In the NHL's Eastern Conference, specifically the Metropolitan Division, the battle for a wild card can't get much tighter than it is right now. Adam Proteau examines the race and which two teams he thinks will make it to the playoffs.

You can’t say that the NHL’s salary cap system hasn’t led to league parity. 

Across the NHL, there are already fascinating races for a Stanley Cup playoff spot throughout certain divisions, particularly the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference and the Pacific Division in the West. Today, we’re going to break down the East’s playoff picture, and on Thursday, we’ll turn our attention to the Western Conference.

In the Metro, a full seven of eight teams are within two points of being in a playoff position. Columbus is the only team you can say is out of the post-season mix. 

In the East overall, there are currently six teams in a battle for the two wild-card positions – that’s before including the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are only third in the Atlantic by one point over the Detroit Red Wings in the first wild-card spot. Only two points separate the sixth-in-the-group-of-six New Jersey Devils from the Red Wings. That’s about as razor-thin of a line between success and failure as it gets.

There’s a very real possibility one of the two Eastern divisions will earn five of the eight playoff seeds in the conference. That’s not an anomaly, as we can see the same thing happening in the West with the rejuvenated Pacific this year. But while nothing is for certain on that front, there’s more than likely going to be a playoff battle that will need the entire regular season to decide who’s in and who’s out.

One bad stretch – one couple of subpar weeks here or there – in the next little while could wind up being the difference between any one team missing and making the playoffs. Consistency is the name of the game in today’s NHL; if you can win more than you lose – and if you can find a way not to lose in regulation time – you’re going to have somewhat of a cushion to get you through the adversity that almost always comes at every team. And as we’ve seen this season, no teams have been perfect.

The Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning currently have the two wild-card slots, but we wouldn't be at all surprised if it's the Devils who wind up with the top wild-card berth and one of either the Penguins or Capitals in the second wild card. All five of those aforementioned teams are built to make the playoffs this season, but for four of them, there's only going to be a bitter exit after Game 82. That's just the reality of playing in a 32-team league.

All teams have faced tough times this year, and how they minimize their struggles is what ultimately makes one franchise a playoff-worthy unit and what makes another organization a heartbroken underachiever. It’s going to come down to the final days and weeks of the year to settle the playoff picture, and that will give us weeks of high-stakes hockey before the post-season even begins.