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The NHL’s 2025-26 regular season is winding down, but the Stanley Cup playoff picture is heating up, especially for the teams fighting to earn a wild card berth.
Once again, there are fluctuations in the NHL standings, with some teams falling out of the playoff picture and other teams that weren’t on our list last week suddenly surging into a post-season spot.
We’re not going to be surprised if that’s the way things unfold the rest of the way this season. The parity in the league is such that a team in 11th or 12th place in the conference one week could be in seventh or eighth place the following week. So you should expect more change right through the final games of the season.
With that noted, let’s get to it and dive into this latest edition of the Wild Card Watch:
Western Conference:
- 7th Place – Utah Mammoth (80 points)
- 8th Place – Nashville Predators (77 points)
- 9th Place – Los Angeles Kings (74 points)
- 10th Place – Seattle Kraken (72 points)
The Lowdown: The West has seen many teams move in and out of its two wild card positions. Last week, the Mammoth held the first wild card spot, with 73 points, and they’ve put together a strong week to maintain their hold on that spot. But surging up the standings are the Predators, who were in 11th place in the West last week with 69 points, but who’ve climbed to the second wild card spot after posting eight points.
With the Kings hanging on to ninth place, and the Preds and Kraken in the eighth and 10th spots, respectively, the team that got pushed out is the San Jose Sharks, who sit in 12th after going 2-6-2 in their past 10 games and are on a five-game losing skid. The Sharks are crumbling at the worst time, and they now need help to get back into the playoff conversation.
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According to Tankathon, the Kings still have the easiest remaining schedule of any team, while the Sharks have the fifth-easiest, the Mammoth have the sixth-easiest, the Preds have the 13th-easiest, and the Kraken have the 15th-easiest. Put differently, the Kraken have the hardest schedule of the teams we’ve listed above, and the Kings have no excuses about getting into the playoffs.
The Kraken have a game in hand on the Kings and Predators, and Seattle has two games in hand on Utah. But the Mammoth have put a full eight points between themselves and the Kraken and the 11th-place Winnipeg Jets. Utah has breathing room as the teams head into the home stretch.
Nevertheless, the West will be intriguing to watch from here on out. And further change is almost assuredly coming when it comes to the standings at the bottom of the playoff picture.
MORE: NHL wild card race watch: Blue Jackets surge, Western Conference battle intensifies
Eastern Conference:
- 7th Place – Boston Bruins (88 points)
- 8th Place – Ottawa Senators (85 points)
- 9th Place – New York Islanders (85 points)
- 10th Place – Detroit Red Wings (84 points)
The Lowdown: There was a major shift in the East this week, with the Columbus Blue Jackets surging from ninth place in the East to second place in the Metropolitan Division, and the Senators rising from 10th to the second and final wild card berth.
The Bruins hang on to the first wild card spot for another week, and that meant a couple things: first, the Islanders fell from a top-three spot in the Metro to ninth in the East; and secondly – and most stunningly – the Red Wings continued falling down the standings, dropping to 10th place in the East.
Detroit had only two points this week, and they’ve gone 3-5-2 in their past 10 games. Only four points separate the Red Wings from the third-place Montreal Canadiens in the Atlantic Division, and only one point separates the Islanders from the third-place Pittsburgh Penguins. So there’s plenty of time left for teams like Detroit to seize the day and make the most of their remaining opportunities, or fall by the wayside and face severe consequences.
Boston has the hardest remaining schedule of any team, followed by the Isles, Jackets, and Sens. The Red Wings have it much easier, so they have no excuse for not playing well. But the East has been highly competitive this season, and that’s not likely to change the rest of the way this year. Detroit will have to ratchet up their play, or complete their collapse and rue the opportunities they’ve lost.
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