It looks like the final NHL playoff
positions likely won’t be confirmed until the last day of the 2016/17 season.
Fans already know which eight teams will make the playoffs in the Western
Conference, but the final Eastern Conference playoff spots are still up for
grabs. In the West, the Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues,
Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Nashville
Predators will be in the postseason for sure.
However, the positioning definitely isn’t
settled with just a week to go in the campaign. Chicago has locked up the Central
Division and Western Conference title, but St. Louis and Nashville are battling
it out for third place with the forth place team entering the playoffs as a
wildcard team. When it comes to the Pacific Division, we see that Anaheim, San
Jose and Edmonton are all still fighting for the top spot and could finish
anywhere between first and third place in the division while Calgary could
finish between second and fourth. The club that finishes fourth will make the
postseason as a wildcard team.
There are also several close races taking
place in the Eastern Conference as four teams still have a legitimate shot at
making the playoffs heading into the final week. The Montreal Canadiens have
wrapped up first place in the Atlantic Division, but the Ottawa Senators,
Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning are all fighting for
the second and third guaranteed playoff berths. In addition, those four teams
are also fighting for the eighth and final playoff seeding, which will go to
the second wildcard team. The New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes of the
Metropolitan Division are also in the hunt for that final wildcard
position.
The New York Rangers have locked up the
first wildcard spot due to their fourth-place position in the Metropolitan
Division. But like the Pacific Division in the West, the Metropolitan is still
in the midst of a race between the Washington Capitals, Columbus Blue Jackets
and Pittsburgh Penguins. The final positioning will have a huge bearing on the
playoff matchups since the winner of the Metropolitan Division will play the
eighth-seeded team (second wildcard team) in the first round of the postseason.
The second and third-place teams in the division will have to face off against
each other.
The only thing that fans can be certain of
during the last seven days of the campaign is that the Detroit Red Wings,
Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils and Florida Panthers
won’t make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference while Washington, Columbus,
Pittsburgh, Montreal and the Rangers have clinched sports. Ottawa, Boston,
Toronto, Tampa, the New York Islanders and Carolina are still battling it out
for a berth. The teams missing the playoffs in the West are the Los Angeles
Kings, Winnipeg Jets, Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks, Arizona Coyotes and
Colorado Avalanche.
For the teams still battling it out for the
postseason, their playoffs are basically going to be taking place this week as
they jockey for position. To make things even more exciting for the fans, many
of the teams in the playoff hunt will be facing off against each other over the
next seven days.
Labels: Ian Palmer