We are halfway through an NHL season marked by pervasive mediocrity in which just 13 of 32 teams have won at least half their games — six in the dreadful East and seven in a more representative West.
That’s what you get in a league where collecting losers’ points (much like the Presidents’ Trophy, there is always confusion about where the apostrophe belongs) appears to have more impact than the number of regulation wins.
Nine complete 82-game seasons have been played since the current wild-card playoff format went into effect in 2013-14. Never has there been an Eastern qualifier with fewer than the Capitals’ 91 points last season. Three times, teams missed with 96 points.
Kirill Marchenko celebrates with Dmitri Voronkov (10) after scoring
an empty-net goal during the Blue Jackets’ 6-2 home win over the
Kraken on Jan. 9, 2025. NHLI via Getty ImagesBut this season, with Columbus and Montreal tied for the East’s final spot with a .524 points percentage, the projection for playoff qualification is 86 points. Eighty-six points out of a possible 164. Participation trophy league.
