We've hit the Thanksgiving Standing Lock ... which according to NHL lore is where the playoff teams are all but set in stone, even if the order might shift.
So, right now we'd have ...
East
Atlantic ... Boston, Florida, Tampa
Metro ... NYR, Washington, Carolina
WC ... Toronto, Detroit
Outside within 4 pts ... everybody but Ottawa and Columbus is within 4 points
West
Central ... Dallas, Colorado, Winnipeg
Pacific ... Vegas, Vancouver, LA
WC ... St Louis, Seattle
Outside within 4 pts ... Anaheim, Arizona, Calgary
So the East is a mosh pit with Detroit perhaps over-performing and DC getting a new coach bounce. I don't trust either of those teams, for the record. The West is a little more bottom heavy and thus a little more of a tight-knit group. Vancouver is the big surprise, I guess, but they look settled enough and are getting good offense from good players to back up a solid year in net from both goalies. Not sure I trust Anaheim and Arizona to keep up the pressure from below and Calgary is bit of a dysfunctional mess. That bunch may well put the cliche back in clinched at Thanksgiving. The Preds and Wild could possibly make a run and nobody knows what the heck is going to happen with the moribund Oilers.