NHL Playoff Standings 2016: Latest Stanley Cup Odds and Wild-Card Predictions

With the 2015-16 NHL regular season's stretch run in full effect, both the Eastern Conference and Western Conference playoff races are taking shape, but there is plenty of time for the complexion to change significantly before the campaign reaches its conclusion.

Some divisional races remain up for grabs, however, and there is even more drama involved with the wild-card picture, as nothing has been secured on that front in either conference.

Several teams are also beginning to separate themselves from the field when it comes to being considered Stanley Cup contenders, and the final few weeks of the season promise to change the outlook even more.

As the sprint to the postseason continues to pick up steam, here is a full rundown of the standings and current Stanley Cup odds, along with predictions for how the wild-card situation will play out.

Eastern Conference Standings

Metropolitan Division	GP	W	L	OT	ROW	PTS
Atlantic Division	GP	W	L	OT	ROW	PTS
Wild Card	GP	W	L	OT	ROW	PTS
Playoff Cutoff	GP	W	L	OT	ROW	PTS
Washington Capitals	71	51	15	5	47	107
New York Rangers	73	41	24	8	38	90
Pittsburgh Penguins	72	40	24	8	37	88
Florida Panthers	73	40	24	9	33	89
Tampa Bay Lightning	72	41	26	5	38	87
Boston Bruins	73	39	26	8	35	86
New York Islanders	71	38	24	9	34	85
Detroit Red Wings	72	36	25	11	34	83
Philadelphia Flyers	71	35	24	12	33	82
New Jersey Devils	73	35	31	7	33	77
Carolina Hurricanes	72	31	27	14	30	76
Ottawa Senators	73	34	31	8	28	76
Montreal Canadiens	73	33	34	6	28	72
Buffalo Sabres	73	29	34	10	27	68
Columbus Blue Jackets	72	29	35	8	24	66
Toronto Maple Leafs	72	26	35	11	20	63

Western Conference Standings

Central Division	GP	W	L	OT	ROW	PTS
Pacific Division	GP	W	L	OT	ROW	PTS
Wild Card	GP	W	L	OT	ROW	PTS
Playoff Cutoff	GP	W	L	OT	ROW	PTS
Dallas Stars	73	43	21	9	41	95
St. Louis Blues	73	42	22	9	37	93
Chicago Blackhawks	73	42	24	7	41	91
Los Angeles Kings	72	44	23	5	42	93
Anaheim Ducks	71	40	22	9	37	89
San Jose Sharks	72	41	25	6	38	88
Nashville Predators	73	37	23	13	34	87
Colorado Avalanche	73	38	31	4	34	80
Minnesota Wild	73	34	28	11	31	79
Arizona Coyotes	72	31	34	7	30	69
Calgary Flames	73	31	36	6	29	68
Vancouver Canucks	71	27	32	12	23	66
Edmonton Oilers	75	29	39	7	25	65
Winnipeg Jets	72	29	37	6	27	64

Stanley Cup Odds

Team	Odds	Money Line
Washington Capitals	7-2	+350
Chicago Blackhawks	13-2	+650
Anaheim Ducks	13-2	+650
Los Angeles Kings	8-1	+800
Dallas Stars	9-1	+900
St. Louis Blues	12-1	+1,200
Pittsburgh Penguins	14-1	+1,400
San Jose Sharks	14-1	+1,400
Florida Panthers	15-1	+1,500
Nashville Predators	15-1	+1,500
New York Rangers	15-1	+1,500
Tampa Bay Lightning	15-1	+1,500
Boston Bruins	18-1	+1,800
New York Islanders	20-1	+2,000
Detroit Red Wings	25-1	+2,500
Colorado Avalanche	30-1	+3,000
Minnesota Wild	30-1	+3,000
Philadelphia Flyers	50-1	+5,000
Carolina Hurricanes	125-1	+12,500
New Jersey Devils	125-1	+12,500
Ottawa Senators	150-1	+15,000
Montreal Canadiens	500-1	+50,000
Arizona Coyotes	1,000-1	+100,000
Buffalo Sabres	1,000-1	+100,000
Calgary Flames	1,000-1	+100,000
Columbus Blue Jackets	1,000-1	+100,000
Edmonton Oilers	1,000-1	+100,000
Vancouver Canucks	1,000-1	+100,000
Winnipeg Jets	1,000-1	+100,000
Toronto Maple Leafs	2,500-1	+250,000

Wild-Card Predictions

Eastern Conference

As things currently stand, the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings are in wild-card positions in the Eastern Conference with 85 and 83 points, respectively. Both teams still have a chance to make the playoffs by finishing among the top three teams in their division, but they could just as easily drop out of the running as well.

The Philadelphia Flyers are the most likely candidate to crash the party with 82 points in 71 games. They also have a game in hand on the Red Wings, which means they control their own destiny.

Philly is 7-2-1 in its past 10 contests, while the Isles are 4-4-2 and the Red Wings are 5-5, which means momentum is firmly on the side of the Flyers.

They also have some extremely hungry players who are desperate for a taste of playoff hockey, including forward Sam Gagner, according to Dave Isaac of the Courier-Post: 

"

There's always an end goal in mind, but I think what these games allow you to do is focus in on them. That's the exciting part. I think a lot of times when you see teams that are out of the playoffs and you're going down the stretch, there's such a big picture involved, there's so many things that creep into your head, whereas if you're in a playoff race it's a pretty singular focus. You're trying to win the game at hand, the task at hand and you're trying to move forward. That's exciting for me.

"

While the Islanders aren't out of the woods yet, the likeliest scenario seems to be that one of the Red Wings or Flyers will make the postseason, while the other will be left out.

Philadelphia and Detroit play each other on April 5, and the Flyers won the most recent meeting between the two teams on March 15. 

The Flyers are getting great production from a bevy of forwards as of late, including Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds, Jakub Voracek and Brayden Schenn, while rookie defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere has been a revelation with 39 points in 53 games.

Perhaps the only area of concern for Philadelphia is that goalie Michal Neuvirth is on the shelf with a lower-body injury that is expected to keep him out for three weeks, per Tom Dougherty of CSNPhilly.com.

That means the burden will be fully on Steve Mason's shoulders. Provided he continues to get plenty of offensive support like he has in recent weeks, though, look for the Flyers to steal the final wild-card spot and earn a first-round date with the Washington Capitals.

Western Conference

There may not be quite as much drama involved with the Western Conference wild-card race, but the battle between the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild is one that could come down to the wire.

The Nashville Predators have a comfortable seven-point lead over Colorado for the first wild-card spot, and they are just four points behind the Chicago Blackhawks for the No. 3 position in the Central Division, which suggests they are safely in.

Colorado leads Minnesota by just one point with the same amount of games played, and they have a pivotal matchup against each other Saturday, which could go a long way toward determining who nabs the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. 

The teams have been fairly even over the past 10 games, with the Wild picking up one more point than the Avs, but Minnesota has been a much different team over its past 18 games since John Torchetti took over as interim head coach for Mike Yeo.

The Wild are 11-6-1 under Torchetti, and they are scoring at will with the likes of Jason Pominville and Charlie Coyle hitting their stride especially.

Goalie Devan Dubnyk is also picking up the slack with two or less goals allowed in five of his past eight games on the heels of a 2014-15 season that saw him earn a Vezina Trophy nomination.

Colorado has a great deal of offensive firepower in its own right, but its defense corps has long been a question mark, and goalie Semyon Varlamov is having a somewhat pedestrian season with a goals-against average of just 2.66.

The Avalanche have allowed 18 more goals than the Wild this season, and their struggles in that area will ultimately come back to bite them with Minnesota making up the one-point deficit and seizing the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.