{"id":320521,"date":"2026-04-18T07:13:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T01:43:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=320521"},"modified":"2026-04-18T07:13:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T01:43:56","slug":"who-will-likely-be-latest-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/18\/who-will-likely-be-latest-champion\/","title":{"rendered":"Who will likely be latest champion?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-3771309\">\n<p>After\u00a01,312 games, the 2025-26 NHL regular season has finally reached its conclusion. And served its primary purpose: cutting the 32-team field right down to 16. After nearly seven months of hockey, it is time for the best postseason in all of sports to start. And what higher technique to kick off the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs than with ClutchPoints&#8217; third annual NHL Playoff Power Rankings.<\/p>\n<p>Although there are at all times favorites and underdogs right now of 12 months, anything can occur in a seven-game series, and all storylines will likely be out the window when the Ottawa Senators and Carolina Hurricanes start the chase for Lord Stanley on Saturday afternoon. Just one team might be left standing come the center of June, but greater than a dozen have legitimate aspirations. And that is why we love the sport.<\/p>\n<p>With no Florida Panthers involved this time around \u2014 props to you in case you saw <em>that<\/em> coming back in October \u2014 the Eastern Conference is as wide open because it&#8217;s ever been. And the marquee series of Round 1 has got to be the Battle of Pennsylvania; the return of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins against the upstart Philadelphia Flyers, who surged down the stretch, goes to be electric.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, the Buffalo Sabres winning the Atlantic Division is an enormous storyline in itself, with playoff puck back in Western Latest York on Sunday for the primary time in 14 long years. We have also got a few clubs who were probably just pleased to get in last time now fully expecting to make some noise: we&#8217;re  you, Montreal and Ottawa.<\/p>\n<p>Within the Western Conference, the Colorado Avalanche are the team to beat after running the table and winning the President&#8217;s Trophy. They&#8217;re a powerhouse, built for nothing lower than world domination \u2014 and an NHL championship. However the Edmonton Oilers are going to have something to say about that after winning the West in back-to-back years; no person wants to complete the job greater than Connor McDavid. But so are the Vegas Golden Knights \u2014 who&#8217;re hoping to get back to the Finals after winning all of it in 2023 \u2014 together with a pair other Central Division behemoths within the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild, one in all which will likely be out in Round 1.<\/p>\n<p>It truly has been one of the vital memorable seasons in recent memory. From an incredible Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina that concluded with a Jack Hughes Golden Goal for Team USA, to a shocking Quinn Hughes blockbuster, to swan songs for Jonathan Quick, Anze Kopitar and Alex Ovechkin (potentially), to the Utah Mammoth bringing playoff hockey to Salt Lake City for the primary time, it&#8217;s just been a terrific campaign once more.<\/p>\n<p>If the postseason brings that very same level of energy, it may be absolutely phenomenal. And why shouldn&#8217;t it&#8217;s? It&#8217;s one of the best time on this planet to be a hockey fan. Here&#8217;s where all 16 franchises rank ahead of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhl.com\/schedule\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Game 1 of Round 1 on Saturday<\/a>. As at all times, thanks for reading ClutchPoints&#8217; NHL Power Rankings this season, and revel in the madness.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Most Electrifying Goals of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/abhkrTBYx5Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>ClutchPoints&#8217; full regular season 2025-26 NHL Power Rankings: Week 25 | Week 24\u00a0|\u00a0Week 23\u00a0|\u00a0Week 22\u00a0|\u00a0Week 21\u00a0|\u00a0Week 20\u00a0|\u00a0Week 19\u00a0|\u00a0Week 18\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Week 17\u00a0|\u00a0Week 16\u00a0|\u00a0Week 15\u00a0|\u00a0Week 14\u00a0|\u00a0Week 13\u00a0|\u00a0Week 12\u00a0|\u00a0Week 11\u00a0|\u00a0Week 10\u00a0|\u00a0Week 9\u00a0|\u00a0Week 8\u00a0|\u00a0Week 7\u00a0|\u00a0Week 6\u00a0|\u00a0Week 5\u00a0|\u00a0Week 4\u00a0|\u00a0Week 3\u00a0|\u00a0Week 2\u00a0|\u00a0Week 1<\/em><\/p>\n<h2><strong>1. Colorado Avalanche<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Stanley Cup champion turned ESPN analyst TJ Oshie <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/video\/clip\/_\/id\/48513550\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said it best<\/a>: \u201cThe Avalanche are an absolute wagon from top to bottom.\u201d And the stats back it up. Colorado ranks first in each goals per game (3.65) and goals-against per game (2.43); they&#8217;re just the fourth team for the reason that league&#8217;s 1967 expansion to realize the feat, joining the\u00a01976-77 and 1977-78 Montreal Canadiens, in addition to the 2010-11 Vancouver Canucks. Each of those Habs teams won the Stanley Cup, while the Nucks notoriously fell short in Game 7 of the SCF at home.<\/p>\n<p>The Avs will likely be on the lookout for similar fortune after winning 55 games and putting together an almost unbelievable plus-99 goal differential. They were first place in overall league standings for the ultimate 143 days of the regular season, and in case you read the NHL Power Rankings this 12 months, they were almost at all times within the No. 1 slot. This club hasn&#8217;t been past the second round since winning all of it in 2022, but with Nazem Kadri back within the fold, and a full season of a (mostly) healthy Gabriel Landeskog, we&#8217;re not betting against Jared Bednar&#8217;s group this time around. It&#8217;s Stanley Cup or bust for Rocket Richard Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon and company, and so they&#8217;ll be the hardest out of any squad this spring. Let&#8217;s have a look at in the event that they can prove numerous people right.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>2. Carolina Hurricanes<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>No Panthers within the playoffs is music to the ears of the Carolina Hurricanes, who&#8217;re fresh off winning the Eastern Conference for the primary time in franchise history. The Canes have been terrific down the stretch despite resting a plethora of top players, ending the season with 11 wins in 15 tries. They&#8217;ve made multiple deep runs since Rod Brind&#8217;Amour took over behind the bench in 2018, but have not been back to the Stanley Cup Final since winning all of it in 2006.<\/p>\n<p>However the parallels are there. Rookie goaltender Cam Ward took Carolina to the promised land exactly twenty years ago, and now, it&#8217;s Brandon Bussi&#8217;s turn. The teenager is a ridiculous 31-6-2 in 2025-26, and ought to be between the pipes for Game 1 against the Senators on Saturday afternoon. It is not a straightforward matchup by any means, but this can be a team built to go deep within the postseason, and this may very well be one of the best probability they&#8217;ve had with their superstar core. The highest line of Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis is deadly. However the supporting forged has also improved drastically, with guys like Nikolaj Ehlers, Logan Stankoven, K&#8217;Andre Miller and Alexander Nikishin making an already deep roster even higher. The East is wide open, and you have got to just like the Hurricanes&#8217; possibilities to return out of it after an exceptional 53-22-7 campaign.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>3. Tampa Bay Lightning<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3771410\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3771410\" style=\"width:1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3771410\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Hurricanes could have had a greater regular season, but executives across the National Hockey League expect the Lightning to be those representing the Eastern Conference within the 2026 Finals. After marching to the championship three straight times between 2020-22 \u2014 and winning two of them \u2014 it isn&#8217;t hard to see why. The Bolts have not been past the primary round in three years, but numerous that has to do with the opposite team from The Sunshine State.<\/p>\n<p>For the primary time in years, they do not have Florida of their way. And the Panthers are the team which have knocked Tampa Bay out in each of the last two years before happening to win all of it. This time around, it is the Canadiens, the Sabres and the Bruins, and the Lightning have far more experience than any of those three Atlantic Division hopefuls. Additionally they have one of the best player within the East in Nikita Kucherov, who&#8217;s fresh off one other ridiculous season that saw him record 130 points in only 76 games. Add one in all the best playoff goalies in history in fellow Russian Andrei Vasilevskiy, who looks to be back to form between the pipes and will likely be a favorite to win the Vezina Trophy this summer. This team goes to go so far as the 2 superstars take them, however the supporting forged is great, and that will likely be critical. In the event that they can get out of Round 1 and past a difficult Canadiens team, nobody could be surprised to see them back within the Finals for a fourth time in seven seasons.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>4. Edmonton Oilers<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Last 12 months, we had the Oilers ranked eleventh in our NHL Playoff Power Rankings. And we aren&#8217;t making that mistake again. Edmonton has exceeded expectations in back-to-back seasons, beating multiple powerhouses within the Golden Knights and Stars en path to two consecutive Western Conference championships. If it weren&#8217;t for the Panthers \u2014 we appear to be saying that rather a lot \u2014 Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl might have already got two Stanley Cups under their belt.<\/p>\n<p>That is not the case, however the Oil have a much easier route than any of the teams within the Central Division. They&#8217;ll play a Geese club in Round 1 that has been abysmal over the past month, and would not have even got in in the event that they were within the East. They&#8217;ve also proven they will beat Vegas, which they did in only five games last 12 months. No trouble has been had against Dallas either; they&#8217;ve knocked them out in two straight West Finals. Barring an upset, only the Avalanche figure to present them significant problems, and that is a great distance away. It&#8217;s hard to search out a solution for McDavid and Draisaitl \u2014 the latter is on the verge of full health \u2014 who&#8217;re going to be laser-focused on dragging this team back to the Finals after coming oh-so-close in 2024 and 2025. Count them out at your individual peril.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>5. Dallas Stars<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The Stars have consistently been top-of-the-line teams within the National over the past half decade, but they have been unable to get the job done despite a Finals trip in 2020, and a pair other Final 4 appearances. They are a wagon again in 2025-26, and can enter the postseason on a five-game winning streak. The issue is, Dallas just is not healthy \u2014 and so they have one in all the hardest Round 1 matchups. They are going to be missing Roope Hintz for at the least Games 1 and a pair of against Minnesota, and may be without Miro Heiskanen for the start of the series.<\/p>\n<p>Perennial GM of the Yr finalist Jim Nill made a number of more savvy moves this 12 months, adding Michael Bunting and Tyler Myers. And Jason Robertson and Wyatt Johnston just had absolutely terrific years, giving the squad much more offense together with proven playoff performers in Mikko Rantanen and Matt Duchene. The Stars even have home-ice advantage against the Wild, which counts for something. But it may be tough sledding getting back to the West Final for a 3rd straight time considering the extent of competition standing of their way. In the event that they can get through Minnesota, it&#8217;ll almost definitely be Colorado next. The Stars have had the Avalanche&#8217;s number over the previous couple of years, however it&#8217;s still the toughest path of any NHL team. They&#8217;ve the talent and the experience, however the execution is a special matter entirely.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>6. Buffalo Sabres<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3771411\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3771411\" style=\"width:1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3771411\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Buffalo-Sabres.jpg\" alt=\"Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson (72) celebrates with goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (1) after defeating the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Buffalo-Sabres.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Buffalo-Sabres.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Buffalo-Sabres.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Buffalo-Sabres.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Buffalo-Sabres.jpg?resize=1536,864 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3771411\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A Stanley Cup Playoff game will likely be played in Buffalo for the primary time since April 24, 2011, when the Sabres lost 5-4 to the Flyers in extra time of Game 6 of Round 1. Fast forward a full 15 years, and Lindy Ruff&#8217;s team is, finally, back. After firing GM Kevyn Adams back in December, this club has been on a heater that nobody could extinguish over the past three months of the campaign. It&#8217;s hard to consider that, at the start of December, the Sabres were 11-14-4 and last place within the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n<p>But that was then and that is now. And despite how great of a story it&#8217;s, Buffalo just isn&#8217;t just pleased to be back within the dance. They&#8217;ve their sights set on getting back to the Final for the primary time since 1999. They&#8217;ve the pieces, with a young, expert and deep forward core, a superb blue line led by a few No. 1 picks in captain Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power, and a gradual goaltender in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who has been terrific down the stretch. A primary-round series against the Bruins is difficult, but might have been rather a lot worse in the event that they didn&#8217;t win the division and needed to play a team just like the Lightning. It&#8217;s inconceivable to know the way things are going to go in Western Latest York \u2014 this roster may be very green, in spite of everything \u2014 but with home-ice advantage for at the least the primary two rounds, and a deep understanding of how hard it was to get back here, we expect nothing wanting the Sabres&#8217; best this spring.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>7. Minnesota Wild<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>It&#8217;s hard to consider that the Wild have missed the playoffs just twice within the last 10 years \u2014 but haven&#8217;t won a single round. Eight postseason appearances, zero series wins. They&#8217;re hoping to reverse that trend in 2026, and so they have the missing piece, the X-factor, the superstar, in Quinn Hughes. Unfortunately, the trail runs through the Stars and Avalanche, two of the NHL&#8217;s three best regular season teams. Still, Minnesota had a improbable campaign, ending 46-24-12 and seventh place overall. They usually could definitely beat Dallas, which would not be an excessive amount of of an upset.<\/p>\n<p>Together with Hughes, Bill Guerin has put together a superb, and importantly, healthy roster, adding Marcus Foligno and Jeff Petry on the deadline to affix a pair other fresh faces from last summer. The massive query mark within the State of Hockey is the goaltending; Filip Gustavsson has struggled down the stretch, while rookie Jesper Wallstedt has also cooled off after a historic begin to his campaign. We still do not know who&#8217;s starting Game 1, but whichever Swede it&#8217;s, he&#8217;ll must be at his best possible if the Wild hope to go on a bit of little bit of a run. In fact, the standard suspects (Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek) will have to be otherworldly to get this club through the gauntlet.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>8. Montreal Canadiens<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In 2024-25, the NHL&#8217;s most storied franchise returned to the dance, but went out with a whimper in five games to the Washington Capitals. This time around, the Canadiens are even higher, with Nick Suzuki reaching 101 points and Cole Caufield scoring 51 goals. Montreal was oh-so-close to winning the Atlantic Division, but as a substitute finished third, and have a brutal Round 1 matchup against Tampa Bay that can begin in Florida.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike last 12 months, when there weren&#8217;t any expectations after the rebuild officially ended, that is just not the case this time around. The Canadiens just racked up 48 wins and 106 points, and showed the world it is time for them to be taken seriously. The Bell Centre goes to be absolutely rocking late next week, but Montreal needs to search out a technique to steal a game in Tampa Bay. It is going to be even harder without prized offseason acquisition Noah Dobson, who will likely miss your entire series. But there&#8217;s a ton of star power throughout here, led by Suzuki and Caufield but in addition featuring Lane Hutson (78 points) Juraj Slafkovsky (73 points) and presumed Calder Trophy finalist Ivan Demidov (62 points). The difference-maker goes to be the goaltending; if inexperienced 24-year-old Jakub Dobes and\/or 21-year-old Jacob Fowler can match up with Andrei Vasilevskiy, this will likely be a terrific series. But that could be a tall, tall task.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>9. Pittsburgh Penguins<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3771413\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Pittsburgh-Penguins_7a2158.jpg\" alt=\"Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang (58) and center Sidney Crosby (87) and center Evgeni Malkin (71) stand as they are recognized as the longest tenured teammates in North American professional sports history before their twentieth season together prior to the game against the New York Islanders at PPG Paints Arena.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Pittsburgh-Penguins_7a2158.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Pittsburgh-Penguins_7a2158.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Pittsburgh-Penguins_7a2158.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Pittsburgh-Penguins_7a2158.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Pittsburgh-Penguins_7a2158.jpg?resize=1536,864 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/p>\n<p>After missing the playoffs in back-to-back-to-back years, hockey fans were finally beginning to grapple with the truth that Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang had played their final postseason contests. But under the terrific tutelage of first-year coach Dan Muse, together with a number of excellent additions by GM Kyle Dubas (Anthony Mantha and Egor Chinakhov most notably), the Pens are back. Following a 41-win campaign, Pittsburgh is prepared to present its big three at the least yet one more dance. And one thing you may never do is count this trio out when it counts essentially the most.<\/p>\n<p>They&#8217;ve won three Stanley Cups together over 20 seasons \u2014 in 2009, 2016 and 2017 \u2014 and have a solid path through the Metropolitan Division in 2026. The Flyers have been great, but will definitely be the underdogs. That is very true considering how the highest guys on Pittsburgh have torched Philly of their careers. Crosby has 36 points in 23 postseason games against the Flyers; Malkin, 27 in 22; Letang, 15 in 22. And Erik Karlsson has turned back the clock and looked like one in all the NHL&#8217;s best offensive defensemen in 2025-26. They don&#8217;t seem to be getting any younger, and we expect the Pens to be a particularly difficult out this spring.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>10. Vegas Golden Knights<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The Golden Knights were far and away the trickiest team to rank within the NHL Playoff Power Rankings in 2026. They&#8217;ve looked just brutal for long stretches this season, but under John Tortorella, are rejuvenated, going 7-0-1 to finish the 12 months. That took them from a wildcard berth to the highest of the Pacific Division and a Round 1 date with the Mammoth. The team had fashions on getting back to the Finals after winning all of it in 2023, but were ousted within the first-round by the Stars in 2024 and second-round by the Oilers in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>After a few early exits, Vegas is laser-focused on returning to hockey&#8217;s peak, and so they have a good Round 1 matchup against a Utah team that&#8217;s expert but has little or no playoff experience. While the offense is not quite as potent because it once was, Jack Eichel and Mark Stone are still superstars, and Mitch Marner will make a difference despite a rather underwhelming first season on the strip. The blue line is healthy and stays absolutely elite, and Carter Hart was excellent down the stretch and will likely be given every opportunity under Torts \u2014 who coached him in Philly. But most significantly, this core and this coach have been here before, and knows exactly what it takes to win.<\/p>\n<p>The Bruins ought to be commended for a way well they were capable of turn things around within the span of a 12 months. After ending 33-39-10 and dead last within the Eastern Conference in 2024-25, Boston bounced back tremendously this season, winning 45 games and securing the highest wildcard in an ultra-competitive Atlantic Division. What the B&#8217;s have going for them is a plethora of experience, each within the NHL postseason and in international play.<\/p>\n<p>A pair key aspects got this club back to legitimate contention in 2025-26: top defenders Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm returning to close full health, Jeremy Swayman providing regular and at times excellent goaltending, and a few breakout seasons from Morgan Geekie, Pavel Zacha and Viktor Arvidsson. Superstar David Pastrnak hitting 100 points for the fourth consecutive 12 months definitely didn&#8217;t hurt. A Round 1 matchup against the Sabres truly looks like a 50\/50 proposition, and whoever wins could definitely see the run proceed deep into May.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>12. Ottawa Senators<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>For the primary time in eight seasons, the Senators slid back into the postseason in 2024-25. Back in 2016-17, Ottawa got here inside one goal of a visit to the Stanley Cup Final, losing in a heartbreaking Game 7 to Crosby and the Penguins within the East Final. The return last 12 months was disappointing, because the Sens fell into an 0-3 hole within the Battle of Ontario and eventually lost in six games to the Toronto Maple Leafs.<\/p>\n<p>The road doesn&#8217;t get any easier this 12 months, and once more, they are a wildcard team. The Hurricanes are well-rested and an excellent argument might be made that they are the squad to beat within the Eastern Conference. Ottawa is deep offensively and is led by a bonafide superstar in Jake Sanderson on the back end, but Linus Ullmark is a large query mark. It wasn&#8217;t so way back he was a part of top-of-the-line tandems ever with the Bruins in 2022-23, but his tenure in Canada&#8217;s capital has been tumultuous. The upset potential is there, however the Swede might want to turn back the clock between the pipes, and that is no guarantee the best way he&#8217;s fared this season.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>13. Philadelphia Flyers<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Between January 8-31, the Flyers won two games, and lost 11. That reason alone makes it truly miraculous that they not only found a way into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but secured the No. 3 seed within the Metro. There have been a pair of things that led to the turnaround after the Olympic break, and it starts with Dan Vladar. The 28-year-old signed as a free agent from the Flames over the summer, and began nearly every game down the stretch. He was excellent, ending with a 2.42 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage.<\/p>\n<p>You furthermore mght cannot say enough about 2025 sixth overall pick Porter Martone, who made his NHL debut at the tip of March and proceeded to attain 10 points in his first nine games in the large leagues. Rick Tocchet did a superb job behind the bench, mentoring a really young team and bringing playoff hockey back to the City of Brotherly Love for the primary time since 2019-20. Nobody in Philly will admit it, but this club is just pleased to be back. They don&#8217;t seem to be the favourite within the Battle of Pennsylvania, but thoroughly could pull off the upset if the young skill overpowers the veteran experience on the Penguins.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>14. Utah Mammoth<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3771418\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3771418\" style=\"width:1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3771418\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Utah-Mammoth.jpg\" alt=\"Utah Mammoth left wing Lawson Crouse (67) celebrates scoring a goal against the St. Louis Blues during the second period at Delta Center.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Utah-Mammoth.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Utah-Mammoth.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Utah-Mammoth.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Utah-Mammoth.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Utah-Mammoth.jpg?resize=1536,864 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3771418\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rob Gray-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For the primary time ever, playoff hockey is headed to the Delta Center. It&#8217;s incredibly impressive considering that is just the second 12 months of skilled puck in Salt Lake City. GM Bill Armstrong deserves a ton of credit, not being afraid to make splashes over the past two seasons that resulted in Mikhail Sergachev and MacKenzie Weegar coming to town.<\/p>\n<p>And the top-end skill up front is unreal; Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz and Dylan Guenther all finished with over 70 points, while Logan Cooley racked up 43 in only 54 games. The Mammoth are going to go so far as the aforementioned players take them, however it won&#8217;t be an extended run if Karel Vejmelka cannot find his game. The Czech netminder has really struggled down the stretch, resulting in an under .900 save percentage. That will not delay well against a Knights team that just isn&#8217;t only experienced, but can match Utah&#8217;s high-end skill player for player. It is a remarkable success story \u2014 especially because the Arizona Coyotes spent their last 4 seasons on the surface looking in \u2014 but we aren&#8217;t expecting an excessive amount of from them in Yr 1 within the dance. We would not hate being proven unsuitable, though.<\/p>\n<p>The Kings deserve a ton of credit for going from the mushy middle to a playoff spot within the span of lower than a month. Los Angeles won five games in a row when it mattered most \u2014 and 7 of nine between the tip of March and starting of\u00a0 April\u00a0 \u2014 to secure their spot within the dance. Unfortunately, they&#8217;ve the one hardest first-round matchup, with backup-turned-starter Anton Forsberg staring down the almighty Avalanche in Round 1.<\/p>\n<p>This team is experienced, and could have a hearth lit under them knowing that is the last dance for Anze Kopitar. Having Artemi Panarin within the fold can be an enormous help. It is also nice for everybody that we do not have a Kings-Oilers first round series for the fifth straight 12 months. All that being said, LA is heavy underdogs against Colorado, and it&#8217;s hard to see them keeping this series close considering the numerous misappropriation of talent. They were mere points away from getting away from the President&#8217;s Trophy winners, but considering how most of this campaign went, they need to just be pleased they made it. A pair Western Conference hopefuls battled right to the tip, but as a substitute will likely be getting a head start on golf season. Anything can occur within the postseason, but no, this roster might be not happening one other magical 2012 run \u2014 in case you know, you recognize.<\/p>\n<p>Pulling up the rear within the NHL Playoff Power Rankings are the Geese, who&#8217;re returning to the playoffs for the primary time in eight seasons. And barring nothing wanting a miracle, it isn&#8217;t shaping as much as be a really long term. Anaheim has been just terrible, limping into the playoffs with two wins of their final 10 regular season games. Even the addition of John Carlson on the blue line wasn&#8217;t enough to stop the bleeding.<\/p>\n<p>The Geese have some great young players, highlighted by two huge breakout seasons from Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier. However the Oilers know exactly the right way to shut down top talent, as they&#8217;ve shown time and time again en path to consecutive Western Conference titles. The predominant problem is Lukas Dostal, who wasn&#8217;t great on the Olympics and has been much, much worse down the stretch. There probably is not a goalie within the postseason Edmonton would quite play, and it&#8217;s just hard to see him stealing a game against Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, etc. By all accounts, it has been a terrific season in California, and this can be a roster that has finally shed the rebuild label. Still, we expect absolutely nothing of their first taste of playoff hockey in nearly a decade.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>After 1,312 games, the 2025-26 NHL regular season has finally reached its conclusion.  And served its primary purpose: cutting the 32-team field right down to 16.  After nearly seven months of hockey, it is time for the best postseason in all of sports to start.  And what higher technique to kick off the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs than with ClutchPoints&#8217; third annual NHL Playoff Power Rankings.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After\u00a01,312 games, the 2025-26 NHL regular season has finally reached its conclusion. And served its primary purpose: cutting the 32-team field right down to 16. After nearly seven months of hockey, it is time for the best postseason in all of sports to start. And what higher technique to kick off the 2026 Stanley Cup [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":320522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[338],"tags":[1470],"class_list":["post-320521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-champion"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320521"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":320524,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320521\/revisions\/320524"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}