New York Rangers: Dropping two spots in the lottery race
By Steve Paulus
Not a busy night for lottery teams, but two teams that needed to win to pass the New York Rangers in the standings prevailed. The Rangers moved from the tenth worst record to the eighth worst.
There’s been some feedback from readers questioning why we are doing this daily recap of the lottery situation. There are a couple of reasons. First, it’s a quick way for New York Rangers fans to get caught up on the latest in the “Lose for Hughes” sweepstakes.
The odds of getting a top draft pick increase dramatically the lower a team is in the standings so lottery race positioning will be of much importance to the future of the Rangers. A perfect example would be the 2017 Entry Draft. The Rangers selected Lias Andersson with the seventh pick. The sixth pick belonged to the Vancouver Canucks and they drafted Elias Pettersson.
The second reason is that it does provide a look into the thinking of teams heading towards the trade deadline. Of the 15 teams in the lottery race, as many as eight teams have a legitimate reason to believe that they can make the playoffs. That means that those eight teams have a tough decision to make in one week, to buy or sell.
A perfect example are the Flyers. They are six points out of the wild card, yet they face decision about impending UFA, Wayne Simmonds. Do they trade him and drastically reduce their chances of making the post season or do they keep him and risk losing him for nothing at the end of the season.
The West is even tighter and Vancouver, Arizona, Colorado and Chicago all face tough decisions and the Avalanche in particular have been mentioned as looking to supplement their roster. This is key to a team like the Rangers with assets to deal. A first round pick for a lottery eligible team is a lot better than a first round pick from a team that goes deep in the playoffs.
To reinforce the wild card races, we are adding the wild card “cut line” to the standings.
The Lottery Look
The Rangers started the day 22nd overall in the NHL, tenth from the bottom of the standings. They finished the day 24th overall in the NHL, eighth from the bottom. In doing so, they improved their odds of getting a top three pick from 11.4% to 19%.
Two teams that needed to win to pass the Rangers were the Colorado Avalanche who upset the Golden Knights 3-0 and the Chicago Blackhawks who won a wild 8-7 decision over the Ottawa Senators. While those results were important for the Rangers, both teams are also now only one point out of the West wild card.
The Kings and Coyotes did no favors for the Rangers. An Arizona win would have given them more points than New York, but they fell to the Calgary Flames 5-2. The Kings’ late run for the playoffs has sputtered and they remain with the second worst record in the NHL after losing to the Capitals 3-2.
And the worst record still belongs to the Senators who couldn’t overcome an Alex DeBrincat hat trick in an 8-7 loss to the Blackhawks.
The standings (Worst is first)
Teams GP W-L-OTL PTS ROW
1. Ottawa 59 22-32-5 49 22
2. Los Angeles 59 23-30-6 52 21
3. Edmonton 58 24-29-5 53 21
4. Anaheim 59 23-27-9 55 20
5. Detroit 60 23-29-8 54 21
6. New Jersey 59 23-28-8 54 22
7. Arizona 59 26-28-5 57 24
8. Rangers 58 25-25-8 58 19
9. Florida 57 25-24-8 58 22
10. Colorado 59 24-24-11 59 24
11. Vancouver 60 26-27-7 59 23
12. Chicago 60 25-26-9 59 24
13. Philadelphia 59 28-24-7 63 26
14. Buffalo 58 28-23-7 63 24
15. Carolina 59 31-22-6 68 30
Second East Wild Card Cut Line: 69 points
Second West Wild Card Cut Line: 60 points
Who to root for
The Rangers are back in action in Carolina facing a team that must win to keep pace in the playoff race. There are eight other games, featuring seven lottery teams other than the Rangers and Hurricanes.
Sabres @ Panthers – Florida passed the Rangers in the lottery race and needs to win to stay there. Buffalo’s playoff hopes are slipping away. Root for Florida.
Penguins @ Devils – New Jersey is four points behind the Rangers, but are playing a highly motivated Penguins team. Maybe the Devils can pull of an upset win in Newark.
Lightning @ Flyers – The Flyers need to keep winning to stay in the playoff picture. They had increased the points gap with the Rangers to five, but a Philadelphia win would still help.
Ducks @ Wild – Anaheim has started to play better, but Minnesota is in trouble of slipping out of the playoff picture. Root for Anaheim to win on the road.
Coyotes @ Oilers – This is a pick ’em. Both teams are below the Rangers in the standings so either team winning will help. Overtime would help even more.
Deciphering news stories. dark. Next
Only four games on Wednesday, but Colorado and Chicago, who just passed the Rangers, will be in action. More scoreboard watching for the Rangers.