Draft position update

The two games affecting the Isles' draft position were played early on Wednesday.  The Rangers beat Toronto and Columbus lost to Detroit.  With the Rangers' win, the Blueshirts are guaranteed to finish ahead of the Isles.  Thus, the Isles are guaranteed a top-10 seed in the draft lottery.  Columbus' loss makes it likely that the Isles will finish ahead of the Blue Jackets, as Columbus has only one game to play (Friday vs. Detroit).

1 Edmonton Oilers             79 25 46 8 58
2 Toronto Maple Leafs       80 29 37 14 72
3 Tampa Bay Lightning      79 31 36 12 74
4 Florida Panthers              79 31 36 12 74
5 Columbus Blue Jackets  81 32 35 14 78
6 Carolina Hurricanes        80 34 36 10 78
7 New York Islanders         79 34 35 10 78
8 Minnesota Wild               80 37 36 7 81
9 Atlanta Thrashers           80 34 33 13 81
10 Dallas Stars                 80 35 31 14 84

Thursday's Draft Position Games:       
Montreal at Carolina; Canes won season series from Isles, which is second tie-breaker (after wins)
Isles at Pittsburgh;  With one more win, Isles will not finish in bottom 5
Ottawa at Tampa Bay ; Bolts must earn at least 5 points in last 3 to pass Isles
New Jersey at Florida;  Cats must earn at least 5 points in last 3 to pass Isles
Anaheim at Dallas; If Stars earn one point or Isles do not earn two, the Isles can not catch Dallas.
Minnesota at Calgary; If Wild earn one more point, they will be 13th Western Conference team at NHL .500 or better

       
Isles can finish anywhere between 21st and 28th (and hold 3rd to 10th pick in draft)       
If Isles win one of final 3, they can finish no lower than 25th (pick 6th)       
If Isles lose one of final 3, they can finish no higher than 22nd (pick 9th).       
       
Almost impossible for Isles to drop to 28th -- need 3 regulation losses and for Tampa and       
Florida to get 5 points each, including split weekend with both teams winning in OT/SO       

 Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick