The New Jersey Devils are inching closer and closer to a playoff spot with every win. After beating the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night, the Devils' playoff odds moved to over 99%, according to Money Puck. That's about as close to guaranteed as one can get. We are likely getting playoff hockey back at the Prudential Center this season.
But, with Jack Hughes, Jonas Siegenthaler, Dougie Hamilton, and possibly even Luke Hughes injured (with the first three out for the season), fans aren't confident until there's an x next to the Devils' name in the standings.
What will it take for the Devils to officially clinch a playoff spot? Right now, the Devils have 85 points with seven games left on the schedule. Their point possibilities then fall within that. They will finish the seasn with somewhere between their current 85 points and their best-possible finish is 99 points. Both 85 and 99 points are extremely unlikely, but when it comes to clinching scenarios, we need to know these extremes.
With clinching, that lower extreme is what we are looking at. The Devils have guaranteed themselves 85 points, so to figure out how they clinch, we need to see which teams best-possible situation is as close to that as possible.
What's complicated here is the Devils are competing with multiple teams that are in very different situations. Just focusing on the Metropolitan teams, the Devils are holding off the New York Islanders, New York Rangers, and Columbus Blue Jackets in the standings. They have an eight-point lead on the Rangers, 10 points on the Blue Jackets, and 11 points on the Islanders. The Rangers have played 74 games, which is one behind the Devils. Columbus has only played 72 games, so they can make up six points on the Devils just by playing the games in front of them. The Islanders have two games in hand on the Devils.
To find the Devils' true clinching scenario, we need to see which team has the highest possible point total if they won every single game remaining on the schedule. The Blue Jackets can finish the season with 95 points.
The New Jersey Devils need to make up 10 points through wins or opponent losses to clinch a playoff spot
Since that number is 10 points away from the Devils, and with the tiebreaker scenario still somewhat in doubt (the first tie-breaker is regulation wins, which the Devils have a seven game lead on CBJ), the Devils would need 11 points to lock down their spot. If one assumes the Devils will get the tie-breaker (they lead the Blue Jackets in multiple tie-breaker categories), then it's 10 points.
That can happen in two pretty clear ways. Every time the Devils win, they knock two points off that score. So, if the Devils beat the Wild again on Monday night, the number becomes eight. It also drops the points for every loss the Blue Jackets get. So, if the Devils win on Monday night and the Jackets lose to the Predators on Tuesday, the number quickly becomes six.
The complicated part here is every time the Blue Jackets lose, it could then put the Rangers or Islanders into that "best-possible" spot. So, the Devils are still rooting for losses for all three teams until the Devils officially clinch.
It's as close to a guarantee as it could be with seven games left, but we still have some time before the Devils get that illustrious "x" next to their name in the standings.