Welcome to the Hotstove! As always, I'm your host, Travis Yost.
Inspired by an earlier Pierre LeBrun column, I thought it'd be a decent time to take a look at the early playoff picture as the calendar turns to December. Although there's a huge chunk of the season yet to be played, you can comfortably bet that the majority of teams currently above the playoff cut-line will, indeed, make the post-season.
In our last full 82-game season, December 1, 2013's 'sixteen playoff teams' had just two switches in the Eastern Conference (TORONTO/BUFFALO OUT; NEW JERSEY/WASHINGTON IN), and two in the Western Conference (DALLAS/MINNESOTA OUT; VANCOUVER/NASHVILLE IN). This, generally, reflects on a year-to-year basis.
It's interesting because with the changed format (including wild-card, or crossover playoff berths), there seems to be a bit of unease as to how the teams currently sit. As it stands today, these are our eight playoff representatives:
EASTERN CONFERENCE Boston Tampa Bay Detroit Montreal Toronto -- Pittsburgh Washington NYR
WESTERN CONFERENCE Chicago St. Louis Colorado Minnesota -- San Jose Anaheim Los Angeles Phoenix
Notable teams on the outside currently looking in? Ottawa and New York (I) were both playoff teams last season, but trail in their respective divisions by a fair margin. Out west, Vancouver's 31-points stand out as most notable -- their 13-9-5 record would get it done right now in the Eastern Conference, but the teams above them in the division have set the playoff bar rather high as to expected points to reach the post-season.
As it stands today, the above is how the playoff berths would be doled out. We know some will hold tight and cruise to the finish line, but we can also expect a few to tail off, replaced by teams coming on down the stretch.
The question: What teams today are most vulnerable to miss the playoffs? What teams on the outside looking in have a shot at leapfrogging their competition?
Thanks for reading!