Current NHL Playoff Picture: 8 Matchups and Teams on the Brink

Mo. Basuony

Published: April 6, 2026 8:24 PM ET

Current NHL Playoff Picture: 8 Matchups and Teams on the Brink

Twelve days remain before the Stanley Cup playoffs begin. Several division races and wild-card spots still hang in the balance.

Buffalo, Tampa Bay and Montreal clinched berths over the weekend. Yet many first-round opponents remain unsettled. Some contenders are losing momentum heading into the stretch.

Eastern Conference snapshot

Below is a look at the likely first-round pairings if the postseason began on Monday. This current NHL playoff picture shows favored teams and tight races.

Tampa Bay Lightning (Atlantic 1) vs. Boston Bruins (Wild-Card 1)

Tampa Bay still projects as the East favorite. Jon Cooper is a candidate for the Jack Adams Award. Nikita Kucherov has recorded 29 points in his last 14 games.

Andrei Vasilevskiy is among the Vezina front-runners. Boston boasts Jeremy Swayman, who leads the league in goals-saved-above-expected at 28.5. The matchup would test two elite goaltenders.

Lightning remaining: at Buffalo (Mon), at Ottawa (Tue), at Montreal (Thu), at Boston (Sat), vs. Detroit (Apr 13), vs. Rangers (Apr 15).
Bruins remaining: at Carolina (Tue), vs. Tampa Bay (Sat), at Columbus (Sun), vs. New Jersey (Apr 14).

Buffalo Sabres (Atlantic 2) vs. Montreal Canadiens (Atlantic 3)

Buffalo clinched a playoff spot but entered the week after back-to-back losses. The Sabres still have winnable games remaining.

Montreal remains one of the league’s hottest teams. Cole Caufield needs one more goal to reach 50 for the first time in his career. No Canadiens player has reached that mark since Stephane Richer in 1990.

Sabres remaining: vs. Tampa Bay (Mon), at Rangers (Wed), vs. Columbus (Thu), at Chicago (Apr 13), vs. Dallas (Apr 15).
Canadiens remaining: vs. Florida (Tue), vs. Tampa Bay (Thu), vs. Columbus (Sat), at Islanders (Sun), at Philadelphia (Apr 14).

Carolina Hurricanes (Metro 1) vs. Ottawa Senators (Wild-Card 2)

Carolina has seven wins in its last 10 games. The Hurricanes combine a top-five offense with strong chance suppression.

Ottawa controls its own wild-card destiny after beating Carolina on Sunday. Jake Sanderson has returned from injury, though Ottawa still deals with defensive absences.

Hurricanes remaining: vs. Boston (Tue), at Chicago (Thu), at Utah (Sat), at Philadelphia (Apr 13), at Islanders (Apr 14).
Senators remaining: vs. Tampa Bay (Tue), vs. Florida (Thu), at Islanders (Sat), at Devils (Apr 12), vs. Toronto (Apr 15).

Pittsburgh Penguins (Metro 2) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (Metro 3)

Pittsburgh appears locked into a top-three Metro seed. Sidney Crosby recorded his 21st straight season averaging at least a point per game. Evgeni Malkin reached 1,400 career points.

Dan Muse became the sixth Penguins coach in team history to win 40 games in his first season. Philadelphia has won seven of its last 10 and vaulted into third with an OT win over Boston.

Penguins remaining: at New Jersey (Thu), vs. Washington (Sat), at Washington (Sun), at St. Louis (Apr 14).
Flyers remaining: at New Jersey (Tue), at Detroit (Thu), at Winnipeg (Sat), vs. Carolina (Apr 13), vs. Montreal (Apr 14).

Other Eastern contenders include the Islanders (89 points), Detroit (88), Columbus (88) and Washington (87). These teams are still fighting to secure spots.

Western Conference snapshot

The West features tight divisional battles and contested wild-card races. Below are the most likely first-round matchups.

Colorado Avalanche (Central 1) vs. Nashville Predators (Wild-Card 2)

Colorado missed a win over St. Louis on Sunday but remains in position for the Presidents’ Trophy. Nathan MacKinnon has hit the 50-goal plateau for the second time.

Nashville starts the week holding a wild-card spot. The Predators are tied with Los Angeles on points for that place, but Nashville holds the tiebreaker through regulation wins.

Avalanche remaining: at St. Louis (Tue), vs. Calgary (Thu), vs. Vegas (Sat), at Edmonton (Apr 13), at Calgary (Apr 14), vs. Seattle (Apr 16).
Predators remaining: at Los Angeles (Mon), at Anaheim (Tue), at Utah (Thu), vs. Minnesota (Sat), vs. San Jose (Apr 13), vs. Anaheim (Apr 16).

Dallas Stars (Central 2) vs. Minnesota Wild (Central 3)

This matchup has been mostly set for some time. Home-ice advantage still matters, with Dallas holding a narrow lead.

The Stars have won only three of their last 10 games. Dom Luszczyszyn’s model ties Dallas with Vegas for the fourth-highest odds to reach the Cup Final.

Stars remaining: vs. Calgary (Tue), vs. Minnesota (Thu), vs. Rangers (Sat), at Toronto (Apr 13), at Buffalo (Apr 15).
Wild remaining: vs. Seattle (Tue), at Dallas (Thu), at Nashville (Sat), at St. Louis (Apr 13), vs. Anaheim (Apr 14).

Edmonton Oilers (Pacific 1) vs. Utah Mammoth (Wild-Card 1)

The Pacific lead remains unsettled between Edmonton and Anaheim. Connor McDavid has six goals and 12 points in his last nine games without Leon Draisaitl.

Utah sits in a wild-card slot and has won six of its last 10. The Mammoth face Edmonton on Tuesday in a possible playoff preview.

Oilers remaining: at Utah (Tue), at San Jose (Wed), at Los Angeles (Sat), vs. Colorado (Apr 13), vs. Vancouver (Apr 16).
Mammoth remaining: vs. Edmonton (Tue), vs. Nashville (Thu), vs. Carolina (Sat), at Calgary (Apr 12), vs. Winnipeg (Apr 14), vs. St. Louis (Apr 16).

Anaheim Ducks (Pacific 2) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (Pacific 3)

Anaheim held the division lead for weeks but has cooled. A five-game winless run has shifted the standings.

Vegas is 3-0 under new coach John Tortorella. The Golden Knights regained confidence after a win over Edmonton. Pete DeBoer’s hiring by the Islanders drew headlines on Sunday.

Ducks remaining: vs. Nashville (Tue), vs. San Jose (Thu), vs. Vancouver (Sun), at Minnesota (Apr 14), at Nashville (Apr 16).
Golden Knights remaining: at Vancouver (Tue), at Seattle (Thu), at Colorado (Sat), vs. Winnipeg (Apr 13), vs. Seattle (Apr 15).

Other Western candidates include Los Angeles (81 points, tied with Nashville), San Jose (79), Winnipeg (78) and St. Louis (78). Those teams remain in the playoff conversation.