Buys and Sells: Sorting Out the Eastern Conference Playoff Race

Each Friday throughout the season, I'll provide you with my predictions on whose stock is on the rise and whose is failing miserably like the American job market pretty much everything these days. It's a neat little segment entitled Buys and Sells. There are a few teams/players/issues to buy and a few to sell.

The playoff race in the middle of the Eastern Conference has taken a lot of twists and turns over the past week. The Rangers fired their coach and hired another, the Penguins shipped off Ryan Whitney and the Buffalo Sabres lost their starting goalie to an ankle injury.

The playoff race in the middle of the Eastern Conference has taken a lot of twists and turns over the past week. The Rangers fired their coach and hired another, the Penguins shipped off Ryan Whitney and the Buffalo Sabres lost their starting goalie to an ankle injury.

Despite all that, the race to get knocked out by Boston or Washington is still close around the eighth spot. As of this morning, the fifth place Montreal Canadiens are separated from the ninth place Carolina Hurricanes by only five points. Three points behind the Canes are the Pittsburgh Penguins. It's a very, very close race. Today, we'll take a look at how this week's stories have changed the complexion of this tight race.

Sell: The Sabres' playoff chances. The Buffalo Sabres were the victims of some very poor luck when their star netminder Ryan Miller collided with Scott Gomez last weekend. Miller is out indefinitely with an ankle injury and Patrick Lalime is now the starter. Lalime, who I wouldn't trust with my team's playoff push, has given up only four goals in two starts since Miller went down. The problem is the Sabres are 0-1-1 during that time thanks to a lack of offense. Miller was having a great season in Buffalo and, I hate to say it, but I can't see the Sabres getting in without him. Mainly because I don't trust a team that's relying on Lalime for the stretch run.

Buy: Pittsburgh sending Ryan Whitney packing. When the Penguins dealt Whitney to the Ducks yesterday, they were dealing from a position of depth and acquiring something they needed -- a talented winger. Now, Chris Kunitz isn't the Holy Grail Winger for Sidney Crosby that Pens fans have been hoping for, but he's certainly going to help the cause. He's a tough guy who can stand up for the Croz -- another thing the Pens desperately need -- and can help put points on the board. The Pens have been enigmatic all year, but Kunitz will give them a push in the right direction.

Buy: John Tortorella getting the Rangers into the playoffs. The Rangers have scored only two goals in Tortorella's first two games behind the bench in New York. However, if anyone is going to light a fire under this team, it's gonna be Torts (or maybe Billy Mays). And even if he doesn't work any magic, the Rangers could easily benefit from the injury to Miller and the on again off again play of Carolina and Pittsburgh. It seems to me there are four teams slowly sinking in the Eastern and the Rangers are the most buoyant of them all.