With the current NHL playoff format, there will be two wild card spots from the East and West. These spots are given to the highest finishing teams in the points race that DID NOT qualify for the top 3 spots of the Conferences.

Last year, the Detroit Red Wings and the Columbus Blue Jackets claimed these spots in the East. This year, I’m picking the Devils and the Islanders. The Islanders are also my “dark horse” pick for the East.

The Devils have a new starting goalie, but one with a lot of experience. Cory Schneider put up an impressive 1.97 GAA and .921 SV% in his 46 games last year. To put that into perspective, Rask, the Vezina winner, had 2.04 GAA and .931 SV%. New Jersey definitely needs to improve their +2 goal differential however, and if, hypothetically speaking, Schneider performs the way he did last year, eliminating Brodeur’s 2.51 GAA, their goal differential improves to +48, moving them up to 3rd in goal differential, behind Boston’s nuclear +87, the Ducks at +60, and the Blues at +51. Do I think this will actually happen? No. But will they improve with a better goal tender? Definitely.

The Islanders, my dark horse. I’m really excited to see this team this year. They added Nick Leddy, and Johnny Rocket Boychuk to bolster their defense, and Chad Johnson is one of the more solid back up tendies in the league. They will make waves this year. John Tavares missed 20-something games last year and still got 66 pts. A healthy first line, a solid D core, and legit goalie depth? The Islanders are going to be the biggest improvement over last year in the league. I’m not saying they should plan a parade, but they are definitely giving their beloved Nassau Coliseum a good farewell party.

Moving out to the West, both wild card teams were from the Central Division last year, and guess what? They are going to come from there again. The Central, as I mentioned in previous posts, was the hardest egg for me to crack. But I’m confident in my final prediction….. HA, no I’m not. Who knows what’s going to happen. The Central is the most competitive division in the league. I’m picking St. Louis and Dallas to take the wild card spots, but only by a margin of ~4-7 points. It’s not that I think they are going to play worse than last year, just that everyone else is going to be playing so damn good this year too. It’s going to be a fiercely competitive.

My dark horse for the West won’t make it to the post season, but they will make a wake. The Predators stand to improve, with a HOPEFULLY healthy Pekka Rinne, and the addition of a possible 40-50pt season by James Neal. The only thing that will hold them back is the competitive schedule they have, being in the Central.

So with this post, you have my full playoff predictions.

The East will have Boston, Tampa, Montreal, Pittsburgh, Columbus, New Jersey, and both New York teams.

The West will bring Chicago, Minnesota, Colorado, Dallas, St. Louis, Anaheim, Los Angeles, and San Jose to the dance.

If I had to pick the Conference finalists and the Cup match up? Oh man. I can’t. Let’s wait till at least Thanksgiving to toss those out there.