A look at what it might take to make the postseason
94.2 – The average number of points needed to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference over the last six 82-game seasons, with no team making the cut with fewer than 94 points over that span (with the exception of last season, when all eight Eastern playoff teams topped 100 points but would have made the cut at 85).
The Caps are currently sitting at 60 points through their first 53 games, which is about a 92-93 point pace… and that means they may need to pick it up just a bit if they’re hoping to get into the postseason for a ninth-consecutive year. With 29 games remaining, they’ll likely want to bring their points percentage up from .566 to least .590 the rest of the way in order to put themselves into a playoff spot by mid-April (and higher if they want to do so comfortably).