Oh, and we have Mike Gould joining us this week, who will go off his own intellect and pure vibes. Together, we find a way to combine it and meet in the middle.<\/p>\n
Record: 50-16-10, +91
Last Week: 1st (0)
Mike\u2019s Rank: 1st
Scott\u2019s Rank: 1st<\/p>\n
Mike: The Avs are still my Cup pick, no doubt about it, but losing to the Canucks and Blues in the same week certainly isn\u2019t the best look. I\u2019m really curious to see whether Nazem Kadri settles into a bit of a rhythm here in the next few games \u2026 he\u2019s still been a bit too hot-and-cold for my liking since the trade, including a zero-point, minus-5 game against Vancouver. Really great player, and the Avs will need him to be firing on all cylinders if they want to recapture the magic of 2022.<\/p>\n
Record: 49-22-6, +47
Last Week: 4th (+2)
Mike\u2019s Rank: 3rd
Scott\u2019s Rank: 2nd<\/p>\n
Scott: We\u2019ve been ragging on the Hurricanes\u2019 goaltending in recent weeks, but this week was a better one for them all around. They won three straight games before dropping a 6-3 score to the Senators, and got good goaltending from Brandon Bussi in their first win over the Blue Jackets, and solid netminding from Frederik Andersen in the second. It\u2019s not enough for me to be fully confident in their goaltending in the playoffs, but it\u2019s better than what we\u2019ve seen in recent weeks. The team in front is still great, though.<\/p>\n
Mike: I don\u2019t think Carolina has the star power to go all the way, but they\u2019re still dangerous. If Seth Jarvis can find another gear, it might just be enough to tip the scales.<\/p>\n
Scott: To be fair, Sebastian Aho has been close to a point-per-game for his entire playoff career, as has Andrei Svechnikov in the last two playoff runs, so the stars have been showing up, they just lack the depth scoring to get over the hump.<\/p>\n
Record: 48-22-6, +66
Last Week: 3rd (0)
Mike\u2019s Rank: 2nd
Scott\u2019s Rank: 3rd<\/p>\n
Scott: After it looked like the Sabres were going to lay claim to the Atlantic Division, the Lightning have now won four of their last five games and pulled ahead in that race, and have a game in hand. While their loss to Montreal on Tuesday put the Habs in the race for the Atlantic title, they\u2019ve held strong against other teams in a playoff race during this streak in the Sens, Preds, Pens, and Bruins.<\/p>\n
Mike: I mentioned Oliver Bjorkstrand in my recent column<\/a> about pending UFAs who need to finish strong. It just hasn\u2019t been a fit for him in Tampa. Fortunately, he seems to be the one big outlier.<\/p>\n Record: 44-21-12, +33 Mike: Minnesota\u2019s win over Detroit on Sunday basically summed up their season. Start hot, overcome adversity, and come up big in the end. And as usual, it all started and finished with Kirill Kaprizov, who scored goals No. 41, 42, and 43 of his season in the 5-4 win. I really like the makeup of this Wild team at every position, save for their rather ordinary center group, and if they can get past Dallas in the first round, they could go extremely far.<\/p>\n Record: 45-20-15, +47 Mike: And here are the Stars, who didn\u2019t do enough to improve at the deadline for my liking, but still boast a formidable group. Wyatt Johnston has leveled up yet again, with 41 goals on the year, but he and his teammates didn\u2019t get any in their 2-0 loss to Colorado on Saturday. It\u2019s a shame that only one of these three Central Division teams will make the West Final, but it\u2019ll only make that victorious team all the more special.<\/p>\n Record: 45-22-10, +27 Mike: Cole Caufield is one of my favorite players to watch in all of hockey, and I really felt for him when he couldn\u2019t score his 50th of the season in front of his home fans against New Jersey on Sunday. Good news: Caufield will have three more chances to hit that milestone in Montreal before the Habs head back out on the road. This is a really fun team, and it definitely helps their case that we\u2019ve seen Caufield and Nick Suzuki go on a Cup run before.<\/p>\n Scott: And we\u2019ve seen how Juraj Slafkovsky performs in the spotlight at the Olympics.<\/p>\n Record: 46-23-8, +35 Mike: Yes, yes, my beloved Sabres. They\u2019re just so much fun. I still don\u2019t know if they necessarily made the perfect call in choosing Logan Stanley as their trade deadline prize, but it\u2019s also not unreasonable. They\u2019ve lost a couple of games in a row, but I think they\u2019ll be fine. Their depth is just so good. Buffalo fans worship their heroes, and if this Sabres team goes on a real run, I\u2019d bet we\u2019ll see a lot more Josh Doan and Mattias Samuelsson jerseys start to pop up around their rink.\u00a0<\/p>\n Scott: I\u2019m surprised you didn\u2019t take the time to celebrate the fact that there is officially an x beside the Sabres\u2019 name in the standings. After months of \u201cthis team looks promising, but we can\u2019t say they\u2019re a playoff team for sure yet\u201d, they are officially a playoff team. I can\u2019t wait to see how loud Buffalo is in the playoffs.<\/p>\n Record: 40-22-16, +30 Scott: Outside of a 6-3 loss to the Lightning on Thursday, the Penguins were an offensive juggernaut this week. In four wins over the Islanders, Red Wings, and Panthers, Pittsburgh outscored the competition 27-10, including a 14-6 edge over the Panthers in a home-and-home on the weekend. Even if you want to include the Lightning loss, it was 30-16. As a result, they\u2019ve put themselves six points clear of the two playoff spots up for grabs, and have a playoff spot all but officially secured.<\/p>\n Shoutout to Rickard Rakell during this stretch. He had seven goals and eight points in the five games, a performance which really boosted the Pens, and probably won some people fantasy championships (he was the difference-maker in mine).<\/p>\n Record: 40-27-10, +20 Scott: Since the Olympic break, the Senators have gone 12-5-3, which has not only allowed them to climb back into a playoff spot, but their recent stretch of 6-3-1 has kept them there while other Eastern Conference playoff contenders have slumped. They had lost four of five before their 6-3 win over the Canes on Sunday, so they\u2019ll need to at least improve on that, but they control their own fate for the time being.<\/p>\n Mike: I just want to give a shoutout to Lassi Thomson, who is finally turning into an everyday player for this Senators team nearly seven years after being drafted. It might just be because of their recent rash of injuries, but it\u2019s been a fun story to follow.<\/p>\n Record: 39-26-12, -3 Scott: In an Eastern Conference playoff race where every team has struggled and lost more than they\u2019ve won, the Flyers continue to stay hot and are clearly peaking at the right time. With a 14-5-1 record in their last 20 games, they\u2019re now not only in a playoff spot, but they\u2019re also in third in the Metropolitan Division. The Islanders, Blue Jackets and even the Capitals are creeping behind them. So they aren\u2019t in the clear yet, but they\u2019re certainly in a good spot to sneak into the playoffs.<\/p>\n Mike: I have to eat my words a little on Dan Vladar, who never impressed me in Calgary but has brought just enough stability to keep this Flyers team afloat through thick and thin. This is a weird group, but they\u2019ve got spunk \u2014 and Porter Martone is already a lot of fun.\u00a0<\/p>\n Record: 43-26-9, +19 Mike: I certainly didn\u2019t expect the Bruins to be in this position so deep into the season, but it\u2019s not surprising who\u2019s leading the charge: David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, and Jeremy Swayman. It\u2019s also been fun to see this level of resurgence from Viktor Arvidsson, who is having one of the quietest 24-goal, 51-point seasons in the NHL. I think they\u2019re the epitome of first-round fodder, but these Bruins have given their fans some reasons to cheer.<\/p>\n Record: 39-29-9, +8 Mike: The Oilers only have the Pacific Division to thank for where they\u2019re at this season. They\u2019d be outside the playoff picture in the East, and they\u2019re only one point up on Utah, the fourth-place team in the Central. And their shot, chance, and expected goal metrics this season have been, well, ordinary \u2014 for their standards. If they don\u2019t get Leon Draisaitl back for the first round, I don\u2019t know if Edmonton will be the favorites against Vegas or Anaheim.<\/p>\n Record: 35-26-16, +7 Scott: We\u2019re now three games into the John Tortorella era in Vegas, and the Golden Knights are\u2026 3-0-0 in that span. Well, you can\u2019t say the coaching change didn\u2019t do what management wanted it to do. Shockingly, Vegas is eighth in shooting percentage and ninth in save percentage in the league in the last week. So that has done more of the heavy-lifting to return this team to form, all while their metrics have continued as usual, and a hat trick and five-point game from Mitch Marner on Thursday certainly doesn\u2019t hurt either. The Golden Knights wanted a coaching change bump with this move, and that\u2019s what they\u2019ve got so far.<\/p>\n Mike: Tortorella couldn\u2019t have asked for an easier first eight opponents with Vegas. I\u2019m not surprised to see them winning these games. I still don\u2019t know if they made the right call giving up consecutive first-round picks to reclaim the magic of the Noah Hanifin-Rasmus Andersson pairing, though.<\/p>\n Record: 40-30-6, +30 Mike: The Mammoth are a decent young team, and they could become an elite one if their stars can develop more of a defensive side to their games. Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley are still pretty one-dimensional, but that one dimension is extremely good. Guenther, in particular, is going to be one of the most formidable goal-scorers in the league for a long, long time. I\u2019m just curious to see how the Mammoth handles J.J. Peterka, who really hasn\u2019t been a great fit since coming over from Buffalo. Ironically, the guy they could use the most is Josh Doan \u2014 a gritty two-way forward who is tailor-made for the playoffs.<\/p>\n Record: 41-31-5, -14 Mike: I still think the Ducks will end up winning the Pacific, but that loss to the Flames on Saturday was ugly. Joel Quenneville\u2019s coaching style seems to work for some guys on this team a lot more than others. I\u2019m not sure how much longer Mason McTavish will hang around if he keeps playing so far down the lineup. Nevertheless, Q\u2019s approach seems to be working just fine for Cutter Gauthier, Leo Carlsson, and Beckett Sennecke, so it\u2019s tough to complain.<\/p>\n Record: 40-29-8, -9 Scott: With a 7-10-2 record since the Olympic break, the Red Wings continue their free fall out of a playoff spot, highlighted by losses in six of their last eight games. Their .421 points percentage in this span is the fifth-worst in the league, with only the Panthers, Leafs, Kraken, and Canucks doing worse.<\/p>\n There are some reports that Steve Yzerman may still keep his job after this season, and I just don\u2019t see how that is justified at this point. This has been the Red Wings for several seasons now, and changes need to be made if they finally want to get over the hump.<\/p>\n Mike: There are a number of valid reasons for this Red Wings team to ditch Patrick Kane, but that mind-numbingly stupid penalty against the Wild on Sunday should be the last straw. That was unbelievable to watch in real time, and it genuinely might cost Detroit the playoffs this year.<\/p>\n Record: 38-27-12, +3 Scott: After the Blue Jackets were one of the hottest teams in the league since hiring Rick Bowness, they\u2019ve cooled off significantly, losing seven of their last eight games. I still think their underlying numbers since the coaching change indicate a strong team playing well, but they\u2019re paying the price for their middling start before the coaching change. Just a little bit better, and they\u2019re in a playoff spot right now. They can\u2019t afford to slump any longer with five games remaining in their season, especially after how last season played out.<\/p>\n Record: 42-31-5, -3 Scott: The Islanders just couldn\u2019t let the Golden Knights sit in the spotlight. While the shock of a late-season coaching change isn\u2019t quite as big the second time around, the decision to move on from Patrick Roy surprised many, especially with how hiring Pete DeBoer is a long-term decision for the Isles. It\u2019s definitely an upgrade (New York was probably the worst team contending for the playoffs, save for the Kraken), but it still feels a bit confusing to make the move now, outside of the fact that they\u2019re on a four-game losing streak. Like Vegas, this isn\u2019t going to impact systems at this point of the season, but if it gives the team that \u201ccoaching change bump\u201d to come out of this race with a playoff spot, that\u2019s all the Isles will want. Hopefully, DeBoer doesn\u2019t blame Ilya Sorokin for any losses the rest of the way, with how he\u2019s stood on his head all year.<\/p>\n Record: 39-30-9, +8 Mike: They\u2019re three points back of the Senators with one more game played, but I still don\u2019t really buy these Capitals as a playoff threat. It\u2019s easy to compare them to the Penguins, who have written the book on \u201cone last ride\u201d this season, but Alex Ovechkin has never been as good of a play-driver as Crosby and Malkin and Washington\u2019s depth just hasn\u2019t stacked up against Pittsburgh\u2019s this year. Ryan Leonard is a very good young player, but the Caps need more, and the only way they\u2019ll get them is to sell off their other key pieces once Ovi is done.<\/p>\n Record: 31-26-19, -26 Scott: If you want a shining example of a team that shouldn\u2019t be in the playoff race, it\u2019s the Kings. They just set an NHL record for most overtime losses in a season with 19, and have also gone to overtime 31 times in total. They actually only have 19 regulation wins as well, so it\u2019s just as likely that they\u2019ll lose in overtime as they\u2019ll win in regulation. But funny enough, this team is actually pretty good; they\u2019re just incredibly unlucky, but also lucky with their bad luck. They\u2019re 11th in 5v5 expected goal share and have the sixth-best 5v5 xGA per 60 minutes, but they also have the fourth-worst shooting percentage and a 19-6-19 record in one-goal games. While some may call them frauds for all of their overtime losses, they might actually be exactly where they deserve to be, if not lower than they should be.<\/p>\n Record: 36-31-9, -22 Mike: This team might make the playoffs. The Predators. These Predators. The team that looked like it was falling to pieces in real time under Andrew Brunette and Barry Trotz. The team that looked like it was going to have to sell Steven Stamkos and Ryan O\u2019Reilly for pennies on the dollar. The team that looked like it would always regret trading Yaroslav Askarov to keep Juuse Saros. Well, somebody has to win that second wild card spot\u2026<\/p>\n Scott: Did you think this team was the second-worst in the league this season?<\/p>\n Mike: At one point, I thought they might be the worst.<\/p>\n Record: 33-31-12, -33 Scott: Nothing sums up how bad the Western Conference playoff race is and how bad all the teams in the playoff bubble have been than the fact that the Blues are back in the playoff race. With a 12-2-3 record in their last 17 games, the Blues have clawed to within three points of a playoff spot with six games remaining in their season. It\u2019s not quite the hot streak they went on last season to sneak into the playoffs, but it\u2019s pretty close. Let\u2019s see if they can do it a second time in a much more competitive playoff race.<\/p>\n Mike: It would be quite something if the Blues made the playoffs and the Red Wings didn\u2019t after how that Justin Faulk trade went down. Also, if they did make it, would Joel Hofer start over Jordan Binnington?<\/p>\n Scott: Don\u2019t forget after trading Brayden Schenn, too! And yeah, the smart choice would be to go with Hofer, but we\u2019ve already seen how much Doug Armstrong-led teams like to overuse Binnington because he\u2019s a \u201cbig-game player\u201d, so we all know they\u2019ll go with the latter the second Hofer falters.<\/p>\n Record: 40-34-3, -16 Mike: The Devils are basically dead in the water already, but they\u2019re starting to rack up some points and maybe make a late go of things. Still, they\u2019re seven points back with five games to play. Not happening. In a few years, we\u2019ll probably be looking at the Timo Meier trade as the point when this all went wrong, right?\u00a0<\/p>\n Record: 33-31-12, -17 Scott: I mean, the Jets aren\u2019t out of the playoff race yet, as they sit three points back of Nashville with six games remaining, so my prediction after the trade deadline isn\u2019t wrong yet. But, my reasoning for the bold take was largely due to an improvement in team performance without Luke Schenn and Logan Stanley, which\u2026 has not happened, so I\u2019m going to consider my prediction a bust even if it\u2019s technically still in play.<\/p>\n Mike: I still don\u2019t think Stanley is quite as bad as the numbers have often shown. But if I were a Jets fan, I\u2019d be really worried about the team circling back to him this summer. They need to keep as many spots open for the kids as possible. Elias Salomonsson should only be the start of the youth movement in the \u2018Peg.<\/p>\n Record: 36-32-7, -36 Mike: The Sharks, who are objectively nowhere close to being a playoff-caliber team, are only two points back of Nashville for the final playoff spot in the West. If they get there, it\u2019s almost solely a testament to Macklin Celebrini\u2019s otherworldly play as a 19-year-old sophomore. He\u2019s having one of the craziest \u201csolo act\u201d years we\u2019ve seen from anybody since Pavel Bure with the 2001 Panthers.<\/p>\n Record: 32-32-11, -27 Scott: I mentioned earlier how bad the Red Wings have been since the Olympic break, but the only team in playoff contention doing worse than them is the Kraken. In that time, the Kraken are 5-12-2, with a .316 points percentage that ranks second-worst after the Canucks. When you\u2019re comparable to Vancouver, that\u2019s not a good thing.<\/p>\n As a result, Seattle is all but officially out of the playoff race, with their only saving grace being that they\u2019re tied with the Sharks among the Western Conference playoff bubble teams for the most games remaining. But I\u2019m still not holding my breath on them turning things around, and it\u2019s probably for the best with this franchise. We saw how one playoff appearance sewered this team into mediocrity for several years, just imagine what another one would do to them.<\/p>\n Record: 33-36-9, -9 Mike: After seeing how all the pieces of the figurative puzzle fell so perfectly into place for the Rangers in their last attempt at a rebuild, I don\u2019t feel particularly bad seeing them blow up their draft positioning with this latest stretch of wins. Still, I\u2019m really enjoying watching the emergence of Adam Sykora, who has always struck me as a bona fide middle-six ball of energy in the making. He\u2019s been great in his first stretch of NHL action.<\/p>\n Record: 37-37-3, -32 Scott: DING DONG, THE WITCH IS DEAD! After a season mired by injuries and poor play in the second half of the season, the Panthers are officially out of the playoff race, and we will see a different team lift the Stanley Cup for the first time since 2023 (although there\u2019s still a strong chance that the state of Florida ends up in the Final for a seventh-straight season with how well Tampa is playing).<\/p>\n Of course, this is setting Florida up for a good draft pick, which will then give them a cheap, talented player to play on this team after what was supposed to be the start of their salary cap hell, all in a year in which they weren\u2019t going to win anyways with Aleksander Barkov out for the season, so it\u2019s not like this is a punishment for them.<\/p>\n Mike: The Panthers are going to be one of the most fascinating teams to watch this summer. The word \u201cretool\u201d is often misused by GMs who don\u2019t actually have a core to adjust in that way. But if there was ever a team that actually needs a retool, it\u2019s the Panthers. Obviously, step one is for everyone to get healthy, but they\u2019ll also need plenty of help from their pro scouts. One oddly specific prediction: Victor Olofsson signs in Florida on July 1.<\/p>\n Record: 32-36-8, -44 Mike: The Flames will be guaranteed only their second top-five draft pick in club history if they finish 30th or lower this season. Right now, they\u2019re three points \u201cup\u201d on the Rangers for that spot with a half-dozen games left to play. We\u2019ll have to wait and see whether they stay there. In the meantime, it\u2019s worth watching Flames games to see Matvei Gridin, who genuinely might become the first Russian star in Calgary since Sergei Makarov.<\/p>\n Record: 32-31-14, -33
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<\/a><\/p>\n