NHL Playoff Picture 2026, Bracket, Standings, Wild Card Race Before Final Games

The 2025-26 regular season wraps up Thursday, and the 16 teams that will vie for the Stanley Cup in the NHL Playoffs have been decided.

Which teams are in, which have clinched Wild Card positions, and what is the most intriguing match-up of the playoffs' first round?

Find out in this preview of the hockey postseason.

Eastern Conference Standings

Steven Ryan/NHLI via Getty Images

Atlantic Division

1. y-Buffalo Sabres (50-23-8, 108 points)

2. x-Tampa Bay Lightning (50-25-6, 106 points)

3. x-Montreal Canadiens (48-24-10, 106 points)

Metropolitan Division

1. z-Carolina Hurricanes (53-22-7, 113 points)

2. x-Pittsburgh Penguins (41-25-16, 98 points)

3. x-Philadelphia Flyers (43-27-12, 98 points)

Wild Card

1. x-Boston Bruins (45-27-10, 100 points)

2. x-Ottawa Senators (43-27-11, 97 points)

Western Conference Standings

Brett Holmes/Getty Images

Central Division

1. p-Colorado Avalanche (54-16-11, 119 points)

2. x-Dallas Stars (49-20-12, 110 points)

3. x-Minnesota Wild (46-24-12, 104 points)

Pacific Division

1. x-Vegas Golden Knights (38-26-17, 93 points)

2. x-Edmonton Oilers (40-30-11, 91 points)

3. x-Anaheim Ducks (42-33-6, 90 points)

Wild Card

1. x-Utah Mammoth (43-32-6, 92 points)

2. x-Los Angeles Kings (35-26-20, 90 points)

p-clinched President's Cup; y-clinched division; x-clinched playoff spot; z-clinched conference

Buffalo Sabres vs. Boston Bruins Set for Playoffs

Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

The Boston Bruins have secured the first Wild Card position in the 2026 NHL Playoffs and, as a result, will square off with Atlantic Division winners, the Buffalo Sabres.

This is Buffalo's first playoff appearance since the 2010-11 season, ending a listless run for the Sabres that included the league's longest playoff drought.

The 50-game winners have not advanced past the first round of the postseason since the 2006-07 season, adding to the organization's perceived playoff futility.

The Bruins, a playoff team in all but two of the last 11 seasons, will be looking to advance past the second round for the first time since an unsuccessful Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 2019.

Buffalo and Boston had a competitive series this year, with a point differential of one (12-11). The Bruins came out on top, with a 3-1 record.

Bruins forward David Pastrnak is still one of the best in the game, enjoying a 100-point season that included 29 goals and 71 assists in 20:39 of ice time.

Tage Thompson fueled the Sabres' return to the playoffs, with his 81 points in 81 games (40 goals, 41 assists) in just over 19 minutes per night.

If the Sabres can limit the Bruins' first line and force production to come elsewhere, they will have a chance to eliminate Pastrnak and company. If not, and Boston's top three forwards heat up, it could be a long series for Buffalo.

The Sabres are an extraordinary penalty-killing squad, though, and will not allow a numbers disadvantage to cost them.

Should the series come down to experience and not making the sort of mistakes that end playoff runs before they ever truly get started, Boston has the edge.