Will the Panthers let the Leafs make the playoffs?

[Panteras]

Don’t worry guys, apparently the Panthers held a team meeting after the loss to Philly. That means they’re going to be good now.. possible cup favorites

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

The "Top 8 teams in each conference" system wasn't broken.

Agreed. This is the worst playoff format of any of the big 4 sports league. Maybe ever

 

[mm11]

It’s mostly because their are 6 legit teams fighting it out in the metro (even 7 if you wanna count the Rangers). That makes it seriously harder to make the playoffs.

The rangers are like the best 7th place team ever! Seriously, the metro is a tough out every game it seems like. Even the devils are playing tough. Teams like the Isles and CBJ are getting hit with injuries and still fighting. There is no let up. Maybe Bettman was onto something here. Survival of the fittest

 

[Blueboy]

Short of injuries to their most important players (Matthews, Marner, Tavares, Rielly, and Andersen), Toronto is going to get in. They have way too much offensive firepower.

Florida is more of a threat for a WC spot (four team race for 2 spots- CBJ, PHI, FLA, CAR) than Toronto's 3rd spot in the Atlantic. IMO.

Rielly has been out for weeks, Andersen has been a sub .900 goalie since Dec 1st.

Leafs are not a lock.

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

Seems so as Panthers are still almost one man team.
Ok. One line team but basicly team is Barkov.

Bobrovsly failed team miserable.

No it's not Barkov. He's underachieving a lot himself IMO. If it was Barkov they would be much better.

 

[LeafsNation75]

The rangers are like the best 7th place team ever! Seriously, the metro is a tough out every game it seems like. Even the devils are playing tough. Teams like the Isles and CBJ are getting hit with injuries and still fighting. There is no let up. Maybe Bettman was onto something here. Survival of the fittest

Toronto has not been 100% healthy this whole season because they have played games without Tavares, Marner, Nylander, Rielly, Muzzin, Andersen, Hyman, Dermott, Johnsson, Ceci, Moore (Before he was traded) and Mikheyev.

 

[mm11]

Toronto has not been 100% healthy this whole season because they have played games without Tavares, Marner, Nylander, Rielly, Andersen, Hyman, Dermott, Johnsson, Ceci, Moore (Before he was traded) and Mikheyev.

Don't think many times were 100% healthy all year. tough league..

 

[Man Bear Pig]

No one else is good enough in the division and Florida can’t do **** when it matters, Bobrovsky stinks.
Toronto will make the playoffs in a walk even if they don’t have a good record

Atlantic sucks

The Atlantic isnt that bad. Boston and Tampa are still major threats. The Leafs have been decimated by injuries this year. It's almost laughable that we're losing players on what seems like a nightly basis.

 

[koyvoo]

Don't think many times were 100% healthy all year. tough league..

Poor teams make injury excuses while good teams overcome injuries. Look at the Bruins injuries last season. Aside from Bergeron and Pastrnak missing significant time, they at one point had only 1 of their top 6 D in the lineup. Look at Pittsburgh this season. They’ve only had Crosby, Malkin and Guentzel in their lineup together for one period all season. They have like only 2-3 players who have played all their games. Columbus has like 7 rookies in the lineup to cover for injuries.

 

[freakydallas13]

No Ottawa/Buffalo/Detroit to **** on

There are 3 teams worse than the sabres in the atlantic, and one worse than the senators.

 

[serp]

At this point i'm not making a prediction. Right now Panthers are playing awful but because the Leafs aren't good either still aren't out of it yet. Both team still play each other twice so that will decide who makes it or not. Maybe Panthers start playing good hockey again at some point and if they do they can make it because that 3rd spot in the Atlantic is very much available. Hell if Habs or Sabres randomly start winning i think they'd have a shot for that spot as well because neither Panthers or Leafs are out of reach.

 

[nowhereman]

You should see the Pacific.

Outside of having two elite teams at the top (Boston, Tampa), the Pacific is stronger than the Atlantic. Don't let the parity fool you.

 

[freakydallas13]

Just have the top 16 teams in the leauge make the playoffs. No division winners, no wildcards.

Good teams make it, bad teams don't. The end.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Outside of having two elite teams at the top (Boston, Tampa), the Pacific is stronger than the Atlantic. Don't let the parity fool you.

Los Angeles, Anaheim and San Jose make the Pacific look just as bad compared to Detroit, Buffalo and Ottawa in the Atlantic.

 

[HolyCrap]

Outside of having two elite teams at the top (Boston, Tampa), the Pacific is stronger than the Atlantic. Don't let the parity fool you.

Lol

 

[rojac]

Blame Gary Bettman for wanting a Wild Card system instead of having the top 4 teams from each division making the playoffs.

Do we have any information on whether or not it was Gary who proposed the Wild Card system? It's possible that it came from one of the team governors. If I remember correctly, the original plan was to do exactly what you propose but some owners had issues with it (or possibly the players), so the Wild Card system was proposed as an alternative.

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

Toronto only has 6 wins (3 regulation) in their last 15 games. Both teams have been terrible recently, and both teams will get smoked by Boston.

 

[b in vancouver]

The pacific that holds the two WC and don’t get to beat on Detroit/Buffalo/Ottawa 4-5 times?

California? 150 combined points vs. 141 for those three Atlantic teams.
And the joy of playing Boston and Tampa whom are arguably the two best teams in the league. There's no parity in The Atlantic but there's a way bigger discrepancy between the top of the two divisions than there is between the bottom.

 

[AvroArrow]

Toronto on paper has some tremendous talent but if they were in the metro they would probably finish 5th maybe even 6th if the jackets didn’t get ravaged with injuries in last week or so

The leafs have been ravaged with injuries all year.

 

[jetsforever]

Toronto will definitely make it, although that has nothing to do with Florida.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Toronto is a top 16 team in the league. Why would it be so weird if they make the playoffs?

 

[Seras]

No one else is good enough in the division and Florida can’t do **** when it matters, Bobrovsky stinks.
Toronto will make the playoffs in a walk even if they don’t have a good record

Atlantic sucks

This is funny coming from the Pacific.

 

[BCNate]

You should see the Pacific.

That other division with 5 current playoff teams?

 

[Gnova]

The Atlantic a part from Boston, Tampa and Toronto is terrible.

TO is exactly one game up on Florida. That is a pretty small gap to be able to separate them between suck and non-stick teams.

I'm fine with "the Atlantic is horribad except for Boston and Tampa" as a statement though.

 

[lottster14]

Blame Gary Bettman for wanting a Wild Card system instead of having the top 4 teams from each division making the playoffs.

Yeah the wildcard system seems like it was a mistake. I wasn't following too closely before they added it but I imagine the standings were less all over the place without the 2 WC's