The NHL playoffs begin on April 18, and a handful of teams continue to jostle for playoff spots in each conference, including teams on the outside looking in that are surging. On Saturday, the New York Islanders not only moved out of a wild-card spot with their victory over the Florida Panthers, but jumped into second place in the Metropolitan Division.
Here’s how the playoff bracket would look as of Sunday morning, followed by analysis of each potential playoff team.
Eastern ConferenceCarolina Hurricanes (Metro 1) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (Wild-card 2)
The Hurricanes have been in the Eastern Conference final in two of the last three seasons. And with the Florida Panthers all but officially out of the playoff picture, this might be the Canes’ best chance of making the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2006. Rod Brind’Amour was captaining, not coaching, the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup 20 years ago. The Canes remain analytical darlings based off Corsi. But because of the surging Buffalo Sabres, who we’ll get to in a minute, there’s no guarantee Carolina will end the season as the East’s top seed. Carolina bounced back from a loss to Montreal and beat New Jersey on Saturday.
The final wild-card spot remains a revolving door. Columbus fell into the spot Saturday with a loss to San Jose, the Blue Jackets’ third loss in their last four games. Overall, Rick Bowness has rejuvenated a Blue Jackets squad that looked destined for another lost season. Since Bowness took over on Jan. 12, the Jackets are 19-5-4.
Remaining schedules:
Hurricanes (10 games): vs. Montreal (Sunday), at Columbus (Tuesday), vs. Columbus (Thursday), vs. New York Islanders (April 4), at Ottawa (April 5), vs. Boston (April 7), at Chicago (April 9), at Utah (April 11), at Philadelphia (April 13), at New York Islanders (April 14).
Blue Jackets (9 games): vs. Boston (Sunday), vs. Carolina (Tuesday), at Carolina (Thursday), vs. Winnipeg (April 4), at Detroit (April 7), at Buffalo (April 9), at Montreal (April 11), vs. Boston (April 12), vs. Washington (April 14).
New York Islanders (Metro 2) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (Metro 3)
The Islanders, with Matthew Schaefer blocking shots like he’s Ryan Pulock — and don’t forget goalie Ilya Sorokin — are surging with three wins in their last four games, and have been helped by Columbus’ recent stumbles. But at this point, second place in the division doesn’t guarantee anything.
The Penguins began this season as the likely landing spot for Gavin McKenna in the draft. Barring a season-ending catastrophe, Sidney Crosby and the Pens will return to the postseason for the first time in four years. But it’s been bumpy of late, with one win in their last four games. Still, it’s been an admirable turnaround for the Pens, who went from crumbling empire to playoff dark horse under first-year head coach Dan Muse. And thanks to their draft-pick stockpile — 15 picks in the first three rounds over the next three years — they could be building a promising future.
Remaining schedules:
Islanders (8 games): vs. Pittsburgh (Monday), at Buffalo (Tuesday), vs. Philadelphia (Friday), at Carolina (April 4), vs. Toronto (April 9), vs. Ottawa (April 11), vs. Montreal (April 12), vs. Carolina (April 14).
Penguins (9 games): at New York Islanders (Monday), vs. Detroit (Tuesday), at Tampa Bay (Thursday), vs. Florida (April 4), vs. Florida (April 5), at New Jersey (April 9), vs. Washington (April 11), at Washington (April 12), at St. Louis (April 14).
Buffalo Sabres (Atlantic 1) vs. Boston Bruins (Wild-card 1)
Sabres fans, hopefully you don’t mind your bandwagon filling up. Everyone is just happy you’ve become a virtual lock for the playoffs. We haven’t seen you in the playoffs since 2011. Buffalo ended an 0-1-2 skid on Saturday with a shootout win over Seattle.
The Sabres’ playoff chances were once as low as 10.2 percent in December. Now they’re leading the Atlantic Division and their best players are leading the way — as many thought they would, with all the potential they’d accumulated over the years. Even journeyman goalie Alex Lyon has been a revelation, posting some of the best numbers of his career.
And then you have the Bruins, who are in a wild-card spot while having a strong home record (27-10-1). A big reason why is the play of Jeremy Swayman, who has the second-best goals-saved above expected rate behind Washington’s Logan Thompson. Boston will need all the home fortune they can muster, since they have only three home games remaining among their final nine games.
Remaining schedules:
Sabres (8 games): vs. New York Islanders (Tuesday), at Ottawa (Thursday), at Washington (April 4), vs. Tampa Bay (April 6), at New York Rangers (April 8), vs. Columbus (April 9), at Chicago (April 13), vs. Dallas (April 15).
Bruins (9 games): at Columbus (Sunday), vs. Dallas (Tuesday), at Florida (Thursday), at Tampa Bay (April 4), at Philadelphia (April 5), at Carolina (April 7), vs. Tampa Bay (April 11), at Columbus (April 12), vs. New Jersey (April 14).
Tampa Bay Lightning (Atlantic 2) vs. Montreal Canadiens (Atlantic 3)
Tampa Bay might not win its division, thanks to Buffalo. But when the playoffs begin, don’t be surprised if the Lightning are still considered the favorites. The Lightning have the highest odds to make the Final and win this year, according to The Athletic’s model. Of course, they’re led by Hart Trophy candidate Nikita Kucherov and Vezina Trophy candidate Andrei Vasilevskiy, and have arguably the best coach in the league in Jon Cooper plus a veteran-heavy supporting cast. But remember, the Lightning haven’t gotten out of the first round since 2021-2022, when they advanced to the Final. They had Corey Perry on that team. No wonder they brought him back.
The Canadiens could return to the playoffs under coach Martin St. Louis, who might relish the opportunity to coach against the team he won a Stanley Cup with two decades ago. What’s also funny — or infuriating, depending on which team you support — is that the Canadiens were locked in a rebuild the last time the Lightning were in the Final four years ago. Now the Canadiens are ascending with Cole Caufield scoring on Hockey Night in Canada and Nick Suzuki creeping toward the 100-point plateau.
Remaining schedules:
Lightning (10 games): vs. Nashville (Sunday), vs. Montreal (Tuesday), vs. Pittsburgh (Thursday), vs. Boston (April 4), at Buffalo (April 6), at Ottawa (April 7), at Montreal (April 9), at Boston (April 11), vs. Detroit (April 13), vs. New York Rangers (April 15).
Canadiens (10 games): at Carolina (Sunday), at Tampa Bay (Tuesday), at New York Rangers (Thursday), at New Jersey (April 4), vs. New Jersey (April 5), vs. Florida (April 7), vs. Tampa Bay (April 9), vs. Columbus (April 11), at New York Islanders (April 12), at Philadelphia (April 14).
Other playoff candidates
Ottawa Senators (86 points, one behind Blue Jackets) Detroit Red Wings (86 points), Philadelphia Flyers (84 points).
Western ConferenceColorado Avalanche (Central 1) vs. Nashville Predators (Wild-card 2)
The Avalanche were the first team to reach 100 points this season, and it’s a squad that’s been dominant since the beginning of the season. You’re more than familiar with marquee names Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. But the Avs also have the league’s best goaltender in goals-against average and save percentage in Scott Wedgewood. Colorado has the best offense (3.68 goals per game) and defense (2.46 goals allowed per game), and the second-ranked penalty kill (83.7 percent). Why didn’t we mention the power play? We’d rather not. (It’s tied for sixth-worst in the league at 17.2 percent.)
Nashville’s surge is more recent. They had a five-game winning streak but now have lost consecutive games. These are the same Predators who sold pieces at the deadline while keeping veterans Ryan O’Reilly, Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault. If you’re wondering about their chances of staying afloat in the playoff chase, they’re still an arm’s length from the Winnipeg Jets and also must fend off underachieving Pacific Division teams.
Remaining schedules:
Avalanche (10 games): vs. Calgary (Monday), vs. Vancouver (Wednesday), at Dallas (April 4), vs. St. Louis (April 5), at St. Louis (April 7), vs. Calgary (April 9), vs. Vegas (April 11), at Edmonton (April 13), at Calgary (April 14), vs. Seattle (April 16).
Predators (9 games): at Tampa Bay (Sunday), at Los Angeles (Thursday), at San Jose (April 4), at Los Angeles (April 6), at Anaheim (April 7), at Utah (April 9), vs. Minnesota (April 11), vs. San Jose (April 13), vs. Anaheim (April 16).
Dallas Stars (Central 2) vs. Minnesota Wild (Central 3)
Thanks to the current playoff format, two of the NHL’s top five teams are on a collision course to face each other in the opening round. As entertaining a series as Dallas-Minnesota would be, wouldn’t it be more fun to see them play each other in the second or third round? Commissioner Gary Bettman doesn’t think so!
The Stars hope to return to the Western Conference final for the fourth consecutive year. With a new coach behind the bench in Glen Gulutzan, they pose a significant threat with Mikko Rantanen, Wyatt Johnston, Jason Robertson, Miro Heiskanen and Jake Oettinger. Dallas has a top-10 offense and allows the second-fewest goals in the league. They haven’t lost their luster as Cup contenders, but a big decision awaits them this offseason with Robertson headed toward restricted free agency and captain Jamie Benn’s contract expiring this summer. The time to strike is now.
That motto has also rung true in Minnesota. Last September, the Wild signed Kirill Kaprizov to a lengthy extension. Months later, they swung for the fences and acquired superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes from Vancouver. They made ancillary tweaks at the deadline, landing pieces such as Nick Foligno, Michael McCarron, Bobby Brink and Jeff Petry. Should they have landed a center such as Vincent Trocheck? Maybe. But this is a strong Wild team armed with a strong goaltending tandem of Filip Gustavsson and Jesper Wallstedt. This would be the strongest matchup of the opening round if the postseason began today.
Remaining schedules:
Stars (9 games): at Philadelphia (Sunday), at Boston (Tuesday), vs. Winnipeg (Thursday), vs. Colorado (April 4), vs. Calgary (April 7), vs. Minnesota (April 9), vs. New York Rangers (April 11), at Toronto (April 13), at Buffalo (April 15).
Wild (8 games): vs. Vancouver (Thursday), at Ottawa (April 4), at Detroit (April 5), vs. Seattle (April 7), at Dallas (April 9), at Nashville (April 11), at St. Louis (April 13), vs. Anaheim (April 14).
Anaheim Ducks (Pacific 1) vs. Utah Mammoth (Wild-card 1)
Thanks to uninspiring play from Vegas and Edmonton, which is clearly missing Leon Draisaitl, the upstart Ducks are in the driver’s seat for the Pacific Division title. But what’s great for the Ducks is that their youth — especially Cutter Gauthier, Leo Carlsson and Beckett Sennecke — is leading the way while being insulated by veterans. They even added John Carlson from the Capitals for a well-deserved playoff push.
The Mammoth have been building toward playoff contention for some time, even when they were still the Arizona Coyotes, thanks to the youth they assembled. At the trade deadline, the front office rewarded their efforts by adding MacKenzie Weegar. Thanks to their underlying metrics — their expected goals and Corsi have them rubbing shoulders with Cup-contending teams — it’s worth wondering if the Mammoth might do more than just hang around in the first round of the playoffs. And that’s regardless of who they face.
Remaining schedules:
Ducks (9 games): vs. Toronto (Monday), at San Jose (Wednesday), vs. St. Louis (Friday), vs. Calgary (April 4), vs. Nashville (April 7), vs. San Jose (April 9), vs. Vancouver (April 12), at Minnesota (April 14), at Nashville (April 16).
Mammoth (8 games): at Seattle (Thursday), at Vancouver (April 4), vs. Edmonton (April 7), vs. Nashville (April 9), vs. Carolina (April 11), at Calgary (April 12), vs. Winnipeg (April 14), vs. St. Louis (April 16).
Edmonton Oilers (Pacific 2) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (Pacific 3)
In previous years, we’d salivate at a Vegas-Edmonton matchup, with two of the league’s best teams trading paint. Intrigue remains, but it’s focused a bit more on why things haven’t gone exactly as planned in a weak Pacific Division. Connor McDavid recently likened the division to a “pillow fight.”
Edmonton has been trying to hold the fort until Draisaitl comes back for the playoffs — McDavid can only do so much — but the Oilers have won three consecutive games. Connor Ingram will likely get the lion’s share of starts in goal because Tristan Jarry just hasn’t worked out as a sufficient replacement for Stuart Skinner. That said, the Oilers should have enough horsepower to hold off the teams below them.
The Golden Knights made the big splash for Mitch Marner last offseason. He’s a point-per-game player, but that’s still a drop from his career-best 102-point season last year with the Maple Leafs. And the spotlight will remain on him to deliver in the playoffs. Vegas made another splash for Rasmus Andersson this season, and he’s fallen short of expectations since joining Vegas. And for some reason, Vegas hasn’t been able to consistently knock off playoff teams in the regular season.
Remaining schedules:
Oilers (8 games): vs. Seattle (Tuesday), vs. Chicago (Thursday), vs. Vegas (April 4), at Utah (April 7), at San Jose (April 8), at Los Angeles (April 11), vs. Colorado (April 13), vs. Vancouver (April 16).
Golden Knights (98games): vs. Vancouver (Monday), vs. Calgary (Thursday), at Edmonton (April 4), at Vancouver (April 7), at Seattle (April 9), at Colorado (April 11), vs. Winnipeg (April 13), vs. Seattle (April 15).
Other playoff candidates
Los Angeles Kings (76 points, one point behind Nashville), Seattle Kraken (75 points), Winnipeg Jets (74 points), San Jose Sharks (73 points), St. Louis Blues (73 points).
(Statistics from Hockey-Reference, NHL.com, MoneyPuck and Natural Stat Trick.)