Will any Eastern Conference teams currently out of the playoffs sneak in?

The Eastern Conference is on track for a major shakeup, as the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders are on track to make the playoffs for the first time in several years. As they and the usual suspects, including the Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes, battle for home-ice advantage, there’s a fight for the two Wildcard spots in the Eastern Conference.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL video coach Steve Peters discuss the Stanley Cup Playoff race and which team, if any, can squeeze into one of the final playoff spots.

Tyler Yaremchuk: I want to throw you a fill-in-the-blank question. I had a debate with my good friend Liam, and I said there is a ___ % chance that the eight current teams in the Eastern Conference playoff spots are the eight that make it? What would you put that percentage at?

Steve Peters: I’ll say 96.5%. I think it’s high, really high. I always go to history, too. Over the last 10 playoff seasons — and we’ll throw out the COVID-19 years — in three of those seasons, nobody moved, and in six of those 10 seasons, only one team moved.

You might see the Ottawa Senators be able to jump in … you might. But there’s only one team moving. If there’s one team moving, then I’m sorry Washington Capitals fans, but this year is not your year. Columbus Blue Jackets fans, I really love the story there and I love the Rick Bowness bump, I just don’t know if they can sustain for another 19 games. That’s a long time to keep up the pace they’re playing, right now.

So for me, I think the surprise team is the Senators. I think if there’s going to be movement, it’s going to be from Ottawa.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…