Beyond Center Ice

 With just 8 days left in the regular season, playoff spots and matchups are starting to get revealed as each days tick by. 12 teams have clinched, with at least one more on the way extremely soon. However, with the nature of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, 8 teams get knocked out just a couple short weeks after the start of the playoffs. Which teams will contend, and which teams are the pretenders that will fall short when it matters?  The Teams   As I said in the open, 12 teams have clinched. I will go over each of them briefly in this post and decide if they're contenders or pretenders. Though, the Seattle Kraken will be the 13th team on this list as they are all but clinched for at least a WC spot out there in the West. However, they will be the only WC team on this list because it is uncertain who will be the remaining 3 wild card spot. Now, without further ado, let's take a look at the teams! Seattle Kraken Starting from the bottom down, the Seattle Kraken are all but gua...

They say that once you're in, anything can happen. Getting in though, is half the battle... Above is a graph by MoneyPuck on playoff odds. A majority of teams have their Make Playoffs chances at 100%. Of those teams, 9 are clinched: Edmonton, Vegas, LA, New Jersey, NY Rangers, Canes, Bruins, Bolts, and Leafs. The other 3: Dallas, Minnesota, and Colorado, are each just 1 or 2 points away from being clinched. So it's safe to say that 11 playoff spots are locked in, 6 on east, 5 on west. That leaves 5 to make it the 16 that are there, with the Avs almost certainly taking home one of those 5 spots. With just 5-7 games left to play, we are in for an interesting last couple of weeks as these teams jockey their positions. But, who is going to make it in each conference? The West I've decided to start with the Western Conference because simply put, it is less interesting than the east. Out west, there is basically one WC spot already locked in. The Seattle Kraken are a point ahead ...

 The Blues (35-35-7) have mathematically been eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff Contention. This was a year that was supposed to contend for them, give them at best another cup and at worst, a first round exit to a tough Minnesota or Colorado team, and then they could move forward. Here we will take a look at what happened, why it happened, and what the Blues need to do going forward to contend again.  Expectations After the Blues lost in 6 to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Avalanche in the 2022 playoffs, expectations were high. Though they lost a few key players, namely David Perron, in the offseason, the Blues rode into the season as a consensus playoff team. They were widely predicted to be the 2nd or 3rd best team in the Central, and those who disagreed and put the Predators, Jets, or Stars, before the Blues were few and far between. The expectation for the Blues was to make the playoffs, have a long, hard fought series with the Wild, and if they did, attempt revenge ...

  The Devils are tearing up the very tough Eastern Conference right now. That is a fact. They're 47-20-8, clinched for the playoffs, and are seriously threatening the Hurricanes for that #1 in the division spot. In their last 10 games, they're only 4-4-2 though. If the Devils really want to challenge for the Stanley Cup that many think they can, it'll be a tough road. They'll certainly have to deal with one of or both of the Hurricanes and Rangers, and even if they make it through those two, they would have to deal with one of the juggernauts in the Atlantic Division. Let's take a deeper look into the numbers and decipher if this Devils team is a contender or a pretender.  Surface Level When you're looking at the surface level stats, everything is looking great in NJ. Their goal differential (52) is 2nd in the east, only outmatched by that of the Bruins (118). Jack Hughes has 40 goals and is going to finish the season close to 100 points, while Jesper Bratt, Nic...