Wild-card race in West still wide open
Teams vying for last playoff spot may be bad, but they’re still in the hunt — and will have to decide to buy or sell
What do the Edmonton Oilers, Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks all have in common?
They have the second-fewest points in the Western Conference standings. At the same time, they are only three points back of a playoff spot.
Huh?
Welcome to the wild and wacky wild-card race, where the worse you play, the better it seems your odds are of making the playoffs.
To suggest that things are moving at a turtle-like pace might be funny. But it’s not exactly accurate. After all, turtles might be slow. But once they get moving, at least they head in a forward direction.
That’s not the case here. Seven teams are separated by just five points in their quest for the final playoff spot in the West. Normally, this would be a positive sign of how competitive the standings are. Instead, it’s a reminder of how watered down the wild-card race has become.
Only one of the seven teams has a winning record. None have a positive goal differential. And not a single one is on a pace to reach 90 points — the magical number usually needed for the post-season. None were even close.
Last year, it took a minimum of 95 points to make the playoffs. This year, the Canucks have 54 points in 54 games — an 82-point pace that would be the lowest since the New York Islanders qualified in 2002-03 with a 35-34-11-2 record and 83 points.
It’s not like this in the East, where the Blue Jackets are holding down the final wildcard spot with 61 points and a record that is nine games above .500, with the Sabres (58 points) and Hurricanes (58 points) giving chase.
If the Canucks (54 points) were in the East, they would be in 12th place.
Instead, despite losing seven of their past 11 games, they are clinging to the final wildcard spot. The teams giving chase are no better. Colorado (52 points) has three wins in its past 17 games, Edmonton (51 points) is on a six-game losing streak and Anaheim (51 points) has lost 17 of its past 19 games.
So what do you do if you’re a GM heading into the Feb. 25 trade deadline? Do you become a buyer?
After all, as bad as things look, you can’t really cut bait when a playoff spot is within grasp.