2026 NHL Playoff Picture: Every Contender Ranked With 20 Games Left

Twenty games. That’s all that separates 32 teams from knowing exactly where they stand. The regular season ends April 16. Playoffs start April 18. And right now, the bracket is almost set — but “almost” is doing a lot of work in both wild card races.

Here’s how I see every serious contender going into the final stretch, and what the 2026 NHL Playoff Bracket actually looks like when you squint at it hard.

The Tier 1 Favourite: Colorado Avalanche

Stop me if you’ve heard this before — Nathan MacKinnon is playing at a Hart Trophy level and Cale Makar is the best defenceman on the planet. The Avalanche are the Stanley Cup betting favourite for good reason.

What makes Colorado genuinely dangerous this year isn’t just the star power at the top. It’s what they did at the trade deadline. Adding Nazem Kadri gives them a legitimate second-line centre — a role the Avs have patched around for years. When your depth looks like Kadri on the second line, you’re built differently than the competition.

The Western Conference is theirs to lose. C1 seed, best team in the West, and the bracket would have them avoiding the truly tough tests until the Conference Final. That’s a dangerous path for the other 15 teams.

The one concern? Colorado’s playoff history has been a rollercoaster even with this core. They’ve got the Cup (2022) but they’ve also had early exits that nobody expected. Elite regular-season teams don’t always translate cleanly to playoff hockey. That said, this roster feels more complete than it has in a couple of years.

The Eastern Favourite: Tampa Bay Lightning

Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point at full health is still one of the most dangerous combinations in the league. The Lightning sit at the top of the Atlantic Division around 80 points in 60 games — a pace that would put them at roughly 108 points over a full 82-game season.

Tampa knows how to win in May and June. They went to three straight Stanley Cup Finals from 2020–2022 and that DNA doesn’t disappear. Their system under Jon Cooper is built for the playoffs — structured, disciplined, with forwards who can defend and defend who can jump into the rush.

What makes me slightly cautious about Tampa as the overall favourite is that the East is legitimately deep this year. Carolina is right there. Pittsburgh and Buffalo are better than advertised. The Lightning might have the hardest conference to get through.

The Wildcard Threat: Carolina Hurricanes

Here’s the thing about the Hurricanes — they keep showing up every spring and everyone keeps being surprised. They shouldn’t be anymore.

Carolina leads the entire Eastern Conference with approximately 86 points through 62 games. They’re not sneaking up on anyone. Sebastian Aho is playing some of the best hockey of his career, and the defensive structure Rod Brind’Amour builds every single year remains elite.

The annual question for Carolina is the top-end offensive punch when it really matters. They can suffocate you in a seven-game series, but can they score enough in overtime games against Tampa or Colorado? That’s the question I keep coming back to.

I’d put them as the most dangerous team in the East who isn’t Tampa. If they get a favourable first-round draw, they could be in the Conference Final before most people notice.

Western Contenders: Dallas, Minnesota, Vegas

The Central Division is honestly the most interesting story in the West right now. Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild are both legitimate Stanley Cup contenders — not just playoff participants, but teams that could make a run to the Final.

Dallas has the playoff-tested pieces in Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz, plus Jake Oettinger in goal who’s proven he can steal a series. Minnesota has the depth and two-way play that wears you down over seven games. Either of these teams beating Colorado in a Western Conference Final wouldn’t shock me.

Vegas sits as P2 in the Pacific. The Golden Knights have been to the Cup Final twice. They know the room. With Jack Eichel healthy, they’re a legitimate threat — but the Pacific matchup that has everyone talking is their projected first-round series against the Edmonton Oilers.

Edmonton: The Powder Keg in the Pacific

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl against Vegas in Round 1 would be must-watch television. Edmonton is the P3 seed, meaning they have home-ice against Vegas — not the other way around.

The concern with the Oilers is the same one that’s followed them for years: everything runs through two players. If McDavid and Draisaitl are on, Edmonton can beat anyone. If one of them is off his game for even a few games in a series, they get exposed. The goaltending question isn’t fully resolved either.

That said, I’d never bet against McDavid in a seven-game series. He’s the best player in the world, and the playoffs sometimes just come down to that.

The Wild Card Races: Who’s In, Who’s On the Bubble

Both wild card races are legitimately tight heading into the final 20 games.

East Wild Card

Boston currently holds the WC2 spot but Columbus is sitting just one point back. The Blue Jackets added Conor Garland at the deadline and they’re playing with something to prove. This race is going to the wire — potentially to the final weekend of the regular season.

Montreal holds WC1. The Canadiens have been one of the best stories of the 2025-26 season. Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and the young core have taken a legitimate step forward. A playoff berth in back-to-back years for Montreal would mean the rebuild is actually working.

If Columbus overtakes Boston, the entire East bracket shifts. Watch this one closely every night.

West Wild Card

Seattle holds WC2 at around 67 points. The Los Angeles Kings and Nashville Predators are three points back with 20 games to play. Three points over 20 games is nothing — we could be talking about a completely different bracket by mid-April.

Utah Mammoth holds WC1 comfortably. Their expansion story continues to be one of the best things happening in the league right now.

The Full Picture

Here’s my honest read with 20 games left:

Team I’m most worried about as a Cup favourite: Colorado. Not because they’re not good — they’re the best team in the league. But the bracket can be cruel, and a hot goalie for five games in Round 2 can end anyone’s season.

Team I’d least want to face in Round 1: Carolina. Their structure is suffocating and they play their best hockey when the games mean the most.

Wild card team with the best shot at a deep run: Montreal. They’ve got McDavid-era talent in their top six and they’re not afraid of anyone.

Most underrated series in the first round: Vegas vs. Edmonton. Everyone will talk about Colorado and Tampa, but this Pacific matchup could be the best hockey of the entire first round.

The full first-round bracket is locked in and updated at itsabouthockey.com/tournaments/nhl-playoffs/ — check it against the standings nightly as we push toward April 16.

Twenty games. A lot can still change. But the shape of this postseason is becoming clear — and it’s shaping up to be a good one.

Who do you have winning the 2026 Stanley Cup? Drop your prediction in the comments or find me on social media — I’d love to hear your bracket picks before the puck drops in April.