While the Olympics are in full swing, it's hard not to think about the final one-and-a-half-months that are left in this 2025-26 NHL season.
With the trade deadline set for March 6th, the month that follows will see teams looking to catch up with playoff rivals or to cement their place in the playoff bracket. Whether it's a team like the Tampa Bay Lightning or Vegas Golden Knights that is looking to clinch a division title, a team like the Buffalo Sabres or Detroit Red Wings that's looking to end a longstanding postseason drought, or a team like the San Jose Sharks or Anaheim Ducks that's simply looking to hold on for dear life and get into the playoffs, most of the teams currently in the NHL playoff picture have the luxury of starting to look towards the postseason itself.
While those teams will be the ones fans will more than likely be watching, three teams could easily change the direction of the NHL playoffs. From now until mid-March, here are the three playoff contenders I am keeping an eye on.
Colorado Avalanche
In early-January, you could make an argument that Colorado was not only bound for its best season since 2021-22, but that they were the undisputed Stanley Cup favourite for the 2025-26 season.
And you'd be right to make that argument. On January 12th, they had a record of 33-4-8, 74 points in the standings, and a decent chance of locking up a playoff berth before St Patricks Day.
Now?
Since that January 12th game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Avalanche have gone 4-5-1.
On its own, that might not seem like that big of a deal, especially considering that league-leading teams and Cup contenders always go through their rough patches.
However, the Dallas Stars enter the Olympic break just six points back of the Avalanche for first in the Central Division while the Minnesota Wild are just five back. The Avalanche do have games in hand on both teams; however, their ongoing slump isn't exactly exuding any confidence that they can once again establish a double-digit points advantage. And even in the span of twenty-five games, a five point hole is erasable.
Colorado's second game post-Olympics is a home game against the Minnesota Wild. Just over one week later, the Avalanche travel to Dallas for a game against the Stars. They'll have a home contest against the Stars twelve days later, but that is sandwiched by a March 8th encounter with the Minnesota Wild. Add on the Avalanche's April 4th game in Dallas and you have the recipe for what could very well be a closely-contested Central Division.
There's still a decent chance Colorado can win their games in hand and rebuild a sizable lead for the Central Division. At the same time, there's a decent chance one or both of the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild get past the Avalanche in the divisional standings.
What Colorado's path forward will look like depends on whether the slump was just a pre-Olympic thing, especially given that players like Nathan Mackinnon are heading to Milan to represent their national teams, or whether it is truly a sign of things to come.
Los Angeles Kings
Despite having one of the least-productive offences in the NHL, the Los Angeles Kings are somehow still in a race for the final few playoff spots up for grabs in the Western Conference. That's mainly due to a strong Kings defence and some good goaltending, but the fact of the matter is that they are still in a playoff race.
Against what basically is half the Pacific Division - the sixth-place San Jose Sharks are separated from the second-place Edmonton Oilers by just six points - such defensive capabilities and experience will give Los Angeles an upper hand of sorts in this final stretch.
But if they were to get into the playoffs? Unless they find some goalscoring or avoid matching up with tougher opposition, there is a decent chance the Kings get swept or lose a first round series in five games.
That said, the Kings did just pull off a trade for a certain Artemi Panarin. And he'll be joining the team right before they resume play in late-February.
The Kings' first six games, which form an eleven-day-long home stand, will not only be key in deciding their playoff fate but also what this team looks like against contenders that are familiar with their rotations and that are spending the last month-and-a-half of the regular season refining their game for the playoffs. They'll open post-Olympic play with a back-to-back against Vegas and Edmonton, before welcoming Calgary to close out the month of February. To start March, Los Angeles will host Colorado, the New York Islanders, and Montreal. The majority of those teams are either all but locked into a playoff spot or close to doing so. Beating some of them will allow for the Kings to keep pace with the likes of Anaheim and Edmonton while also gaining some confidence against the league's top teams.
Following that stretch, the Kings will embark on a five-game road trip that sees them play Columbus, Boston, the New York Islanders, New Jersey, and the New York Rangers. Beat some top teams, and Los Angeles could cruise through this stretch and secure some big points in the standings.
Ottawa Senators
While they might not have trimmed too many points off of Boston's advantage for the final wild card spot, the Ottawa Senators are still well in the thick of things in the Eastern Conference.
And you could argue the same for much of the conference's bottom half. The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the exact same position as Ottawa in terms of the standings, while the Florida Panthers are just two back of both Ontario-based teams. Elsewhere, the Columbus Blue Jackets are primed to potentially be in control of the race for the final spots in the Metropolitan Division, while the Washington Capitals could still make a run.
But this discussion isn't about them.
And sure, you could remind me that I only recently berated the team's goaltending for completely collapsing against the Montreal Canadiens. But outside of goaltending, the Sens are one of the league's more dangerous teams. They're a dangerous faceoff team, they have the eighth-best power play, and they have the sixth-most offensive points in the league.
But the Sens did respond well since that point. Ottawa has gone 6-3-1 in their last ten games, with two of them being blowout wins over the Vegas Golden Knights and the Colorado Avalanche. Not only that, but Linus Ullmark has since rejoined the team following his leave of absence; he's won each of his two starts since rejoining the Senators.
Once the Olympic break ends, Ottawa will host Detroit and travel to Toronto for critical Atlantic Division encounters. Then, they'll embark on a four day Pacific Division swing that brings them to Edmonton, Calgary, Seattle, and Vancouver.
The biggest games on Ottawa's schedule are on March 11th against Montreal, March 19th against the New York Islanders, March 31st against the Florida Panthers, and April 2nd against the Buffalo Sabres.
There is still work for the Senators to do in order to make the playoffs; not only do they need Boston to lose some more, but they'll need to make up at least six points on the Bruins to simply get into the playoff picture. But with the Senators entering the break on good form and with the team at its healthiest point this season, it's going to be hard to rule this team out of the playoff race.