2011 NHL Playoff Projections - 10 Games To Play

With 72 games banked and 10 to play, the NHL playoff picture is all but set. The chart below projects final standings based on the points-per-game pace to date.

Projected 2011 NHL Playoff Picture: 72 Game Pace
EAST				WEST
Team	W	Pts	Pace	Team	W	Pts	Pace
1. PHI	44	97	1.35	1. VAN	47	103	1.43
2. WAS	41	92	1.27	2. DET	43	94	1.30
3. BOS	40	90	1.25	3. SJS	41	90	1.25
4. PIT	41	90	1.25	4. PHO	38	87	1.21
5. TBL	39	89	1.24	5. LAK	40	86	1.19
6. MTL	39	85	1.18	6. CHI	39	86	1.19
7. NYR	38	80	1.11	7. ANA	40	85	1.18
8. BUF	35	79	1.10	8. DAL	38	85	1.18
9. CAR	33	76	1.05	9. NAS	37	84	1.17
10. NJD	34	72	1.00	10. CGY	36	81	1.12
11. TOR	31	72	1.00	11. MIN	35	78	1.08
12. ATL	30	72	1.00	12. CLB	33	76	1.05
13. FLA	29	68	0.94	13. STL	32	73	1.01
14. NYI	27	66	0.92	14. COL	28	64	0.89
15. OTT	27	63	0.87	15. EDM	23	56	0.78

If teams maintain their 72 game pace, the playoff points cutoff will be 90 (East) and 97 (West), a two point uptick from last year's 88 and 95. Substituting the 72 game pace for that of the past 10 games yields the same participants albeit with some variations in seeding, as shown below.

Projected 2011 NHL Playoff Picture: 10 Game Pace
EAST				WEST
Team	W	Pts	Pace	Team	W	Pts	Pace
1. WAS	50	110	1.34	1. VAN	55	119	1.45
2. PHI	48	108	1.32	2. DET	48	106	1.29
3. BOS	44	101	1.23	3. SJS	47	104	1.27
4. PIT	46	102	1.24	4. ANA	48	101	1.23
5. MTL	46	99	1.21	5. CHI	45	101	1.23
6. TBL	41	96	1.17	6. LAK	45	98	1.19
7. NYR	44	92	1.12	7. PHO	43	98	1.19
8. BUF	40	91	1.11	8. DAL	43	98	1.19
9. NJD	41	86	1.05	9. NAS	43	98	1.19
10. CAR	37	85	1.04	10. CGY	43	92	1.12
11. ATL	35	83	1.01	11. MIN	37	86	1.05
12. TOR	35	82	1.00	12. CLB	35	83	1.01
13. NYI	31	78	0.95	13. STL	36	81	0.99
14. FLA	32	77	0.94	14. COL	30	69	0.84
15. OTT	33	75	0.91	15. EDM	26	64	0.78

The 10 game pace projections have Washington overtaking Philadelphia for the East's top spot while Montreal and Tampa Bay swap 5th and 6th seeds. In the West, 4th through 7th finishers are shuffled with Anaheim stealing home ice from Phoenix, leaving four teams tied with 98 points and putting the new NHL tiebreaker system to the test.

Sadly, New Jersey's miraculous second half run appears to have missed the mark. Now a Buffalo or New York collapse must accompany their pursuit of uninterrupted wins to end the regular season.

Long have you run.