Every day for the last three seasons I have spent every morning at The Athletic updating each team’s playoff chances, projected point total, along with their probability of winning that night’s game. This was done by running 50,000 simulations of the remainder of the season, assessing the most common possible permutations of what path the regular season might take.



On Thursday, March 12, the NHL rightly suspended the season, a precautionary measure to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. It means no more games played for the foreseeable future (among many other more important consequences, obviously).



For many people, sports are an escape and in these difficult times it feels like we all need one. While we, unfortunately, can’t watch any games on the ice, we can make an educated guess at what would’ve happened had a global pandemic not forced a stoppage. That means playing the game on a spreadsheet, folks. I mean, what’s an NHL game if...