NHL March Madness 2023: A Look at the Stanley Cup Playoff Picture

I love the month of March, obviously because I was born on this month, but also because it's the best month in the sports calendar. For us hockey fans, March is the home stretch; it's the final full month of the NHL season, and it begins a period in the season where the numbers get thinned out and the playoff picture becomes complete at last. Right now, it's quite fuzzy. Logjams are all over the place, but such is life in the chaotic NHL.

Without further ado, here's how things look entering the month of March.

Central Division

The Central Division isn't as strong as it usually is, but things are starting to pick up. The Dallas Stars still lead the division and have been for months, but their stranglehold is dwindling...fast. Only three points separate first and fourth, and Dallas (75 points) has the Minnesota Wild (74 points), the Colorado Avalanche (73 points), and the Winnipeg Jets (72 points) all nipping at their heels. The reason for Dallas' decline is simple: they cannot win past regulation. The Stars are 5-13 in games that go past regulation, which includes a 2-10 record in the overtime period. Yes, the OT/SO loss points do add up, but so do the points lost when they lose those games.

The Avalanche are clearly the hottest team in the Central, entering March on a six game winning streak, and going 7-1-2 in their last 10 games. This is all despite being without captain Gabriel Landeskog for the whole season, and having to play without Cale Makar for a good bit as well. Alexandar Georgiev has excelled in net in his first season as a starting goaltender; 26-12-4, 2.57 GAA, .922 SV%, and three shutouts. Mikko Rantanen picked up his first 40-goal season in his career, and could finish with at least 55 goals, and Nathan MacKinnon is excelling as always.

Pacific Division

The Pacific is also pretty tight, as the Vegas Golden Knights and the Los Angeles Kings enter the month of March tied for the division lead at 76 points, though Vegas has the tiebreaker. The Seattle Kraken, in their second season, are just four points out of first place and are clearly playoff bound--it's just a matter of time before they punch their ticket. The Edmonton Oilers have the same point total as Seattle, which is a bit of a decline from their campaign that saw them as the runners-up in the Western Conference. But I have to talk about the Kings.

So right after their big win over the Winnipeg Jets, which saw Anze Kopitar score four goals, the Kings decided to trade Jonathan Quick to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Why?! I truly feel for Quick here, I read that he was visibly upset over this, and rightfully so. He had been with the Kings for his entire career. He won two Stanley Cups with the team, and won the Conn Smythe in 2012, as Quick was huge in LA's first Cup run. Yes, Quick has struggled this year, but he has shown some flashes of the Conn Smythe Quick from a decade ago. I absolutely hate this trade. Quick was possibly on his way to retiring as a King, now he's on the worst team in the entire league.

Western Conference Wild Card

The Western Conference's Wild Card race is quite interesting. At the moment, the Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets (72 points each) hold the Wild Card positions, but it's a vast decline from where they once were. Again, the Oilers are coming off their best playoff run since 2006, yet they are going south this season. Goaltending has been a vast issue, with the newly acquired Jack Campbell not being the goalie he was in Toronto. Connor McDavid could be on his way to (at least) 150 points this season, but from the looks of it, all that will get him is a Wild Card berth and a first round exit.

The Jets are improving from last season, but their recent fall has seen them go from within a hair of first place in the Central to being in the Wild Card race. But at least they're doing better than some other teams. The Calgary Flames are a mess, and I saw this coming once they lost Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk. The Nashville Predators are in danger of seeing their playoff streak come to an end, and playing their last few games without Filip Forsberg hasn't helped. The St. Louis Blues (last year's runners-up in the Central Division bracket) are done and they know it, and the rest of the teams are playing for draft picks.

Atlantic Division

The Atlantic Division's Top 3 is pretty much set in stone. It's a foregone conclusion that the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning will face off in Round 1 for the second straight year. It's a foregone conclusion that the Boston Bruins will not only be atop the Atlantic, but the entire NHL. It's a foregone conclusion that Boston's season will be quite historic. What isn't known is how historic it will be.

The Bruins enter the month of March with 47 wins and 99 points! They are on pace to break the record for wins and points in a season, but as I said in a previous story, it may not mean anything. The Presidents' Trophy doesn't guarantee a Stanley Cup; it's been a full decade since a team won both in the same season. Also, I have to wonder how many 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning references we will hear as Boston comes close to breaking both records. This will be a very interesting home stretch for the Bruins.

Metropolitan Division

The Metropolitan Division's Top 3 has also been a bit uneventful; no big shakeups this season. The Carolina Hurricanes and the New Jersey Devils had been swapping first and second place early in the year, but the Hurricanes enter the month of March as the Metro leaders, though the Devils are very close behind. The third spot is occupied by the New York Rangers, who struggled early due to Igor Shesterkin slightly falling off that Vezina pedestal he earned last year, but not only are they on the rise, they have hit the jackpot with their recent deals.

The Rangers already traded for Vladimir Tarasenko, but they want more. They got it...in the form of three-time Stanley Cup Champion Patrick Kane. Amazing. Two players who were part of an amazing rivalry during the 2010s are now on different teams. But yes, Patrick Kane is a Ranger, and this could mean big things for the club. The Rangers fell two wins short of reaching the Stanley Cup Final last season. Could they go a few steps farther? Time will tell.

Eastern Conference Wild Card

All of the intrigue in the Eastern Conference is in their Wild Card standings. Entering the month of March, the two positions are being held by the New York Islanders and the Pittsburgh Penguins, both of whom have struggled this year. Between the two teams, it's Pittsburgh's problems that are under the bigger magnifying glass. After last year's opening round loss, many wondered if Pittsburgh's core (Kris Letang, Sidney Crosby, and Evgeni Malkin) would remain together. They will, at least for the next four years. But despite this, the Penguins' long playoff streak is in serious jeopardy. The last time Pittsburgh didn't experience playoff hockey was the 2005-06 season, which was Crosby's rookie year.

The Islanders and Penguins are seated atop one hell of a logjam in the Wild Card standings. The Buffalo Sabres, the Florida Panthers, the Detroit Red Wings, the Ottawa Senators, the Washington Capitals--all five teams separated by two points, and all close behind the playoff line. For the Sabres, they are so close to ending the league's longest current playoff drought (their last appearance was in 2011). The Wings are looking to get back on track for the first time in seven seasons, and the Senators are close to having something good for them for the first time since nearly reaching the Final in 2017. On the flipside, this is a vast decline for the Panthers, who won the Presidents' Trophy last season, and the Capitals continue to sink, as Alex Ovechkin provides the team's only means of relevancy.

We are finally in the home stretch of the NHL season. The final 45 days of the regular season will be thrilling, chaotic, and fast-paced, and as usual, I am here for it!