Entering the 2021 season, the East Division looked to be one of the toughest in the entire league. The Bruins, Capitals, Penguins and Flyers were all stable playoff contenders. The Devils, Sabres and Rangers were up-and-coming young teams. Now about halfway through the season, the standings are vey much what we predicted. But there is a twist with one team in particular.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are the only team in the NHL’s East Division that have not played either the New Jersey Devils or Buffalo Sabres yet. The Devils and the Sabres are the worst teams in the division both statistically, and let’s be honest… on paper.

Easy Schedule?

The NHL’s 2021 schedule has, of course, been changed due to the coronavirus. Games this season will only be played within a team’s division. This means that every team will have to play the other teams in their division eight times. For the most part, the NHL has tried to diversify these games as much as possible despite the limited number of teams pinned against one another.

The Penguins have 32 games remaining:

• 8 against Buffalo
• 8 against NJ
• 6 against Boston (4 in Pittsburgh)
• 3 against Rangers
• 3 against Philly
• 2 against Islanders
• 2 against Caps

They’ve survived the worst part of their schedule. Things are looking up.

— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) March 8, 2021

In early February, the New Jersey Devils had a COVID-19 outbreak when the Penguins were set to play them for the first time. These games have been rescheduled and now the Penguins will play the Devils and Sabres sixteen times in the second half of the season. This includes two back-to-backs with against the Sabres and two three-game series against the Devils. Sidney Crosby will not allow the Sabres knock his team out of the playoffs. The Penguins have already played the Islanders and Capitals six times on the season but are still currently third in the division with 31 points.

This begins an 11-game stretch in which Pens play 9 GP against teams currently below them in the standings. Five of those 9 GP are at home.

— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91) March 7, 2021

The Devils and Sabres are perhaps the only guaranteed teams from the East Division that will not make the playoffs this season. Both teams are going through a rebuild and have injuries to their top players. Sabres star Jack Eichel is currently out a week with an upper-body injury. Devils captain Nico Hischier is out with a concussion and a broken nose.

No clue what the Pens fanbase will do if they drop games to a Eichel-less Sabres team this week. https://t.co/Qkawrejczx

— Hunter (@HunterHodies) March 9, 2021

Struggling Teams

This leaves both teams with a limited depth not just from injuries, but from an overall team standpoint as they are both going through a rebuild. Star players on both teams have also struggled. Infamously in Buffalo, Taylor Hall only has two goals and Jeff Skinner has been a consistent healthy scratch. Both make a combined 17 million dollars against the cap. 

On the Devils side, they are a very young team with players such as Mikhail Maltsev, Yegor Sharangovich, Ty Smith and Mackenzie Blackwood having big roles on the team. The Devils veterans such as Kyle Palmieri, Travis Zajac and PK Subban are past their prime. The Devils are just waiting for that next generation of stars to kick in.

Experience Sabres hockey pic.twitter.com/UXT2119f06

— Leafs (@LeafsAllDayy) March 7, 2021

It is pretty clear that the Penguins are a far better team than both the Sabres and Devils on paper. But that doesn’t mean the Pens automatically get these 32 points given to them. The Sabres and Devils have upset teams this season already. The Devils have a winning record against the Bruins and the Sabres have yet to play Boston.

Below are the teams in the East and their overall point totals (as of March 10) along with their record against the Devils and Sabres with the total amount of points earned from these games at the end. The Capitals and Islanders, who are currently first and second in the division, have nearly half of their points against the Sabres and Devils. The Penguins are third in the division and have not played either team yet.

East records against the Sabres and Devils

Bruins (30 points) 1-2-1 vs Devils, 0-0-0 vs Sabres (3 points)

Rangers (23 points) 2-2-0 vs Devils, 2-1-0 vs Sabres (8 points)

Flyers (29 points) 2-0-0 vs Devils, 4-1-0 vs Sabres (12 points)

Isles (36 points) 2-1-0 vs Devils,  5-0-0 vs Sabres (14 points)

Caps (34 points) 4-0-0 vs Devils, 4-0-1 vs Sabres (17 points)

If the Penguins can be a better team than the Devils and Sabres on the ice just as they are on paper, playoffs are all but confirmed.  I personally don’t think the Penguins are Stanley Cup contenders anymore. Yet this team will make the playoffs, especially with the upcoming schedule that they have.

I did a whole video on the Penguins’ upcoming schedule on my YouTube channel which you can check out here. The upcoming schedule for the Penguins looks very promising. But the team still needs to kick it into full gear if they want to swallow as many points as they can.

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