NHL Storylines

The fifth installment looking at the "Circle The Date" landmarks laid out in my NHL Predictions.

Edmonton - Jan 7 at Dallas - end of a 7 game road trip and about the halfway point of the season. Are the Oiler near .500? .400?


Edmonton is struggling, sitting at about .440 after a big win against Chicago last night. It hasn't help that each of their young stars has been absent for one or more games over the last couple of months. The are positive signs from this group but there is still a long way to go. No point mortgaging the future at this point but if a couple veterans can be moved for future assets, preferably ones ready to play at the NHL level, they might as well get started.

Columbus - Jan 14 vs San Jose - This game concludes a tough stretch (Washington, San Jose, LA, Anaheim, Chicago, Phoenix, San Jose) which should be a good measuring stick to see if Columbus is significantly improved.

Columbus went 2-5 in that stretch and didn't look even decent in most of the games. Columbus is the worst team in the NHL. It isn't even close. Its a bit surprising given they made some really decent moves in the offseason and it has to be demoralizing to the hometown fans. Now, talk is that they would mind out from the Carter contract. Frankly, moving him for more pieces would be a good thing.

New York Islanders - Jan 10-19. Dates against Detroit, Philly, Buffalo, Washington and Philly in a little over a week will really test the roster. If they have truly grown, they'll show it here. Otherwise, its "maybe next year" again.

The Islanders went 4-1 in this stretch of games, playing their best hockey of the season. Tavares is finally showing why he was rated so high since he laced then up as a junior many seasons ago. Unfortunately for the Islanders this all comes way to late to salvage a shot at the playoffs this season. But, if they can continue to compete, it should be a nice confidence boost entering next season. The Islanders are still a few pieces away from being in the mix.

Chicago - Jan 20 vs Florida - Afer this game the Blackhawks head on a 9 game road trip. They need to be in the thick of the race before then or making the playoffs may be tough.

Well, the home friendly schedule has come to an end and the Blackhawks are playing some really inconsistent hockey lately. While the teams around them seem to finding their groove, the Hawks have regressed and played sloppy defense just about every other night. The road trip got off to a bad start with an overtime loss in Vancouver and got worse with an 8-4 beatdown by the lowly Edmonton Oilers. They need to find their 60 minute game on this roadtrip or they'll be out of the division race and face a much tougher task come playoff time.

Elsewhere around the league

Florida - The Panthers are hanging tough despite the Capitals biting at their heals. They may have to win the division to get into the playoffs so their upcoming slate of divisional games is the key to their season.

Calgary - A trade with Montreal may have worked. With such a close race for the final spot in the West, this could be the move that gets them in. But don't expect that run to last long as this team is miles behind the West elite.

Pittsburgh - Just when it looked like this team had started a free-fall to a position out of the playoffs, Malkin took the team on his back and carried them to an 8 game winning streak. Back in the thick, they'll hope and wait for Crosby to return. In the meantime they better stay focussed or they'll tumble again.

Nashville - The more I see of this squad, the more I think they could seriously contend for The Cup. One more offensive piece could do wonders for this team. However, with Suter and Weber still awaiting new contracts, they probably aren't going to add much payroll. Which ever team faces this team in round 1 will have their hands full.

Last time I looked at the current standings with an eye towards the playoffs and speculated that any team 10 points in front pretty much had a playoff spot locked up and any team more than 10 point out was done. With another month completed, 8 is now the magic number:

VIRTUAL LOCKS
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New York Rangers
Boston
Philly

Detroit
Vancouver
San Jose
Nashville
St. Louis
Chicago

OUT
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Tampa Bay
Buffalo
New York Islanders
Montreal
Carolina

Anaheim
Edmonton
Columbus

The West is just about set. I fully expect to see LA join the crowd over the next couple of weeks. That would leave several teams (Minnesota, Dallas, Colorado, Calgary and Phoenix) fighting for a single spot. Let's see how many of those are left at the end of February.

Meanwhile in the East, there are probably 4 spots in play with 6-7 teams looking to fill them. The real kicker is the Southeast Division where the winner will probably claim the #3 seed but the loser could miss out completely yet be only a couple points behind the division leaders.

The race is heating up. Everyone must elevate their play.

Next installment will hopefully be before the trade deadline. The next couple weeks will determine the buyers and sellers.