The rumor was an ACL for Wahlstrom, if that’s the case he won’t be ready till next year. I do think those D pairings should be used but Fasching has to play over Bailey.

Are they going to get together and and watch the playoffs?

Because they won't be making it.

What team is going to overtake them Buffalo. There defense and Goaltending is horrendous. Florida is stabilizing but Bob will run out of gas and they have to make up 8 points with one game in hand. Ottawa is young but will eventually slow down given the pace they are recently on. WASH is older than the isles and lost depth at the trade deadline. The isles have the X factor in Sorokin. At the end of the day you have to win the games in hand and no team is consistently doing that

Ottawa and Buffalo have legitimate chances to overtake the Islanders. I don't think the Islanders can win consistently without Barzal, meanwhile Ottawa and Buffalo seem to be coming together at the right time. Ottawa should handle Chicago easily tonight, and they'll be 2 points back with 2 games in hand. Regardless of tonight, Buffalo will still have 3 games in hand and at worst, they're 4 points behind.

I guess last night results didn't support your evaluation plus Buffalo is coming off a back to back and has to go to NYC, Buffalo is on life support. Ottawa is TBD