The Big Unit
Registered User
- Oct 24, 2009
- 1,367
- 36
They’re also just 6 points above last place in the entire league, and as you mention, the team’s below them have games in hand.
It’s not only an issue of have a bad opening quarter to the season. They’ve been mediocre for almost a full calendar year now. They already need a really good record over the last 60 games remaining (something like 38-22) to hit the points numbers usually accumulated by the wild card seeds.
Agreed. Clearly there are some roster/coaching issues but I guess I'm looking at them with a similar lens to San Jose, Tampa and Dallas. They started the season playing well below expectations and are now starting to right the ship. None of these teams is out of the woods yet but they're too good to completely collapse. My expectation is Toronto might just be the recipient of good fortune with Pittsburgh losing Crosby, and Montreal and Philadelphia reverting expectations.
While I fully expect Tampa to take a divisional spot, it should be a dogfight between Toronto, Florida, Montreal and Buffalo for the third Atlantic division spot and I like Toronto's chances there. Or, as mentioned, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in a wildcard race.