Tim Kavanagh is a senior NHL editor for ESPN. He’s a native of upstate New York.
As the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins get set for Saturday night’s game (8 ET, ABC and ESPN+), they are both in great shape to qualify for the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs. According to FiveThirtyEight, the Rangers have a greater than 99% chance of making the postseason, while the Penguins’ chances are 73%. But what happens when they get there? And could they meet again for another epic showdown like last year’s?
The Rangers are on track for a first-round matchup against their Hudson River rival New Jersey Devils. The Devils won the first tilt between the teams 5-3 on Nov. 28. Each has won a 4-3 overtime decision in the time since, and they’ll play again on March 30.
Money Puck gives the Rangers a 26.1% chance of making the second round of the playoffs (where they’d potentially meet the Penguins again), 15.8% chance of making the conference final, 2.0% chance of making the Stanley Cup Final, and 0.7% chance of winning it all.
As for the Penguins, they appear poised to take on the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round. The Pens have lost two games cleanly to the Canes and two other games in OT; however, all of those were during the “we have Andrei Svechnikov in the lineup” era of Canes 2022-23 hockey. A lineup without Svechnikov would theoretically be less powerful.
Despite Svechnikov’s absence, Money Puck doesn’t love the Pens’ chances of winning the series, but it does offer a slightly rosier picture than the Rangers’ if they do get past the Metro Division: It’s a 25.2% chance for a trip to the second round, 10.6% chance of making the conference final, 4.4% chance of making the Stanley Cup Final, and 1.9% chance of winning the Cup.
As we enter the final stretch of the regular season, it’s time to check all the playoff races — along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2023 NHL draft lottery.
Note: All times Eastern. All games not on ESPN, TNT or NHL Network are available via NHL Power Play, which is included in an ESPN+ subscription (local blackout restrictions apply).
Points: 83 Regulation wins: 30 Playoff position: WC1 Games left: 14 Points pace: 100 Next game: vs. EDM (Saturday) Playoff chances: 93% Tragic number: N/A
Points: 76 Regulation wins: 25 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 13 Points pace: 90 Next game: vs. DAL (Saturday) Playoff chances: 26% Tragic number: 23
Points: 63 Regulation wins: 18 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 15 Points pace: 77 Next game: @ LA (Saturday) Playoff chances: <1% Tragic number: 14
Points: 56 Regulation wins: 13 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 13 Points pace: 67 Next game: vs. VAN (Sunday) Playoff chances: <1% Tragic number: 3
Points: 52 Regulation wins: 14 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 13 Points pace: 62 Next game: vs. NYI (Saturday) Playoff chances: 0% Tragic number: E
Race for the No. 1 pick
The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team might move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the draw for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process can be found here. Sitting No. 1 on the draft board for this summer is Connor Bedard, who has been lauded as a generational talent.
Chamblee was an ESPN 300 recruit and ranked as the No. 2 overall prospect in Arkansas in 2022. He’s 6-foot-6, 300 pounds and started eight games last season as a redshirt freshman. He’ll have three years of eligibility remaining.
Chamblee marks the 20th power conference transfer that SMU has taken since the opening of the December transfer portal and is arguably the most decorated of all of them. He’s the second offensive lineman from Arkansas, as interior lineman Paris Patterson committed to SMU in recent days.
SMU is coming off an 11-3 season that saw them finish the year ranked No. 22 in the Associated Press postseason poll. SMU enters the ACC next season, a move powered by the school’s wealthy boosters and ambitions to stay relevant in the changing college football landscape.
Snoop Dogg is getting into the college football bowl business with a historic sponsorship that recognizes his 1993 hit song and recent beverage line with Dr. Dre, “Gin & Juice.”
The rapper on Monday revealed the new Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl presented by Gin & Juice By Dre and Snoop, announcing his intent “to bring the juice back to college football.” The game, previously sponsored by Barstool Sports, will take place Dec. 28 in Tucson, Arizona, and pair teams from the Mountain West and Mid-American conferences.
The partnership marks the first with an alcohol product as the presenting sponsor of an NCAA-sanctioned bowl game. In February, the new beverage company introduced “Gin & Juice” as their first ready-to-drink product — a nod to Snoop Dogg’s hit from the album “Doggystyle,” produced by Dr. Dre and Death Row Records.
“The Arizona Bowl is bringing sports, libations and entertainment into a singular bowl game, and we are changing the definition of what a brand partnership is in the NCAA,” Kym Adair, executive director of the Arizona Bowl, said in a statement.
PlayFly Premier Partnerships, a sports media and marketing company that has worked with the Arizona Bowl since 2021, finalized the agreement between Snoop Dogg and the bowl game.
“College football fans are exhausted by the constant talk around NIL, conference realignment, coach movement, transfer portal and super conferences, so it’s time that we get back to the roots of college football,” Snoop Dogg said in announcing the partnership on social media. “When it was focused on the colleges, the players, the competition, the community, the fan experience and the pageantry. … So it’s only fitting that I step up and get this thing right.”
Snoop Dogg has long been involved in football, launching the Snoop Youth Football League in 2005 and often attending USC practices and games. His son Cordell Broadus initially signed to play wide receiver at UCLA but ended up stepping away from the sport.
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday recognized the U.S. Military Academy with the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy for besting other service academies in football.
Army beat the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy during last year’s season. The college, based in West Point, New York, posted an overall win-loss record of 6-6, including a 57-point victory over Delaware State University, one of Biden’s favorite schools.
With Biden in the White House’s East Room on Monday were 48 cadets who are set later this month to receive their diplomas and their military commissions.
“Everyone on this stage stepped up to serve, to lead, to join a long line of American servicemen, each a link of chain of honor,” Biden said to the Army football team players who gathered around him.