After the excitement of the NHL trade deadline, we start to gear up for NHL playoff season. The New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes are pretty secure in their postseason slots; Stathletes' projections agree, with each club having a 99.9% chance of qualifying for each team. Then things get interesting as we look to the rest of the Metro.

The Philadelphia Flyers, with 74 points in 65 games, are in the number 3 spot, and are a tiebreaker behind the first wild card.

Then comes the Tampa Bay Lightning. Stathletes gives the Flyers a 28.5% chance of sticking in the number 3 spot, a 5.6% chance of getting the first wild card, and a 19.2% chance of getting the second spot in the wild card. And it continues to get interesting.

That leads us to the New York Islanders. After Sunday's win against the Anaheim Ducks, they are tied in points with the Detroit Red Wings for the second wild card spot, and two points behind Philly in the Metro race for the wild card.

Stathletes likes the Isles' chances of getting in the number 3 seed more than the Flyers chances, with New York's at 45.9%. The Isles have a 5.8% chance of the first wild card, and 17.1% of the second. But hold on, were not done yet…

The Washington Capitals are 3 points back of the wild card and five back of the Flyers; their overall playoff chances sit at 41.3%.

Finally, the New Jersey Devils, who finished with 112 points in the standings last season, are six back of the wild card and eight back of the Flyers. Their chances of a playoff berth in any fashion are at 11.2%.

As the season approaches its end, it will be interesting to see where the Metro race ends up. As we all know, anything can happen.

NHL playoff standings: Making sense of the Metro Division (msn.com)