Islanders: Three theories on what will happen when hockey comes back

UNIONDALE, NY - APRIL 25: A general view of the arena prior to the game between the New York Islanders and the Washington Capitals in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on April 25, 2015 in Uniondale, New York. The Islanders defeated the Capitals 3-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
UNIONDALE, NY - APRIL 25: A general view of the arena prior to the game between the New York Islanders and the Washington Capitals in Game Six of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on April 25, 2015 in Uniondale, New York. The Islanders defeated the Capitals 3-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
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CARDIFF, UNITED KINGDOM – JANUARY 08: A primary school child writes in a school book while studying maths in a classroom on January 8, 2020 in Cardiff, United Kingdom. (Photo by Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)
CARDIFF, UNITED KINGDOM – JANUARY 08: A primary school child writes in a school book while studying maths in a classroom on January 8, 2020 in Cardiff, United Kingdom. (Photo by Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)

Points Percentage

This is an idea I (and many others) thought of almost immediately after the season was suspended by the NHL. Points-percentage, or points-per-game.

The idea is to base playoff seeding by the percentage of points accumulated over the number of points available. This way will take into consideration teams who, like the Columbus Blue Jackets, have more points but have played more games.

The point of the regular season is to amass the most amount of points over 82 games. But because the season was put on hold when the number of games played was imbalanced, the percentage of points earned over what was possible balances things out.

This system would also allow the Islanders to leapfrog over the Blue Jackets for the final wildcard position in the Eastern Conference.

This isn’t the way any Islanders fan would have wanted to get into the playoffs. In this scenario, the Islanders are lucky to make the post-season after a seven-game slide deservedly takes them out of contention.

In this scenario, the 17 game point streak likely saved their season. During that stretch, the Islanders held a 0.912 points percentage. Since that streak, the Islanders have picked up 46 points from a possible 94 points for a 0.489 points percentage.

For the Columbus Blue Jackets, it would mean missing the playoffs for the first time since 2015-16. I don’t imagine Trots is happy about this.

Schedule