NHL Franchise Boys

We are quickly approaching the halfway point of the 2021-22 NHL season, and while you might think that is still a lot of time to make up ground in the Stanley Cup Playoff race, the reality is that it is not. Making up ground in the standings this late in the season is an extremely difficult task, and even a five-or-six point gap between you and a playoff spot might be asking a lot to overcome.

The Eastern Conference

It is kind of stunning how big of a gap there is right now between the teams currently in a playoff position in the Eastern Conference and the teams outside of a playoff spot. Two Wild Card teams (Pittsburgh and Boston) are both on pace for more than 106 points this season, which is an exceptionally high floor for a playoff spot because in most years 95 points tends to be the cut off.

Here is a look at the Eastern Conference standings, sorted by points percentage, and what each team needs to do to reach the 95-point mark this season. And keep in mind, the current playoff cut-off in the Eastern Conference is actually 10 points higher than that at the moment.

Given where all of those teams are right now, which ones below Boston do you see playing at the required level and making up that much of a gap in the second half of the season? You can never say never because strange things do happen in sports sometimes, but it would be a pretty significant shock if the current Eastern Conference playoff teams change much — if at all — between now and the start of the postseason.

The Western Conference

The Western Conference still looks to be a little more wide open. Based on current points percentage the Colorado Avalanche are starting to run away with the top spot, and there is a clear group of teams that look to be sitting in a good position with Minnesota, St. Louis, Nashville, Vegas, and Calgary. After that, there is still some pretty stiff competition for the remaining spots while the current playoff cut off is at 95 points.

Arizona, Seattle, and Chicago are pretty much out of it, and for as strong as Vancouver has played under Bruce Boudreau even that is looking like a long shot. There are seven teams there still fighting for what should be three playoff spots. That race at least looks like it has the potential to be interesting down the stretch.

The Ducks, after a great start, are starting to fall back a little bit over the past couple of weeks while the Kings, Jets, and Stars are starting to put things together. Who knows what to expect from Edmonton the rest of the way, while San Jose has been a surprising playoff contender.

In the end, if you are an Eastern Conference team currently outside of the playoff picture your chances seem slim. If you are outside of the top-five in the Western Conference, prepare yourself for quite a scramble in the second half.

For the seventh straight year, the New York Rangers sit atop Forbes’ annual list of team valuations, and they’ve become the first NHL franchise valued at $2 billion. The Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks, and Boston Bruins round out the unchanged top five.

The Edmonton Oilers had the biggest jump of any team, doubling last year’s $550 million valuation to $1.1 billion. No teams decreased in value from last year. The team with the smallest increase – the Vancouver Canucks – saw a 14% rise in value from last year and an 18% rise over the last five years.

Here’s the full list:

The Montreal Canadiens have apparently requested permission to speak to Jeff Gorton about a role within the organization, but this role is not considered to be the GM role according to Elliotte Friedman. The news then broke that Assistant GM Scott Melanby was resigning from his role with the team. All of this turmoil surrounding the Habs following their 5-15-2 start. It has also been rumoured that Montreal has been interviewing candidates to replace their current GM Marc Bergevin, but according to Chris Johnston the team will only pursue a French General Manager. It will be interesting to see if the Canadiens can find a candidate who fits their needs for both experience and language requirements. If this is going to be a prerequisite to the job in the future the Canadiens must do a better job of developing French speaking talent.