Playoff Field: NHL Set
The NHL’s 16‑team playoff field is now decided heading into the postseason, with the league moving from qualification to seeding questions. (bleacherreport.com) Coverage in video and written rundowns shifted focus to bracket paths and which teams earned favorable matchups. (youtube.com)
The National Hockey League’s 16-team playoff field is set, and the race has shifted from clinching spots to locking in first-round matchups before the postseason opens on Saturday, April 18. (nhl.com) As of Wednesday morning, the Eastern Conference bracket was fully set: Buffalo Sabres versus Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning versus Montreal Canadiens, Carolina Hurricanes versus Ottawa Senators, and Pittsburgh Penguins versus Philadelphia Flyers. (nhl.com) The Western Conference still had movement left in the Pacific Division, with the official bracket page showing Vegas Golden Knights versus Utah Mammoth, Edmonton Oilers versus Anaheim Ducks, Colorado Avalanche versus Los Angeles Kings, and Dallas Stars versus Minnesota Wild if the playoffs started then. (nhl.com) The format narrows the field quickly: 16 teams qualify, the top three in each division get 12 spots, and each conference adds two wild cards based on regular-season record. The first round is a best-of-seven bracket built mostly around division finish, not a full one-through-eight conference seeding. (nhl.com) That structure is why seeding still matters after the field is set. The higher-placed team gets home ice in the first two rounds, and the better wild card is routed to the weaker division winner’s side of the bracket. (nhl.com) This year’s field also turned over sharply from 2025. The Sabres, Penguins, Bruins, Flyers, Mammoth and Ducks all missed last season’s playoffs and are back in, giving the league a six-team year-over-year swap that NHL statistics said is the second-highest total in league history. (nhl.com) Buffalo’s rise changed the East most. The Sabres clinched the Atlantic Division on April 13 with a 5-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks, their first division title since 2010. (nhl.com) Carolina locked down the East’s top seed the same night, earning the point it needed in a 3-2 shootout loss at Philadelphia for the franchise’s first regular-season Eastern Conference title. (nhl.com) In the West, Utah reached the playoffs for the first time under the Mammoth name, and Anaheim ended a drought that dated to 2018. The Ducks clinched on April 13 when Nashville lost to San Jose, while Utah had already secured what the club called its first National Hockey League playoff berth. (nhl.com 1) (nhl.com 2) The one matchup already carrying rivalry weight is Penguins-Flyers. Philadelphia clinched its berth on April 13 and immediately drew Pittsburgh in a first-round “Battle of Pennsylvania” series, with the Penguins holding home ice as the Metropolitan Division’s No. 2 seed. (nhl.com 1) (nhl.com 2) With the final regular-season games finishing the seeding work, the league has moved to the part of April where one point can still change a travel plan, a matchup and which building opens the playoffs. (nhl.com)
