Headlines

  • Calgary Flames Name Craig Conroy General Manager
  • Kyle Dubas Will Not Return As Toronto GM
  • Arizona Coyotes Expected To Remain In Tempe For 2023-24
  • Gabriel Landeskog Unlikely To Play Next Season
  • Chicago Blackhawks Win 2023 NHL Draft Lottery
  • New York Rangers Part Ways With Gerard Gallant
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • MLB Trade Rumors
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors

Pro Hockey Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • Atlantic
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Central
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Metropolitan
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Pacific
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • Vancouver Canucks
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Partners
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Poll: Which Western Wildcard Team Has Best Chance To Reach Playoffs

March 3, 2019 at 4:30 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 4 Comments

The Minnesota Wild pulled off a big victory Saturday when they defeated the Western Conference’s top team in the Calgary Flames. Not only was it a big win, but with five straight victories, it has propelled Minnesota into the final wild card spot for the upcoming Stanley Cup playoffs, something that seemed unlikely just a week ago. Suddenly what looked to already be a contentious race for the final playoff spot, it has become even more muddled as four teams are vying for the final two wild card spots.

The Dallas Stars currently hold the first wildcard spot in the Western Conference with 71 points, while Minnesota owns that second spot with 70 points. However, two other teams are right there, including the Arizona Coyotes who have 69 points, while the Colorado Avalanche have 68 points.

Dallas is the most interesting team as they were buyers at the trade deadline, picking up defenseman Ben Lovejoy and Mats Zuccarello. However, while Zuccarello looked to be a good fit who energized the Stars’ struggling second line after posting a goal and an assist in his first game, he broke his arm late in that first game after blocking a shot and will now miss at least three more weeks. That hasn’t stopped the Stars, however, who have won two in a row and three of their last four.

The Coyotes have also been red hot, having gone from a team that had almost no chance at a playoff spot earlier this year to a team that has won six straight and nine of their last 11 games and actually could catch the Vegas Golden Knights as they are only four points behind them in the Pacific Division. All of this is with a gluttony of injuries to Coyotes’ players. The team is expected to get Jason Demers back from injury on Tuesday and could get Michael Grabner back within the week. Throw in the impressive play of Darcy Kuemper in goal and the team has been hard to beat.

Colorado is the forgotten team, who early on seemed to be the obvious candidate to seize the third seed in the Central Division, but the team bottomed out, struggling immensely throughout December, January and part of February. However, the Avalanche have won six of their last nine and look to be fighting their way back into the playoffs. Armed with some of the best players in the NHL in Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, the Avalanche have every chance to force their way back into the playoffs.

So, which team has the best chance to claim a spot in the Western Conference playoffs?

Pro Hockey Rumor app users, click here to vote.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email

Arizona Coyotes| Calgary Flames| Colorado Avalanche| Dallas Stars| Injury| Minnesota Wild| NHL| Players Ben Lovejoy| Darcy Kuemper| Jason Demers| Mats Zuccarello| Michael Grabner| Mikko Rantanen| Nathan MacKinnon| Vegas Golden Knights

Metropolitan Notes: Mueller, Patrick, Martin, Flyers, Blackwood
Main
Snapshots: Karlsson, Thompson, Lafreniere, Maple Leafs
View Comments (4)
newest oldest

Comments

  1. vegasloveforthebills

    4 years ago

    Arizona is 6 behind VGK but have a game in hand (probably 8 after today with 2 games)

    Reply
  2. RockHard

    4 years ago

    Dallas and Colorado get in

    Reply
  3. RockHard

    4 years ago

    A break down of each teams remaining schedule would be helpful. Minny has the toughest by far.

    Reply
  4. Connorsoxfan

    4 years ago

    Chicago

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Calgary Flames Name Craig Conroy General Manager

    Kyle Dubas Will Not Return As Toronto GM

    Arizona Coyotes Expected To Remain In Tempe For 2023-24

    Gabriel Landeskog Unlikely To Play Next Season

    Chicago Blackhawks Win 2023 NHL Draft Lottery

    New York Rangers Part Ways With Gerard Gallant

    Calgary Flames Fire Darryl Sutter

    Calgary Flames, Brad Treliving Agree To Part Ways

    Blue Jackets Fire Brad Larsen

    Washington Capitals, Peter Laviolette Agree To Part Ways

    Recent

    Metropolitan Notes: Penguins, Hurricanes, Rogers

    Offseason Checklist: Calgary Flames

    Atlantic Notes: Schenn, Red Wings, Senators Sale

    Sabres Sign Ryan Johnson To Entry-Level Deal

    Evgenii Dadonov To Miss Game 5

    Free Agent Focus: Buffalo Sabres

    Hurricanes Notes: UFAs, Noesen, Svechnikov

    Full 2023 List Of Expiring Draft Rights

    More On Toronto’s GM Search

    Colton Sceviour Re-Signs In Switzerland

    Rumors By Team

    Rumors By Team

    • Avalanche Rumors
    • Blackhawks Rumors
    • Blue Jackets Rumors
    • Blues Rumors
    • Bruins Rumors
    • Canadiens Rumors
    • Canucks Rumors
    • Capitals Rumors
    • Coyotes Rumors
    • Devils Rumors
    • Ducks Rumors
    • Flames Rumors
    • Flyers Rumors
    • Hurricanes Rumors
    • Islanders Rumors
    • Jets Rumors
    • Kings Rumors
    • Kraken Rumors
    • Lightning Rumors
    • Maple Leafs Rumors
    • Oilers Rumors
    • Panthers Rumors
    • Penguins Rumors
    • Predators Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Red Wings Rumors
    • Sabres Rumors
    • Senators Rumors
    • Sharks Rumors
    • Stars Rumors
    • Wild Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives

    PHR Info

    • About
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

    scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version