NHL Playoff Standings 2023: Latest Odds on Wild-Card Races

The amount of true contenders to reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs is dwindling by the week.

The Seattle Kraken and Winnipeg Jets are the clear favorites to round out the Western Conference playoff field in the two wild-card positions.

Only the Calgary Flames and Nashville Predators are within 10 points of the Kraken and Jets entering the final stretch of the regular season.

The list of wild-card contenders in the Eastern Conference is a bit larger, but the competition could be narrowed down to three teams soon.

The New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins reside in the wild-card spots as of Thursday morning, but the Florida Panthers are only a point back of Pittsburgh.

Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals could make a late push to make up the six-point gap on Pittsburgh, but they must beat the Penguins on Saturday night to have a shot at making the eight-team playoff field in the East.

Eastern Conference

Metropolitan Division

1. Carolina - 100 points

2. New Jersey - 98

3. New York Rangers - 92

Atlantic Division

1. Boston - 113

2. Toronto - 93

3. Tampa Bay - 90

Wild-Card Race

1. New York Islanders - 82

2. Pittsburgh - 80

3. Florida - 79

4. Washington - 74

5. Ottawa -73

6. Buffalo - 72

7. Detroit - 71

Odds to Make Playoffs

New York Islanders (-350; bet $350 to win $100)

Pittsburgh (-190)

Florida (-140)

Buffalo (+2000; bet $100 to win $2000)

Washington (+2500)

Washington's biggest game of the season to date comes on Saturday in Pittsburgh.

The Capitals need a victory over the Penguins to close the gap between themselves and the second wild-card position in the Eastern Conference.

They then have to follow that up with a win over the Islanders on Wednesday to get even closer to the wild-card spots.

Washington is 3-1 against the Islanders and Penguins this season, so there should be some confidence within the team that it can make the push up from 10th place in the East in the next week.

If those wins happen, the East will have the more compelling fight to the finish between the Islanders, Penguins, Capitals and Panthers.

The Buffalo Sabres, Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings are hanging on to the back of the playoff race, as they all sit within four points of Washington.

If Washington goes on a run in the next week, the gap may be too big for those three teams to make up in the final few weeks of the regular season.

Even reaching the Penguins seems like a near-impossible task for the Sabres, Senators and Red Wings since they are between seven and nine points adrift of the last wild-card spot.

Pittsburgh plays four of its next five games at home, starting with the Saturday clash against Washington. It is 19-11-5 on its home ice. A few wins during that stretch could make the Penguins feel safer about their playoff prospects.

The Islanders have an even better home mark of 21-12-3. They face Buffalo and New Jersey on home ice in their next two games. A two-game winning streak could open up an insurmountable gap to some of the chasing teams.

Florida has a four-game road swing before finishing with four out of five at home. The Panthers must perform well on their Canadian road trip to have a shot of chasing down the Islanders and Penguins in the final five games.

Western Conference

Central Division

1. Dallas - 90

2. Minnesota - 90

3. Colorado - 88

Pacific Division

1. Vegas - 94

2. Los Angeles - 92

3. Edmonton - 90

Wild-Card Race

1. Seattle - 85

2. Winnipeg - 83

3. Calgary - 79

4. Nashville - 78

Odds to Make Playoffs

Seattle (-3000)

Winnipeg (-280)

Calgary (+300)

Nashville (+450)

Seattle and Winnipeg have the clear advantage to finish out the eight-team Western Conference playoff field.

The Kraken are six points clear of the Flames with two games in hand. The extra games to be played could create an even larger difference between the teams in first and third in the wild-card hunt.

Seattle's games in hand are also important to create a gap between itself and Winnipeg so that it can face the weaker of the two division winners. The second wild-card seed takes on the most successful division winner in the first round of the playoffs.

The Kraken can take Nashville out of the wild-card hunt with wins inside Bridgestone Arena on Thursday and Saturday.

Conversely, that is Nashville's big opportunity to gain ground in the wild-card race and become the biggest threat to the Kraken and Jets.

Nashville is 17-12-4 inside its home rink, but Seattle owns the third-most road victories in the NHL.

Even a split between the Kraken and Predators would be seen as a successful trip to Tennessee for the wild-card leader because it would prevent the Preds from gaining any ground.

Calgary seems to be a better bet to make the playoffs than Nashville given its situation over the next week. The Flames play five of their next six games at home.

If Calgary wins all of its home games, it may put a ton of pressure on both current wild-card sides.

Winnipeg is about to embark on a three-game California road swing, but two of those games are winnable against Anaheim and San Jose.

The Jets then return home for five straight games, including matchups against Calgary and Nashville.

Even if Calgary gains some ground in the next week, the Jets could kill the Flames' momentum with a head-to-head victory on April 5.

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