5 2025 NHL Playoffs Teams Already in Danger of Missing the Postseason

All 32 NHL clubs have reached or passed the 20-game milestone, putting them past the quarter mark of the 2025-26 season. The standings remain tightly packed in both conferences, with most teams still in the thick of the playoff chase through the early going.

Many of last season's postseason clubs are among those sitting above the eight-team playoff cut line in each conference, but a handful find themselves sitting out of a wild-card spot.

Two of them are last season's Stanley Cup finalists. Another is a team emerging from a rebuild that was in first place in its division in early November. One club has reached the playoffs in each of the last nine seasons, but is in danger of having that streak come to an end.

Follow along as we examine why those five 2025 playoff teams are already in danger of missing the 2026 postseason.

Edmonton Oilers

Chris Arjoon/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Entering this season, the Edmonton Oilers were coming off back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final. While they lost some grit and experience with the departures of Corey Perry and Evander Kane, the presence of superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl kept them among this season's Stanley Cup favorites.

So far, the Oilers have looked nothing like a Cup contender. We've seen this movie before, though. A sluggish start last season raised concerns among followers, but they turned things around and easily qualified for the 2025 postseason. However, there is a growing fear this time might be different.

The goaltending tandem of Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard has had its ups and downs in the past, but their difficulties this season have their fans braying for management to find a better option. Their 3.54 goals-against per game is the league's fourth-worst.

The Oilers' porous defense hasn't helped matters. Puck-moving blueliner Evan Bouchard was criticized for his costly turnovers to the point where McDavid defended him earlier this month. However, the sloppy defense has been a team issue that has yet to be suitably addressed.

Those aren't the only factors hurting the Oilers. On Nov. 14, Robert Tychowski of the Edmonton Journal cited their poor starts to their games, their lousy production at even strength, and management's inability to successfully fill the gaps in the roster left by the departures of Perry and Kane.

Plenty of time remains for the Oilers to bounce back from another poor start. They're just outside a playoff berth, and it would be folly to bet against a team led by McDavid and Draisaitl. Nevertheless, the longer these issues persist, the more they risk falling further out of the playoff picture.

Florida Panthers

Chris Arjoon/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

For the past three seasons, the Florida Panthers dominated the NHL. They went to the Stanley Cup Final in three straight seasons, winning back-to-back championships in 2024 and 2025.

After retaining stars Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, and Brad Marchand, they were the offseason favorites to win the cup in 2026.

However, injuries to key players have ravaged their roster. Captain and first-line center Aleksander Barkov is done for the season with a knee injury. Winger Matthew Tkachuk is out until January. Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov won't return until March, and forward Jonah Gadjovich is on the shelf until February.

Meanwhile, having spent the past three seasons in long playoff runs and shortened offseasons, the Panthers may be starting to feel the effect. They're sitting 13th in the Eastern Conference with 23 points in their first 21 games.

Given how tightly packed the standings are, the Panthers are within striking distance of a playoff spot. It's also not the first time over the past three years that they have found themselves hovering just outside a wild-card berth, only to surge in the standings and secure a postseason spot by season's end.

Nevertheless, there are some troubling signs. Conn Smythe Trophy-winning center Sam Bennett has been underwhelming thus far. Starting goalie Sergei Bobrovsky's .887 save percentage is under his usual standard. Winger Carter Verhaeghe's 40-point pace is his lowest since joining the Panthers in 2020-21.

The Panthers' 3.00 goals per game in 2024-25 ranked 15th overall. This season, they're only down slightly (2.90) but sit 24th. Meanwhile, their 3.05 goals-against per game is up from 2.72 last season. Their 80.7 penalty-killing percentage last season was 10th overall. This season, it's down to 19th (79.5).

The Panthers could improve over the second half as most of their sidelined players return and veterans like Bennett, Bobrovsky, and Verhaeghe regain their footing. Nevertheless, they can't afford to lose any ground in the standings in the coming weeks.

Montréal Canadiens

Arianne Bergeron/NHLI via Getty Images

Expected to miss the playoffs last season, the rebuilding Montréal Canadiens exceeded expectations by clinching the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth. They were eliminated from the opening round in five games by the Washington Capitals, but this team seemed poised to become a consistent postseason contender.

Thanks to their young scoring forwards and clutch goaltending by Jakub Dobeš, the Canadiens bolted from the gate this season with a 10-3-2 record. However, they subsequently lost five straight, dropping them from first in the Atlantic Division to 10th place in the packed Eastern Conference standings.

Poor goaltending was one factor behind their sudden decline. Dobeš won his first six games with a .930 save percentage and a 1.97 goals-against average, making him the third star for October. He lost his next four games, raising his GAA to 2.96 and his save percentage to .892.

Starting goalie Sam Montembeault really struggled, with a record of four wins, five losses and an overtime loss. His GAA is a bloated 3.71, and his save percentage sits at .852. He looks nothing like the confident netminder who backstopped the young Canadiens into the playoffs last season.

The Canadiens' sloppy defense did their goalies no favors. Following an 8-4 loss to the Washington Capitals on Nov. 20, head coach Martin St. Louis pointed out that his team made too many turnovers, took too many penalties and played poorly within its own zone.

Despite their issues, the Canadiens remain in the chase for a playoff berth. There is plenty of time left for Dobeš and Montembeault to regain their form, and for the young Habs to clean up their defensive game.

Nevertheless, the speed at which the goaltending and defensive play fell apart in November after a strong October suggests ongoing growing pains for this young team. Those problems were there before injuries sidelined roster regulars Patrik Laine, Alex Newhook, Kirby Dach, and Kaiden Guhle.

St. Louis Blues

Julian Avram/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Having missed the playoffs the previous two seasons, the St. Louis Blues surged during the second half of 2024-25, squeaking into the final Western Conference wild-card berth with 96 points. They pushed the first-overall Winnipeg Jets to the limit in the opening round before falling in double overtime in Game 7.

The Blues hoped to build on that performance for this season, but find themselves near the bottom of the Western Conference standings.

Scoring has been an issue for the Blues. In 2024-25, their 3.05 goals per game average was 13th overall, while their power-play percentage (22.1) was 16th. They were powered by forwards Richard Thomas (81 points), Jordan Kyrou (70 points), Dylan Holloway (63 points), Pavel Buchnevich (57 points), and Jake Neighbours (46 points).

This season, the Blues' power-play percentage (24.1) rose to ninth, but their 2.68 goals per game average has tumbled to 28th. Thomas, Kyrou, Holloway, and Buchnevich have struggled to score, while an injury sidelined Neighbours for nearly a month.

Defensively, things are even worse. Last season, their 2.82 goals against per game was the 11th best overall, but their penalty-killing percentage (74.2) was 28th overall. This season, their 3.65 goals against is the league's third-worst, while their PK percentage (75.0) ranks 25th.

"The St. Louis Blues just aren't a good hockey team," Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic wrote on Nov. 16. He blamed their slow starts, bad second periods and last-second losses, singling out their highest-paid players, team leaders and coaches for coming up short.

Blues fans will point out the the 2018-19 season, when they were sitting last in the league before rallying to make the playoffs and win the Stanley Cup. This time, however, they appear to be a team in transition, one that could end up well outside the playoff picture by season's end.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

The offseason departure of top two-way forward Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights raised questions about its effect on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Replacing his team-leading 102 points in 2024-25, as well as his defensive contributions, would be difficult.

Still, the Leafs had a solid goalie tandem with Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll, a solid veteran defense featuring Morgan Rielly, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Brandon Carlo, and Chris Tanev, and superstar forwards Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares.

The Maple Leafs have qualified for the playoffs in each of the last nine seasons, including a first-place finish in the Atlantic Division in 2024-25. At the quarter mark of this season, they find themselves near the bottom of the division with 21 points in 22 games.

Stolarz has been inconsistent between the pipes before being sidelined by an injury, looking nothing like the confident netminder with a league-leading save percentage (.926) in 2024-25. Woll only recently returned to the lineup after taking a leave of absence before the season began.

Meanwhile, the defense corps is struggling. Rielly continues his troubling decline that began last season, while Tanev and Carlo are out with injuries. The result is a goals-against per game that was the ninth-best last season (2.79) has ballooned to a league-worst 3.73.

The good news is the Leafs' 3.36 goals per game average is the league's fifth-highest. The bad news is that the high-scoring Matthews has missed five games and counting with a lower-body injury.

Marner's absence isn't the only reason behind the Leafs' disappointing play thus far, but perhaps they wouldn't be suffering as much if he were still in their lineup. He always put up points even when Matthews was sidelined.

Stats and standings (as of Nov. 23, 2025) via NHL.com.