Final Postseason Bracket Predictions 5 Days from the 2026 NHL Playoffs
We are less than a week away from the start of the 2025-26 Stanley Cup playoffs, and things are starting to get settled. There is a lot we already know.
We know the 16 teams that are in the playoffs. We also know the Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche are division champions.
We know the Pittsburgh Penguins will play the Philadelphia Flyers, the Dallas Stars will play the Minnesota Wild, and the Tampa Bay Lightning will face the Montreal Canadiens.
However, a few other matchups and seeds are still to be determined over the next few days.
So let's take one more look at predictions for what the 2025-26 brackets and first-round matchups will look like.
Remember, these are predictions. These are not how all of the matchups look on Tuesday afternoon. We are predicting what they will look like on Saturday, when the playoffs begin.
Atlantic Division: Buffalo Sabres (Atlantic 1) vs. Boston Bruins (WC1)
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Buffalo Sabres
Not only did the Sabres end their 14-year playoff drought, but they also took the Atlantic Division and will be the second-highest seed going into the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Nobody saw this coming before the season.
Certainly, nobody saw it coming in early December when they were at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings and firing general manager Kevyn Adams.
But they are here, and Western New York is going to be in a frenzy when the puck drops on Game 1. These fans have been waiting a long time for this, and they are going to make the most of it.
It is still a little hard to understand how the Sabres did this, because, for as good as their record is, they do not really do anything exceptionally well. But they do have an outstanding young roster led by forward Tage Thompson and defenseman Rasmus Dahlin.
Boston Bruins
The Bruins are another team that has exceeded expectations this season and played its way back into the playoffs. The question is whether they can do anything now that they are here.
The biggest thing the Bruins have going for them is starting goalie Jeremy Swayman. He has masked many defensive flaws this season and has been one of the best goalies in the NHL, with 26.4 goals saved above expected. That is the second-highest total in the NHL, trailing only the 29.2 from Washington Capitals goalie Logan Thompson.
David Pastrnak is still a difference-maker offensively, while Morgan Geekie has turned into a top-line goal-scorer. But beyond those two, there isn't a ton of scoring depth here; they are still lacking a true No. 1 center, and they are very dependent on Swayman to prevent goals.
A couple of high-end forwards and an elite goalie can take a team a long way, but teams like that do have a ceiling, and it is usually far below a Stanley Cup.
But can it at least get them through the first round? Buffalo will not be a pushover. The Bruins can secure a matchup with the Sabres and the top wild-card spot with a win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, or an Ottawa Senators loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
Expect the Bruins to get that win on Tuesday.
Atlantic Division: Tampa Bay Lightning (Atlantic 2) vs. Montreal Canadiens (Atlantic 3)
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Tampa Bay Lightning
This is a matchup that we know is set, but there is still the matter of home-ice advantage. The two teams enter play on Tuesday tied with 106 points in the standings, but the Lightning have the tiebreaker due to more regulation wins.
They can secure home-ice advantage on Wednesday night with a win over a New York Rangers team that has nothing to play for. They could also already know the situation going into that game, as Montreal plays the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night. A Montreal regulation loss in that game would secure the No. 2 spot for Tampa Bay.
Any Montreal point would force Tampa Bay to win on Wednesday.
The Flyers have nothing to play for on Tuesday after locking in their playoff spot with a win on Monday night.
Regardless of where the series begins, the Lightning should be considered one of the strongest Stanley Cup favorites in the Eastern Conference due to their star-level players, led by Nikita Kucherov, their depth, and the fact that starting goalie Andre Vasilevskiy is still playing at an elite level.
The two teams split the regular-season series, each winning two games.
Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens took a big step in their rebuild a year ago by returning to the playoffs.
The next step is to win in the playoffs.
The Canadiens look even better than they did a year ago, and their young core is really coming along strong.
Cole Caufield reached the 50-goal mark, Nick Suzuki became the first Canadiens player in 40 years to reach 100 points, Juraj Slafkovsky is turning into a beast, and they have two legitimate top-pairing defensemen in Lane Hutson and Noah Dobson.
The big question will be whether the goaltending can do enough against a high-powered Tampa Bay team and out-dual Vasilevskiy.
Metropolitan Division: Carolina Hurricanes (Metropolitan 1) vs. Ottawa Senators (WC2)
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Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes have pretty much had the top spot in the Metropolitan Division locked up for months now, and it is likely to get them a first-round draw against the Ottawa Senators.
Winning this series is the bare minimum expectation for the Hurricanes.
We know they are a playoff team, and we know they can win a round or even two in the playoffs. They do it every single season. Now they have to show they can go beyond that and get to the Stanley Cup Final.
As always, the team is rock-solid from top to bottom with very few weaknesses. If any. But the question will again come down to whether they have enough truly high-end players or the star power to beat the other truly elite teams in the league.
Who is the guy who takes over a series here? Somebody has to step up and become that.
Ottawa Senators
Ottawa is no slouch as a wild-card team, and it is going to be a sneaky-tough matchup for the top seed in the opening round.
The Senators are better than their record indicates, and have done a great job all season pushing play, carrying possession, and defending at a high level.
The only thing that has held them back at times has been goaltending. If Linus Ullmark can give them even competent play in net, they are going to be a problem to deal with.
Carolina should win, but do not be surprised if Ottawa pushes this to six or seven stressful games. They match up well.
Metropolitan: Pittsburgh Penguins (Metropolitan 2) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (Metropolitan 3)
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Pittsburgh Penguins
This is not the Metropolitan Division matchup anybody expected at the start of the season, but the battle of Pennsylvania is here, and it is going to be intense.
If you knew nothing of the Pittsburgh Penguins' preseason expectations and just looked at their overall metrics and play on the ice this season, you would not hesitate to call them a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
They are a top-10 team across the board in pretty much every scoring chance and expected goal metric, have top-10 special teams, one of the deepest forward groups in the league, a bona fide No. 1 defenseman in Erik Karlsson, a couple of Hall of Fame forwards in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and a rapidly rising star in Egor Chinakhov. The emergence of Sam Girard and Kris Letang as a second defensive pairing is also a potential game-changer.
The wild-card is going to be whether or not Stuart Skinner can give them enough in goal to bring it all together.
Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers took advantage of late-season meltdowns by the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Islanders to take the third playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division.
They defend really well but do not bring much offense to the table, and have done much of their winning this season in 3-on-3 overtime and the shootout. No Eastern Conference playoff team has fewer regulation wins, and it is not even close.
Is that a potential red flag for what they can do in the playoffs? There is no shootout here.
Central Division: Colorado Avalanche (Central 1) vs. Anaheim Ducks (WC2)
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Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche have been the best team in the NHL from the start of the regular season, and now have to try to break the Presidents' Trophy curse. If you believe in that sort of thing.
No Presidents' Trophy-winning team has won the Stanley Cup since the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks, which was more than a decade ago.
If there is one team that can break that drought, Colorado seems to be it.
The Avalanche go three-deep at center, have an MVP-caliber player in Nathan MacKinnon, and one of the best defensemen in the league in Cale Makar.
They will enter the playoffs as the top Stanley Cup favorite and for good reason.
Anaheim Ducks
A couple of weeks ago, the Ducks looked like they had a good shot of winning the Pacific Division, and technically speaking, they still have a slim chance.
But it is looking more likely they will slide into the second wild-card spot, which is probably the worst possible matchup.
If they can get into the 2 vs. 3 Pacific Division matchup, they would at least have a fighting chance to advance and go on a little run, given how watered-down that bracket will be, but the guess here is they do not actually do that.
Anaheim has the forward talent to score and keep up with anybody in the league on any given night. The problem is that it cannot slow down or stop most teams on any given night.
The latter point would be a huge problem against MacKinnon, Martin Necas, Brock Nelson, Makar, and the Avalanche.
Central Division: Dallas Stars (Central 2) vs. Minnesota Wild (Central 3)
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Dallas Stars
After three consecutive trips to the Western Conference Final, the Dallas Stars have to be getting close to Stanley Cup-or-bust expectations here. They have the talent and the depth to do it.
The problem is they are going to have to run through a gauntlet just to reach the Western Conference Finals, with Minnesota and Colorado likely standing in their way.
Those are two of the three best teams in the Western Conference, and they will likely have to go through both of them right away.
Minnesota Wild
It is the same story for the Wild in terms of the potential path they would have to take to reach the Western Conference Final.
The Wild did themselves a huge favor by getting defenseman Quinn Hughes earlier this season, giving forward Kirill Kaprizov another superstar to complement him.
The big red flag for Minnesota is that it does not have the type of No. 1 center that Stanley Cup-winning teams have.
Joel Eriksson Ek is a good player, but is he good enough to be the top center on a Cup-winning team?
Pacific Division: Vegas Golden Knights (Pacific 1) vs. Utah Mammoth (WC1)
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Vegas Golden Knights
Vegas was one of the teams that made a coaching change with less than 10 games to play, bringing in John Tortorella to try and straighten things out.
So far, it is hard to argue with the results.
Vegas goes into play on Tuesday with a 6-0-1 record under Tortorella and finally playing like the team it was supposed to be all year.
The talent is here. The path in the Pacific Division makes it wide open. The Golden Knights just need to play like it.
The one thing that could undo all of this, however, is the goaltending. Vegas has had some of the worst goaltending in the NHL this season, and there is little reason to trust it in the playoffs until somebody steps up and secures the job.
Utah Mammoth
Salt Lake City will get its first taste of playoff hockey as the wild-card team in the Pacific Division bracket.
The crazy thing about that is there is a chance Utah could have as many points, or perhaps more, than the top team in the division and still not get home ice due to the playoff format.
The fact that Utah will be in the Pacific bracket should make the Mammoth a potential sleeper team for a deep run.
Not only can they compete with these teams, but they can also beat them.
Pacific Division: Edmonton Oilers (Pacific 2) vs. Los Angeles Kings (Pacific 3)
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Edmonton Oilers
When Leon Draisaitl went down with his injury a few weeks ago, it was easy to imagine the Oilers struggling down the stretch, especially given how bad the forward depth has been this season around him and Connor McDavid.
However, they have actually held their own without him and are in a position to secure home-ice advantage in the opening round.
Every year McDavid and Draisaitl are here is a must-win year for Edmonton, especially as long as they are still searching for their first Stanley Cup. This season is no different, especially after two consecutive near-miss runs to the Final.
The Oilers just need somebody else to step up offensively beyond those two, and they need the goaltending to not give away games the way it has for so much of the season.
Los Angeles Kings
Do I actually believe the Kings are going to get the No. 3 spot, or do I just think it is wild to think about a fifth consecutive first-round matchup between the Oilers and Kings that I want to try to will into existence? Maybe a bit of both.
This is suddenly back on the table, though, and it is probably the last thing Kings fans want to see.
The past four L.A. teams were not good enough to get the job done, and this might be the worst Kings team out of this stretch. But they have to win one of these things at some point.
Maybe Anze Kopitar, in his final year in the NHL, has one more surprising run in him.
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