The last taste of playoff hockey the Windy City has experienced was a weird bubble playoff with nobody in the building. Following an upset victory over the Edmonton Oilers in the qualifying round, the Chicago Blackhawks were sent packing in five short games.
Since the Game 5 loss against the Vegas Golden Knights, the organization has faced some drastic changes. A new core is being built around Connor Bedard, and the team appears to be moving in the right direction.
Through 46 games, the three playoff spots in the Central Division seem to be locked up, but the Blackhawks are in the thick of the wild card race.
Should Fans Expect Playoffs?
With Chicago being four points out of a wild card spot, there is a realistic chance the Blackhawks make the playoffs, although it will be challenging.
The teams currently tied with or ahead of Chicago in the wild card race are the Seattle Kraken, San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, Nashville Predators, Anaheim Ducks, and Utah Mammoth. At the time I’m writing this, Seattle has just overtaken San Jose for a divisional playoff spot in the Pacific. There’s just one point that separates them, so they’re both relevant in the wild card race.
There are still 36 games to play, but the problem for the Blackhawks is that they must leapfrog five different teams to reach the second wild card spot. Another issue is that Chicago has the most difficult strength of schedule out of the teams I just listed.
The Blackhawks currently have the 14th most difficult strength of schedule in the league, with only Utah being that close. Utah currently has the 15th most difficult schedule in the league.
The three teams currently in a playoff spot are Seattle, San Jose, and Los Angeles. San Jose and Los Angeles have the easiest and the third-easiest schedule in the entire league. Seattle has been red-hot recently, going 7-1-2 in their last 10 games, and has the 19th hardest schedule in the league.
The three teams who are on the outside looking in are Utah, Nashville, and Anaheim. I’ve already mentioned that Utah has a similar strength of schedule to Chicago, but Nashville and Anaheim do not. Nashville has the 18th hardest schedule in the league. Following the trend of California teams having easy schedules, Anaheim has the second-easiest schedule in the league.
Which Teams Do I See Dropping Off?
The first team in the race I don’t see as a threat is the Predators. While they’ve improved throughout the season, they have an old core, and we’ve seen what this team has looked like over a large sample size. It wouldn’t surprise me if we see Barry Trotz sell off pieces of this team once the trade deadline comes around.
I also don’t think the Ducks make the playoffs. They started hot this season but have plummeted since then. They just snapped a nine-game losing streak and can’t get a save. Lukas Dostal, who they’re relying on since the John Gibson trade, has had a down year. This season, Dostal has posted a .887 save percentage (SV%), minus-7.54 goals saved above average (GSAA), and a 7.34 goals saved above expected (GSAx), which is down from 22.49 last season. Bad goaltending kills you in this league.
The Kraken are an interesting team to me. They struggled throughout the season, but they’ve gotten it back on track, and unlike the Ducks, they’re getting stops from their goaltenders.
Philipp Grubauer has posted a ridiculous .924 SV%, 12.27 GSAA, and 21.28 GSAx. What was largely regarded as one of the worst contracts in the league has turned in a fantastic season up to this point. Joey Daccord has also had an okay season. If the goaltending comes back to earth, Seattle will fall out of the race. They rank just 18th in the league for goals scored, and their roster isn’t built as an offensive juggernaut.
I don’t trust them to make the playoffs, but if the goaltending doesn’t regress, they’ll be in the race for the rest of the season.
Which Teams Are a Real Threat?
The three teams that I think are the real threats for the playoffs are the Mammoth, Kings, and Sharks. Two of those teams are in playoff spots, and I think this will be a race until the final day of the season.
The Mammoth are a highly skilled team, and many have been waiting for them to make the jump from a bubble team to a playoff team. Clayton Keller is nearly a point per game, Nick Schmaltz has had a great season, and Dylan Guenther is four goals shy of a career high with 35 games to go.
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The things that could drag Utah down in a playoff push are the fact that Logan Cooley suffered a significant lower-body injury, and it was reported by the team on Dec. 11, 2025, that he would be out for eight weeks.
Their goaltending also has not been great. Vitek Vanecek is just above an .880 SV%, and Karel Vejmelka is hovering around a .900 SV%, although he’s been better as of late. They also have the most difficult schedule out of any of the teams I’ve talked about. Something I’ve noticed while going through the teams in this race is that the Blackhawks have had much better goaltending than many of the teams they’re competing with, which should be huge coming down the stretch.
The Kings have been one of the more disappointing teams. The Pacific has not been strong, and I’m shocked they don’t have one of the three divisional spots. Although they’ve been disappointing, they have the best team among all the teams competing for a wild card spot. I doubt they miss the playoffs, and if they do, head coach Jim Hiller will most likely be without a job.
Their interstate rival, the Sharks, have been one of the most exciting teams in the NHL. Macklin Celebrini has already surpassed his rookie season point total with 70 points in 45 games and made the Canadian Olympic team. On top of Celebrini, they have several exciting young pieces with Will Smith, William Eklund, Michael Misa and Yaroslav Askarov in net.
Much like Chicago, they’re a young team, and I can see their season going either way. Recently, Askarov has really struggled, posting a .900 or better SV% in just three of his last 10 games. If he can’t turn his season around, it could be tough for San Jose to compete because Alex Nedeljkovic has also been very up and down all year.
So, Is It Realistic?
Although I think it will be tough, I do think there is a realistic possibility that the Blackhawks make the playoffs this season. I love how Spencer Knight has been playing, and goaltending is one of the biggest separators between a playoff and a non-playoff team.
The fact that the only Chicago player to make the Olympics this season is Teravainen should also be a boost for this team. They need to stay in the race until the Olympic break, but while players on other teams are playing high-level hockey, the Blackhawks roster can sit at home, rest up and come back after the break firing.
Even if the Blackhawks fail to make the playoffs, I think there’s plenty to be encouraged about. Bedard has made a jump in his development. They have their goaltender of the future in Knight, who has performed well this season; they locked up a big piece of their core in Frank Nazar, and Anton Frondell is still in the system developing, amongst other positive things that happened this season.
Playing meaningful games late into the season is also very valuable to the young players who haven’t had that experience yet. If I were Kyle Davidson, I would not sell a piece off this roster at the deadline and just see what they can do.
