Stanley Cup Playoff Push 2026: If Three's a Crowd, What's Five?

We are almost a week into the month of April, and we are down to the final dozen days of the regular season. Time is definitely running out for a lot of teams. It ended up running out for a few others. More teams were eliminated this past week, and one of them was the Toronto Maple Leafs. It will not be 10 in a row for the Leafs, and for team captain Auston Matthews, it's the first time in his career that he'll miss the playoffs. It's almost like the Leafs shouldn't have traded Mitch Marner. Oh wait, they shouldn't have!

Another team who will not be in this year's playoffs? The team who won them back-to-back: the Florida Panthers. It's surprising, but it's not. No Matthew Tkachuk for half a season, and no Sasha Barkov for all of it equals any chances of a three-peat being squashed. So those are some wild developments, but the playoff picture is still quite interesting. Let's take a look:

Atlantic Division

The Atlantic Division is a total dogfight. The Tampa Bay Lightning lead with 102 points, while the Montréal Canadiens and the Buffalo Sabres are close behind with 100 each. The Habs' game in hand actually moves them ahead of a Sabres team who is slipping just a little bit. Even so, it also means that while the first and third place teams are officially in the playoffs, the second place Habs aren't. Yet. The Canadiens are just one point away from returning to the playoffs, and it could come as early as Sunday.

Metropolitan Division

The Carolina Hurricanes are closing in on winning the Metropolitan; only one point away from locking up the division. Regarding second place, the Pittsburgh Penguins are moving themselves away from their competition, as they are getting points at the right time. Pittsburgh has 94 points, sitting five points ahead of the New York Islanders, who are barely hanging on to third place. The Isles have lost four straight, and they are one point ahead of not only the Columbus Blue Jackets for third place, but also the Philadelphia Flyers, who I thought were out of it completely.

Wild Card Race

Normally, I only talk about the two teams above the Wild Card line, but the race in both conferences is so cluttered right now, even with less than two weeks left. The Boston Bruins look like they'll at least be locked in at WC1, but WC2 is monstrous right now. 88 appears to be the magic number. Four teams have that exact total, and even the sputtering Washington Capitals have a realistic shot. The same Capitals were once about one or two losses away from being screwed, but because so many teams are slipping on banana peels, Washington can sneak right in. The two teams doing the most slipping right now: the Red Wings and Blue Jackets. Columbus has lost six straight. Detroit can't buy wins lately, and they better get on the ball right now, because guess what? With Buffalo officially in the playoffs, the Red Wings are the new owners of the longest current playoff drought, and if they don't get cracking right now, that drought will reach a full decade.

Central Division

I said this before, and I'll happily say it again: Dallas, you are fucked. The Stars are the coldest team out of the Central's Top 3 right now. Remember that win over the Avalanche on March 18? Since then: 2-5-2, and they just got shut out at home by an Avs team who didn't have Cale Makar. We will get Stars vs Wild in Round 1, because the Avs are one win away from winning the Central. Dallas is four points ahead of Minnesota for second place, but honestly, I don't think it'll matter. Minnesota's beating them out regardless of who ends up with home ice in that series.

Pacific Division

There are 12 days left in the regular season, and the Leon Draisaitl-less Edmonton Oilers are actually in first place in the Pacific. Winning seven of 10 while the Anaheim Ducks lose five straight (the last two to teams on lif support) definitely helps. The Vegas Golden Knights still have their problems, but get this: they blasted the Oilers in Edmonton. The Pacific has its moments, but it is still the NHL's equivalent of the NFC South this year. We will not see a 100-point team in the Pacific this year; crazy, considering the Pacific was represented in the last three Cup Finals.

Wild Card Race

Here's the funny thing about this: this isn't all of it. The St. Louis Blues and the Seattle Kraken also have something resembling an outside shot, with the Blues being 6-2-2 in their last 10 games. Here's another funny thing, though it's not really a laughing matter. The Los Angeles Kings have lost nineteen games past regulation. Yet they're not only tied with the Nashville Predators in points (NSH has the edge in Regulation Wins), they are actually six points behind first place Edmonton and second place Anaheim! If they had turned so much as half of their OT/SO losses into wins, they'd be running away with the Pacific right now! The San Jose Sharks still have a chance to reach the playoffs for the first time in this decade, but that loss to Nashville did not help matters. The Winnipeg Jets are three points out, but they are running out of time as well. I mentioned the Predators and Kings being tied. Guess what? They face each other on Monday. Oh yeah!

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12 days remain in the regular season. Twelve days. I can't believe we are this close to the end. We are this close to the puzzle being completed, and we are this close to seeing playoff hockey with 20-minute OT periods. This is going to be a wild final dozen days, especially with races being so tight and close! I know this: my proverbial seatbelts are definitely fastened!