolutely suffocating. The physicality and stifling nature of their blue line makes them frustrating for any offense to go up against. If only they could do a better job at putting the puck in the opponent’s net.
16. Washington Capitals (Previous rank: 19)
Ovechkin has heated up and he’s brought his team right with it. Despite there being absolutely no reason for this to be true, Washington is right in the playoff race with a real chance to make it in. Should they be a playoff team by all intents and purposes? No. Are they about to be anyways? Yes. That’s just what the Eastern Conference has been like this year.
15. Philadelphia Flyers (Previous rank: Unchanged)
I don’t know why John Tortorella has scratched Couturier. It doesn’t make any sense. He has given no reason for it either, not even Couturier knows. It could be an attempt to spark this team, but is sitting the captain really the way to go about it? I don’t know man, Torts often does things that make very little sense to us mortals down here.
14. Tampa Bay Lightning (Previous rank: 16)
Despite their late period comeback falling short in OT against the Kings, the Bolts have been very good as of late. I’ve said that multiple times in the past however, and they’ve turned around and gone right back to their initial state of mediocrity so who knows if it’s for real this time or not. With playoffs coming up you would like to think that the Bolts are bunkering down and getting ready, but are they?
13. Vegas Golden Knights (Previous rank: Unchanged)
The Knights scared us for a bit there. It was beginning to look like they might just slip right out of a playoff spot. They’ve gotten hot however, winning three of their last four to keep up pace with the Kings, Oilers, and Predators. They’re still riddled with injuries however and it’s going to be a tough road ahead for this team. Hopefully they can avoid being the defending champion to miss the playoffs since 2015.
12. Los Angeles Kings (Previous rank: Unchanged)
The Kings are FINALLY showing off their depth once again. Their top guys are scoring again and they look very similar to the team that was wowing audiences earlier in the year. It’s hard to tell if they can keep that form however, as they’ve found and lost it quite a few times down this second half of the season. That being said, let’s give a big round of applause for David Rittich. What a stud in the net that man has been.
11. Winnipeg Jets (Previous rank: 8)
Oh Winnipeg. Why must you taunt us so? Every time we think you’ve come to show us what you’re made of, you drift back beyond that veil of underperforming and mediocrity. You may fail to win the Central this year, and if you fail the playoffs once again, then you will also fail to win our hearts. We beg of you Jets. Please find your way back into the light.
10. Nashville Predators (Previous rank: 11)
Holy moly is this team hot. They’re racking up point after point after point with absolutely no signs of slowing down. They’ve all but locked down their wild card spot at this point, but that doesn’t seem to be enough for them as they’re gunning for a top three spot in the Central. They’re only five points behind Winnipeg so it’s entirely possible they could find themselves sneaking in.
9. Edmonton Oilers (Previous rank: 10)
The Oilers have heated up again and just in time too, with the Kings and Knights right on their heels. Despite this however, they still dropped a heartbreaker against Ottawa at the end of the week. They’re hoping that’s not the game that comes back to bite them, but this late in the season anything is possible. Time to see what you’re truly made of Edmonton.
8. Toronto Maple Leafs (Previous rank: 9)
I like Toronto. I really do. They consistently show that they have the work ethic and drive to compete with the top teams in the league. They scare me however, as I’m sure they scare all their fans as well. They always have one massive shadow that looms over them no matter what they do. They’re the Leafs. They always find a way to screw it up.
7. Vancouver Canucks (Previous rank: 6)
From here on, every team is pretty tightly contested. Vancouver may be the weakest of the bunch though, given their inexperience and the fact that it still seems like they’re playing over their heads a bit. That being said, you have to give credit where credit is due, and Vancouver has been very good this season and unless they completely melt down they should handedly win the Pacific and clinch home ice in the first round.
6. Boston Bruins (Previous rank: 5)
They may not have the forward depth that they did last year, but that doesn’t mean this team isn’t making it work. David Pastrnak is once again showing that he’s an elite talent, as he’s once again about to hit the 100 point mark. Will it be enough though? If this team failed in the playoffs last year, when they were a better team on paper, is there any chance that they can make it through this time?
5. New York Rangers (Previous rank: 3)
While the Rangers are very good, they still don’t seem to be the team that’s going to make it all the way this year. Their driving play lacks quite a bit and if they can’t implement their game early on, they really seem to struggle even if the team shouldn’t be in their league. That being said, they still obviously know how to win games and that could be the focal point when they make it into the post season.
4. Carolina Hurricanes (Previous rank: Unchanged)
The Canes have completely closed what was once an insurmountable gap between them and New York. With a handful of games still in tow, it’s quite possible they may be able to come all the way back and steal the Metro division title from the hands of the Rangers. They’ve already shown they want more than that however, as the trade deadline very clearly stated that this is a team that’s all in. They want to win, and they want to win now.
3. Dallas Stars (Previous rank: 2)
The Stars are locked and loaded as they blaze their way towards the post season. There’s still competition in Colorado, so who will actually end up winning the division is completely up in the air at this moment in time. That doesn’t take anything away from Dallas, who appears to have recaptured the form that led them to the conference finals just last year. They’re hungry and they want more.
2. Florida Panthers (Previous rank: 1)
Before beating the Flyers on Sunday the Panthers had lost four in a row. This cost them not only the top spot in these rankings, but the top spot in the division as well. Losing streak aside though, this is still a hard team to play against. They force you to work for every minute of the game and it makes them dangerous. I doubt they slip much further than they already have.
1. Colorado Avalanche (Previous rank: 7)
Wow, have the Avs exploded. Coming back from 4-0 down to beat the Penguins in OT marked their ninth win in a row. They look like the team that won the Cup just a couple of seasons ago and they find themselves in the top spot of the rankings. Man that’s gotta feel good for a team that may have felt like they were starting to slip.
