NHL playoff standings: Making sense of the Metro Division

With the trade deadline behind us, we’ve rounded the corner to the final part of the season: the rush to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

As things stand on Monday, the Eastern Conference playoff bracket includes four teams from the Atlantic Division and four from the Metropolitan. The New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes look pretty secure in their postseason slots; Stathletes’ projections agree, with each club having a 99.9% chance of qualifying. Then things get interesting.

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The Philadelphia Flyers, with 74 points in 65 games, are in the No. 3 spot, and are a tiebreaker behind the first wild card, then Tampa Bay Lightning (were Philly to fall out of contention for the top three Metro Division spots). Stathletes gives the Flyers a 28.5% chance of sticking in the No. 3 spot, a 5.6% chance of getting the first wild card, and a 19.2% chance of getting the second.

That leads us to the New York Islanders. After Sunday’s win against the Anaheim Ducks, they are tied in points with the Detroit Red Wings for the second wild card (but ahead on points percentage for now), and two points behind Philly in the Metro race. Stathletes likes the Isles’ chances of getting in the No. 3 seed more than the Flyers’, with New York’s at 45.9%. The Isles have a 5.8% chance of the first wild card, and 17.1% of the second.

The Washington Capitals — who subtracted at the deadline, though maybe not as much as some predicted — are three points back of the wild card and five back of the Flyers; their overall playoff chances sit at 41.3%. Finally, the New Jersey Devils, who finished with 112 points in the standings last season, are six back of the wild card and eight back of the Flyers. Their chances of a playoff berth in any fashion are at 11.2%.

Four of those teams will be in action tonight: Devils-Rangers (7 p.m. ET, NHL Network), Capitals-Winnipeg Jets (7:30 p.m. ET, NHL Power Play on ESPN+), and Islanders-Los Angeles Kings (10:30 p.m. ET, NHL Power Play on ESPN+). We…


Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/39702246/nhl-playoffs-standings-2024-draft-metro-division-teams

Author : Tim Kavanagh

Publish date : 2024-03-11 11:15:42

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