NHL Standings Watch 2024-2025 - UPDATED 11/18/24

[smithformeragent]

The US Thanksgiving threshold doesn’t mean what it once did in terms of playoff certainty.

At the same time, the Eastern Conference playoff picture is very muddy at this early point in the season.

The B’s have looked mediocre at times, and flat out bad at other times.

Yet their heads are currently above water.

Good luck picking 8 playoff teams out of this assortment of clubs.

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[JAD]

The standings at this point are really crowded. So many teams bunched up.
The Bruins for all their woes are only 6 point back from being tied for second overall league wide. However, they are also only 6 points up from being tied for last overall.
Not much separation.
Only a few teams playing well, and Winnipeg playing exceptional ... fastest team to 15 wins.

 

[Blitzkrug]

God the Atlantic is so mid. The Panthers are the class of it, the Leafs are the Leafs and everyone else is just mehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

If i had to put money down on it right now, i'd say we get a 5/3 situation in favor of the Metro in terms of playoff spot. Jersey, Carolina and the Rangers are all better than pretty much anyone in the Atlantic not named Florida. Washington looks pretty good with something resembling forward depth and i wouldn't at all be surprised for the Islanders to do that thing where they lose 40 games in OT, sneak into the playoffs and become a massive pain in the ass for one of the top seeds.

You'd think somebody out of that trash pile between Buffalo, Ottawa and Detroit would finally decide to not suck ass for once, but no dice apparently.

The standings at this point are really crowded. So many teams bunched up.
The Bruins for all their woes are only 6 point back from being tied for second overall league wide. However, they are also only 6 points up from being tied for last overall.
Not much separation.
Only a few teams playing well, and Winnipeg playing exceptional ... fastest team to 15 wins.

Not just exceptional, best start in league history at 15-1-0.

Still won't buy them until i see Hellebuyck actual perform in the playoffs, but people here are understandably amped between the Jets and our CFL team going to a 5th consecutive championship.

 

[Aussie Bruin]

There are 5 locks in the east - Panthers, Leafs, Canes, Devils and Rangers. Good for the Bruins that 3 of them are Metro. Some people may wish to dispute the Leafs but whatever their flaws their offensive firepower will get them in.

That leaves 3 spots with at least 6, maybe 7 teams in play. Double-edged sword in that the fact that all these teams are flawed and varying shades of inconsistent will make it comparatively easy to stay in the hunt for a spot, but in the end 3-4 teams with at least some sort of playoff ambitions are going to miss out.

West is a little different as you can already get the number of contending teams there down to around 10. The east is likely going to take longer to sort itself out. I think what the broader picture means is the Bruins can afford to have some patience and be a slow burn, but they shouldn't allow themselves to fall into the trap of thinking that things are more or less ok and they're a serious contender just because they're staying in the mix. Their benchmark still needs to be the likes of Florida and New Jersey even if they don't need to reach that level just to qualify.

 

[BruinDust]

Roughly at the quarter mark and looking at regulation wins as a barometer of making the playoffs, it doesn't bode well for the Bruins.

There are 11 teams who have between 9 and 12 regulation wins (Winnipeg, NJ, Minnesota, Florida, Carolina, Vegas, Toronto, Rangers, Washington, LA, and Dallas.

There are NO teams with 8 regulation wins.

Next up we have 3 teams with 7 wins. Vancouver who've been missing their No.1 goalie but also has Quinn Hughes a true superstar D and is having an MVP level year. Colorado who also had goaltending issues but are starting to settle in and have the league MVP, their own superstar D, and Rantanen who is criminally underrated. And Tampa Bay who have Kucherov, Hedman and Vasielievsky and knocked off Winnipeg tonight. You could argue those 3 teams have the 3 best D-men in the NHL and a combination of elite and MVP level forwards, usually a recipe for success. One team has a goalie that just set a new record for fastest goalie to 300 wins ever, passing Jacque Plante.

I'll toss in the Oilers (who only have 5 after a shaky 2-4-1 start) are back on track and have this guy named Connor McDavid, you may of heard of him. Half-decent hockey player. His buddy Leon Draisaitl. Not bad either.

That's 15 teams and their are only 16 playoffs spots. Things can change but safe money says these could very well be 15 of the 16 playoff teams come April. Do any of them look terribly vulnerable (injuries aside)? Luckily for the Bruins, 8 of the 15 are out west. I would legit feel safe putting money down on who the 8 playoff teams coming out of the west are.

Reality is even though its thought to be early, they are already essentially in an 8-team dogfight with the group of teams with 3-6 regulation wins in the east. Right now, only Montreal appears completely out of it. I'd include Pittsburgh in that too but what if they can Sullivan and get that new coach bump? So I'll put them in the battle royal for one last playoff spot in the east.

Oh and the team I think is their biggest competition for that final spot is Ottawa and we only gave them a legit No.1 goalie and they did keep the Bruins from getting a shot on net for 24 mins. last Saturday so I'd have to wager the Sens might be a better team than the Bruins. At the very least Ottawa and Ullmark claiming that final playoff spot over the Bruins feels like a very "Bruin-ish" story.

They won't do it and Marchand won't like it, but if they were smart they'd face this cold hard reality start selling off their UFAs and guys with one year left like Coyle and Peake (if they can be moved at all) and get ahead of the market as much as possible. Recoup whatever assets they can and re-tool over the summer, because a complete rebuild is not coming nor should it.

 

[Fenway]

 

[Fenway]

View attachment 932134​

This is a team that is starting to look like the 2006-2007 Bruins