By AJ Petronzi
The 2012-2013 season will be a shortened 48 game sprint to the playoffs. Teams with surpluses of defenseman and solid goaltending will go far. The teams with front loaded offenses will be packing their golf bags by the end of April.
In-Play is projecting that the Detroit Red Wings will make the 2013 playoffs. However, this is only if the team updates their defense with a trade (and long before the April 3rd deadline) and stays mostly injury free on the blue line. While Detroit has a major surplus of forwards, it's two-way defense first mentality for it's forwards will push them into the playoffs. Below is In-Play projections for how the standings will be on April 27th after the final horn sounds.
East
- New York Rangers
- Boston Bruins
- Washington Capitals
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Tampa Bay Lightning
- New Jersey Devils
- Buffalo Sabers
- Carolina Hurricane
- Montreal Canadians
- Florida Panthers
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- Ottawa Senators
- Winnipeg Jets
- New York Islanders
West
- Los Angeles Kings
- St. Louis Blues
- Vancouver Canucks
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Edmonton Oilers
- Anaheim Ducks
- Detroit Red Wings
- San Jose Sharks
- Nashville Predators
- Minnesota Wild
- Calgary Flames
- Phoenix Coyotes
- Colorado Avalanche
- Dallas Stars
- Columbus Blue Jackets
Biggest Shocker: Edmonton. With a core of young players (most of which have been playing AHL games since September) they will hit the ground running. Remember, mid December 2011 Edmonton was #1 in the league.
Best Chance to Improve: Toronto. If they can get the Roberto Luongo deal done (not holding my breath here) then they could easily jump to 7th in the East. Outside the Atlantic division, most teams in the East will likely struggle to stay above .500.
