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NHL wild card race watch: Final games will determine Pacific Division standings originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
It’s the latest installment of the Wild Card Watch – a The Sporting News series in which we focus the spotlight on the NHL’s wild card races.
The races are over, at least in terms of the 16 teams that will be playing in the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs, but there’s still a race for positioning in the Western Conference’s post-season picture.
The final stretch of the season changed not only the order of the teams from 7th–10th in the Eastern and Western conferences, but also the teams that ultimately earned one of the four available playoff spots.
Without further ado, let’s break down the latest Wild Card Watch:
Eastern Conference:
- 7th Place –Boston Bruins (100 points)
- 8th Place –Ottawa Senators (99 points)
- 9th Place –Washington Capitals(95 points)
- 10th Place –Detroit Red Wings (92 points)
The Lowdown: The Bruins and Senators held onto the two playoff spots in the East, and because the rest of the East’s positions are now confirmed, it’s fair to say Boston and Ottawa will have their hands full when Round 1 of the playoffs begins. The Bruins will be taking on the Buffalo Sabres in the opening round, while the Senators will square off against the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Capitals did make a late push to squeeze into a playoff spot, going 8-2-1 in their final 13 games, but in the end, the crater they created in the first half of the season was too big for the Caps to crawl out from. Meanwhile, other teams tried to earn a playoff spot and failed, including the New York Islanders and Columbus Blue Jackets. But Ottawa was gutsy when they needed to be, winning four of their final five games. And Boston overcame a five-game losing skid to win their final two games of the year.
MORE: NHL power rankings: Final look before 2025-26 season concludes
But by far the biggest disappointments were the Blue Jackets and Red Wings. Columbus flirted with a playoff berth despite their 18-19-7 start to the season, but they completely collapsed from the final week of March onward. From that point, they went 2-8-1 and had coach Rick Bowness call them out in the wake of their final game of the season. There should be great change coming for the Jackets this summer, but for now, Columbus’ streak of years without playoff hockey will extend to six seasons.
As for the Red Wings, they also have to make big changes in the wake of their 10th straight year without playoff hockey. Wings GM Steve Yzerman could lose his job because his team could not manage even a decent effort, going 3-7-2 in their final dozen games. There’s no good excuse for Detroit’s players to have laid the egg they laid, and the status quo can’t be an option for this organization.
MORE: "Brutal, Horrible": Red Wings Sound Off After Lopsided Loss To Panthers
Western Conference:
- 7th Place – Utah Mammoth (92 points)
- 8th Place –Los Angeles Kings (90 points)
- 9th Place –Nashville Predators (86 points)
- 10th Place – San Jose Sharks (84 points)
The Lowdown: For much of the second half of the season, the Mammoth looked locked into the first wild-card berth in the West. They weren’t going to catch the Central Division powerhouse teams: Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, and Minnesota Wild, but Utah had a healthy lead over other teams battling for a wild-card spot. However, slowly but surely, the Mammoth lost that lead. But with one game left in the season for many Western Conference teams, Utah hung onto that spot.
The Mammoth’s first-round opponent is now determined, the Vegas Golden Knights, but the Pacific Division is still in flux. Two of the three teams atop the Pacific, the second-place Edmonton Oilers and the third-place Anaheim Ducks, could all slide down into the final wild card spot currently occupied by the Kings.
MORE: NHL Releases Game 1 Schedule For First Round
So while it’s hard to project what the first-round playoff series will be in the West, you can say with certainty two specific things: the Stars/Wild series will be the most-anticipated series in either conference, and the Avalanche will be the prohibitive favorite to demolish whoever has the misfortune of finishing in the second and final wild card berth.
Elsewhere, the Predators almost earned a playoff spot, but they went 4-5-1 in their last 10 games. They’re at a crossroads of sorts, with a new GM to be hired this summer, but the Preds are a textbook case of a ‘Mushy Middle’ team – not good enough to be a playoff team, and not bad enough to get a top draft pick. They’re not likely to be a playoff team anytime soon.
Finally, the Kings earned a playoff spot by winning five of their final six games. Los Angeles still may be turfed early in the post-season, especially if they stay in the second wild-card spot and have to take on the Avalanche in the opening round. But regardless, playoff hockey will be played in two of the three California NHL markets. That will make league marketers very happy.
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