prediction time: who are the two wildcard teams in the eastern conference come playoffs?

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As a Leaf fan I would like to play Detroit first round. Simply because I find it boring seeing the same teams over and over again, I like the O6 angle and frankly I miss the old Norris division sometimes.
 
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Detroit in the spot now and appears to have freed up cap space. Feel they are in a good spot. I will say Boston till they are eliminated. Amazing battle to be honest. After tdl it may be the best end of season story.
 
Detroit and Columbus

Ottawa will barely miss.

Bruins are cooked, especially with McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm out. Defense is weakened and goaltending has been shakey all season. Pasta is the one bright spot, but they shouldn't even be part of the conversation anymore. And I say that as a Bruins fan. Over the next month I expect them to fall further out of the picture
 
Columbus and Detroit.

Ottawa has an outside chance depending on when Brady comes back. Definitely see Ottawa making it next year though.
 
Wings looking like the 2019 Blues after the coaching change and a ton of cap space at the deadline then going into next year. Might actually be the year Yzerman goes big game hunting.
 
Can I have 2 guesses? Pre-deadline and post-deadline?

My first guess is Ottawa and Columbus. Ottawa (according to Tankathon) has the easiest remaining schedule of the season. Detroit, New York, and Columbus all have the 5 toughest remaining schedules. I think Detroit hits a rough patch and the Rangers have just had bad vibes all season. With CBJ being able to stay above water, I think the returns of Jenner and some others (and hopefully Marchenko down the stretch) will be enough to boost them into a miracle WC2 finish. That's as long as they don't sell at the deadline. If Provorov and Kuraly and some others get traded then I take back my prediction on them.

As much as I hate to admit it, I'm not even factoring Boston into this race. They're cooked.
 
Can I have 2 guesses? Pre-deadline and post-deadline?

My first guess is Ottawa and Columbus. Ottawa (according to Tankathon) has the easiest remaining schedule of the season. Detroit, New York, and Columbus all have the 5 toughest remaining schedules. I think Detroit hits a rough patch and the Rangers have just had bad vibes all season. With CBJ being able to stay above water, I think the returns of Jenner and some others (and hopefully Marchenko down the stretch) will be enough to boost them into a miracle WC2 finish. That's as long as they don't sell at the deadline. If Provorov and Kuraly and some others get traded then I take back my prediction on them.

As much as I hate to admit it, I'm not even factoring Boston into this race. They're cooked.
Marchenko had two goals and an assist yesterday. He's very back.

They're still playing well without Monahan, Chinakhov, and Guddy. If they keep it up and get those guys back in late March I think we're getting in.

I'll take the Wings for the other spot, but honestly who knows.
 
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Marchenko had two goals and an assist yesterday. He's very back.

They're still playing well without Monahan, Chinakhov, and Guddy. If they keep it up and get those guys back in late March I think we're getting in.

I'll take the Wings for the other spot, but honestly who knows.

I swear I thought I read Marchenko being out for 6-8 weeks like 2 weeks ago. I must be mixing him up with somebody or he went hard on the PT.
 
NJD will drop out. CBJ take M3 with NYR and DET in Wildcards. Jackets are 6 points behind Carolina and New Jersey, but have two games in hand over NJ. The two teams meet up March 11th and 17th.
 
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Gonna stick to my guns and say Ottawa and NYR make it, but it’s hard not to be impressed with what Detroit is doing.

It’s worth noting that at this time last year the wings had a 9 and 10 point lead on eventual WC teams Wash and NYI.

Will be interesting to see if they learned from last year’s collapse (4 regulation wins in the last 23 games, just missed the playoffs)
 
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Gonna stick to my guns and say Ottawa and NYR make it, but it’s hard not to be impressed with what Detroit is doing.
It’s worth noting that at this time last year the wings had a 9 and 10 point lead on eventual WC teams Wash and NYI.
Will be interesting to see if they learned from last year’s collapse (4 regulation wins in the last 23 games, just missed the playoffs)

Don't think it was much about learning.

This team is just so different, when adding home-grown Edvinsson-Johansson D-pair, Kasper etc. with better coaching.

Did NYR just lose Adam Fox for a while?
 
I never thought we would be in a position where 2 games between Columbus and Detroit mean so much but they do.

If Detroit takes both they are probably in.

If Columbus takes both they are 2 points back of NJ for 3rd in Metro.

And with Toronto currently leading the Atlantic

if NJ did drop to wildcard 1 we could get NJ VS Toronto which would mean Keefe VS Toronto and how fun would that be?

These 2 Detroit VS Columbus games are HUGE they have potential impacts on the playoff futures of multiple teams.
 
At this time of the season, last year, two of the teams that made the playoffs were 6 and 7 points out of a wild card spot.
 
Gonna stick to my guns and say Ottawa and NYR make it, but it’s hard not to be impressed with what Detroit is doing.

It’s worth noting that at this time last year the wings had a 9 and 10 point lead on eventual WC teams Wash and NYI.

Will be interesting to see if they learned from last year’s collapse (4 regulation wins in the last 23 games, just missed the playoffs)

Yeah it's funny because they had a easier schedule to finish out last year. But lost twice to the yotes. Larkin out also tanked them.

Now they got the hardest schedule.
 
I have to see what the trade deadline brings to say. One of these teams are going to load up to ensure a playoff spot.. Wouldn't be shocked to see the Blue Jackets spend some futures for a few adds and go big. Making the playoffs would be huge for their franchise and market this year.
 

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