Atlantic:

1. BOS
2. TBL
3. FLA
4. MTL
5. TOR

Metro:

1. WASH
2. NYI
3. PHI

Central:

1. COL
2. DAL
3. STL
4. NSH

Pacific:

1. ARI
2. EDM
3. VGK
4. SJS

The top 3 in the Central could finish in any order. Atlantic gets 5 teams in. Just imagine how good FLA would be if Bob's save % was above .900! TOR sneaks in at the end, but it'll be close. The Leafs could be 10+ points out of a playoff spot when Marner returns. I really like the Coyotes to finish 1st out west, and the Sharks will sneak in despite a terrible start. It'll probably take 96-97 points in the East and only 85-86 in the West.

Switch CHI for SJS

Nah, I would say switch Vancouver for San Jose. Markstrom has been pretty good, facing hard work but getting good results, not to mention has been one of the top backups in the league so far. JT Miller has been outstanding in controlling play with a Corsi For/60 of 72.23 and a Corsi Against/60 of 40.41, an expected goals for/60 of 2.78 and an expected goals against/60 of 1.48. Not to mention Elias Pettersson, who has been an early Hart trophy contender and the top line of Miller, Pettersson, and Boeser have been dominant. Boeser isn't there to defend, he's there to generate offense, and he has done just that with an Expected Goals For/60 of 2.75, among the top of the league. Horvat has been alright, a nice second line center for Vancouver. What's surprising is there bottom 6. Beagle hasn't been awful, Gaudette has been decent, Pearson and Leivo are okay, and the only bad thing is Ferland which hasn't been very good. Defense is getting carried by Quinn Hughes, Edler is alright and so is Jordie Benn. Myers hasn't been amazing but not abysmal.

I def. have a major recency bias. CHI is def. the flavor of the month right now. The Canucks had a monster first month or so and now they need to rebound. Like I said, 90 points almost certainly gets you in the playoffs in the West. At this point I'd say every team is at least theoretically still in the hunt. Even the Kings are only 6 points out w/ 2 games in hand and they've won 3 straight. But realistically, I think the Kings, Wild, and Ducks are gonna def. miss out this season.

As far as VAN, I think they're a little too dependent on their top guns, but their bottom six plus all of their D's have to improve with the obvious exception of Hughes. I've watched them multiple times already this season (twice vs. NJD 2G combined, I think), and they're defense and goaltending has been pretty solid. They'll be there in late March/early April at the very least. But, they're def. gonna need secondary scoring to make the playoffs.

Yeah, Canucks always suck in November. Made a new name called "No Nucks November". Hawks have a gem in Dach right now, putting up points on the 4th line, and Nylander is a dark horse Calder candidate. Toews needs to step it up, but Kane has found his mojo recently. Chicago's coach is making some questionable line changes and I have no idea why he scratched Boqvist even though he looked good in his first bit of games. I've seen Hawks fans calling for the coach's head. Chicago has a very real shot at a wild card slot if Lehner keeps playing insane and Crawford plays solid. I wouldn't be surprised if I see Chicago in a playoff spot come March.