Penguins/NHL
Draft Lottery Buzz
Chances of Finishing Bottom-5 Slim: 10 Games to go for the 
Penguins and the situation has drastically changed in a seven-game span. Two weeks ago, the math. roster, most notably the goaltending, had Pittsburgh in a realistic spot where it was easy to envision the Penguins finishing the season with the 4th worst record in the NHL. Now there’s a better chance of finishing 10th or even 11th than a bottom-5 finish. On a 5-1-1 run and with how well Sidney Crosby is playing along with his two counterparts on the top-line, to go with respectable goaltending starting to show up, Pittsburgh looks like a good bet for at least a .500 finish to end the season in games #72 through #82.
- San Jose Sharks | 47 pts, .336 PT%
2. Chicago Blackhawks | 51 pts, .359 PT%
3. Nashville Predators | 60 pts, .429 PT%
4. Buffalo Sabres | 62 pts, .449 PT%
5. Philadelphia Flyers | 65 pts, .451 PT%
6. Seattle Kraken | 65 pts, .458 PT%
7. Pittsburgh Penguins | 69 pts, .479 PT%
What’s transpired over the last two weeks is teams ahead of the Penguins absolutely cratering in the standings…….
8. Boston Bruins | 69 pts, .486 PT%
9. Anaheim Ducks | 68 pts, .493 PT%
10. Detroit Red Wings | 70 pts, .507 PT%
11. Columbus Blue Jackets | 71 pts, .514 PT%
Boston is a team in shellshock; The coaching bump has collapsed in Detroit; While the pressure of a playoff run has just been too big for Columbus. Pittsburgh looks like a good bet to be pretty locked in on a 7th-11th finish with how they are trending compared to others:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
NYR 1st Rounder Top-13 Protected: A lot of eyes in the Penguins organization will be on the New York Rangers the rest of the way. The Penguins amateur scouting [hide] department are ecstatic about the possibility of drafting twice in the first-round but will that be the case? The Rangers (71GP/74 Pts) 3-5-2 in their last 10 games and playing pedestrian hockey, are a point out of the wildcard race (Montreal 69GP/75Pts) and right now by Points% have the 12th worst record in the NHL. If New York Misses the playoffs, it adds more intrigue to the draft lottery as the pick is not lottery protected, it’s Top-13 protected. The Rangers landing 14th or better would officially hand Pittsburgh the pick. If the Rangers fall 13th or worse, they have the option of keeping the pick or not. If New York kept the pick, which the Penguins have felt is extremely unlikely barring a major lottery jump such as #14 to #4 for example, New York’s 2026 first-round pick would then transfer to the Penguins which is unprotected. The Penguins felt leading into the deadline questions of whether the pick would be 2025 or 2026 also hindered trade attractiveness of the pick, along with some teams look at this pick potentially having high second-round value in a normal year.[/hide]
