smithformeragent
Moderator
Tiering 12 NHL teams' playoff hopes: From 'we can still fix this' to 'resigned to their fate'
Yes, the season is more than halfway over, but the Bruins, Rangers and Sabres are three of 12 teams that are already veering off their playoff paths.
Boston Bruins
Playoff odds: 41%Sure, they regressed after their record-setting 2022-23 campaign. (Who wouldn't?) But the Bruins were still plenty good last season, surviving the losses of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci to reach the second round of the playoffs. And they went into 2024-25 with a surprisingly young roster and the majority of the players who drove that success, aside from departed goaltender Linus Ullmark (trade) and winger Jake DeBrusk (free agency). There was no reason to think Boston would fall apart at both ends of the ice and fire former NHL Coach of the Year Jim Montgomery six weeks into the season. After showing signs of new life under new coach Joe Sacco, another recent slump has their playoff chances in jeopardy.
Must improve: The power play. Boston ranks third-to-last in scoring rate on the man advantage (13.2%), and only David Pastrnak ranks among the league's top 60 in power-play goals (barely). The Bruins have a severe scoring outage anyway, with most of their forwards producing below their norms and their defensemen creating almost no offense -- even Charlie McAvoy is struggling -- so they need to strike on the power play when they have the chance.
Special panic factor: Out of tricks? They've already played the coaching-change card, which is usually what a team does in times like this.
