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The 2025-26 NHL season is approaching the league’s March 6 trade deadline, and in this new series for The Sporting News, we’re focusing on the wild card races in the Eastern and Western Conferences.
The parity in the league makes earning a wild card spot an exceedingly tough task for even well-constructed teams. And with only a few hours left until the trade deadline, there’s pressure on teams, whether they’re in seventh or eighth place in their conference or whether they’re in ninth or 10th place.
Our Wild Card Watch series starts right away as we examine what teams might need to acquire by or before the deadline.
Western Conference wild card race
- 7th Place – Utah Mammoth (68 points)
- 8th Place – Seattle Kraken (67 points)
- 9th Place – San Jose Sharks (64 points)
- 10th Place – Los Angeles Kings (62 points)
The Lowdown: When you look at these four teams, you see that they’re all in different places in their competitive cycle.
The Mammoth desperately need a playoff appearance, as the franchise hasn’t had one since 2020, and their young group really needs to assert themselves as Stanley Cup frontrunners. They’re not there yet, but a playoff appearance would go a long way for them in Utah.
Meanwhile, the Kraken are hoping to bounce back after some subpar performances in recent years. They could be sneaky big-movers at the trade deadline, if the right type of young talent were made available. Kraken GM Jason Botterill needs to see this team showing improvement, so additional excuses won’t do much for them if Seattle’s players don’t put it all together.
Finally, the Kings and Sharks are at drastically different places in terms of their teams. San Jose is a young team on the rise, but one that could be trading some of their pending UFAs. But the Kings would see it as a total disaster if they failed to make the playoffs, so they should be major buyers at the deadline.
All in all, there are real opportunities there for teams in the West. The Pacific Division is relatively weak, but there are some plucky teams in that conference. And that will make their games worth keeping an eye on.
Justine Willard-Imagn Images
Eastern Conference wild card race
- 7th Place – Montreal Canadiens (75 points)
- 8th Place – Boston Bruins (73 points)
- 9th Place – Columbus Blue Jackets (70 points)
- 10th Place – Washington Capitals (69 points)
The Lowdown: The Eastern Conference is stronger than the Western Conference this season, as every one of these four teams from the East would be in seventh place in the West, if not higher.
The Canadiens in the Jeff Gorton/Kent Hughes management era have never been afraid to take big swings on the trade front. And while they don’t have much salary cap room, you might see them trade winger Patrik Laine and use his considerable cap space on other players.
MORE: Canadiens expected to part ways with $8.7 million forward before NHL trade deadline
Elsewhere, the Bruins and Blue Jackets are at different points in their competitive cycles. Boston is having a surprisingly strong rebound season, and Bruins GM Don Sweeney has impressively retooled on the fly. But it would hurt the Bruins to miss out on the playoffs at this point, especially if it’s only by one or two points in the standings.
That said, another Blue Jackets playoff miss would be nearly unbearable for long-suffering Jackets fans. Columbus GM Don Waddell has all kinds of cap space to do something notable, and if he chooses not to and the Blue Jackets miss the playoffs by one or two points, you have to think that would be a fireable offence.
And lastly, the Capitals are keenly motivated to stay a playoff team, especially after they were the Eastern Conference’s best regular-season team last year. The Caps also have a ton of cap space, and they’re focused on winning while trying to keep a closing competitive window from crashing down on them.
Like the West, the East has fierce competition across the standings. But the eight teams in total that we’ve mentioned in this column all could make or miss the post-season under the right or wrong circumstances. And that’s why you’ll want to return to read the Wild Card Watch series until further notice. The wild card race is heating up to a sizzle, and the teams we’ve discussed this week could be out of the playoff picture altogether. It’s that kind of race, and it’s what makes it worth watching.
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