We’ve just passed the trade deadline for the NHL’s 2025-26 regular season, and things are starting to heat up when it comes to the wild card races.
Only seven points separate the seventh-place Utah Mammoth from the 10th-place San Jose Sharks in the West, while six points separate the seventh-place Detroit Red Wings from the 10th-place Ottawa Senators in the East.
Needless to say, it’s going to be quite the fight to lock up a wild card spot in either division.
Western Conference:
The Lowdown: This playoff race looks more or less the same as it did last week, with the same four teams – the Mammoth, Kraken, Sharks, and Kings – finishing seventh through 10th. The Mammoth and Kraken held on to seventh and eighth place, respectively. But there is a change in the exact order of those four teams, as the Kings moved from 10th place last week to 9th this week after picking up 5 points in the Pacific Division standings. The Sharks slipped from ninth place to 10th place after earning only four points.
The Kings, Kraken, Sharks, and Mammoth all made significant trades at the trade deadline. Utah acquired defenseman MacKenzie Weegar from the Calgary Flames; Seattle picked up winger Bobby McMann from the Toronto Maple Leafs; San Jose traded defenseman Timothy Liljegren to the Washington Capitals; and Los Angeles traded for Maple Leafs center Scott Laughton. So every one of these four teams made a notable move in one respect or another.
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The Nashville Predators are nipping at the Sharks’ heels, as the Preds are tied in points with San Jose right now. But the Sharks are in 10th because they have two games in hand on Nashville. That said, San Jose has a tough schedule immediately ahead, with games against the Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Edmonton Oilers, and Buffalo Sabres in their next five games.
So this is shaping up to be a make-or-break stretch for the Sharks the rest of the way this year. And while San Jose has a bright future with stars Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith in tow, it would be a bitter disappointment if the Sharks failed to capitalize on a great opportunity to be a playoff team this season.
Eastern Conference:
The Lowdown: The Canadiens moved from seventh place in the East last week to fourth in the East this week, and that surge pushed the Red Wings down into the first wild card position in the conference. But Detroit is in danger of slipping even further down the standings, as they’re now just one point ahead of the Bruins – and Boston has a game in hand on the Wings.
You can see now why Detroit GM Steve Yzerman made a big trade for veteran defenseman Justin Faulk of the St. Louis Blues. Red Wings fans have been suffering for a long time now, but Detroit will be part of the playoff race for the rest of the way this season. And Faulk could quietly be the biggest trade acquisition of any player traded at the deadline.
MORE: Four NHL Teams With A Make-Or-Break March
Meanwhile, inching closer to a playoff position are the Blue Jackets – another team that made a major change at the trade deadline by acquiring slick winger Conor Garland from the Vancouver Canucks. Garland has been excellent in his first three games with Columbus, posting four goals in that span to give him 11 goals and 30 points in 53 games this season. The Jackets desperately need a playoff spot this year. They’re now closer to one than they were last week, so Columbus is looking more and more like a dark-horse playoff pick.
Finally, the Senators pushed the Capitals out of 10th spot in the East – something that was driven by Ottawa’s strong play and Washington’s poor play. The Caps are now in real danger of being buried too deeply to claw their way past the other teams ahead of them in the standings. And the Sens are now on a roll of their own, going 7-1-2 in their past 10 games.
The East has been extremely competitive this season, and the teams in or near a playoff position have every motivation to make a late-season push and let the chips fall where they may. That’s going to result in must-see games from now right through the final day of the year.
