The Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers will meet in a rematch of the last two Stanley Cup Finals on Mar. 19 at Rogers Place in Edmonton. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)
NHLI via Getty Images
For the last three weeks, hockey fans across the globe were treated to some of the best games the sport has ever produced as gold medals were contested at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.
After Team USA climbed to the top of the podium on both the men’s and women’s sides with overtime wins over Canada, professional schedules will resume later this week and college players will rejoin their teams as conference playoffs begin.
For both the men in the NHL and the women in the PWHL, their playoffs begin in April. Here’s a look at what to watch for in the coming days and weeks.
When Do The NHL And PWHL Seasons Resume?
The NHL schedule picks back up on Wednesday, Feb. 25, with an eight-game slate. Wednesday’s marquee game will feature U.S. Olympic gold medal captain Auston Matthews with his Toronto Maple Leafs visiting the Tampa Bay Lightning, with gold medalist Jake Guentzel patrolling the Lightning wing and Canada’s silver-medal-winning coach Jon Cooper behind the bench.
Once the puck drops, it’s a full sprint to the end of the regular season for NHL players. Just over 30 percent of the league schedule remains to be played over the next 51 days, through Apr. 16. That works out to an average of just under eight games per day.
For the women, their schedule resumes on Thursday, Feb. 26, with the Montreal Victoire taking on the New York Sirens at Prudential Centre in Newark, N.J. The PWHL’s 30-game regular season is about half over. Sixty-one of 120 games have been contested so far, with 59 remaining.
The PWHL regular season concludes on Apr. 25, so the eight-team league will average just over one game per day over the final 58 days of its third season.
With an eye toward further PWHL expansion, the Takeover Tour will also continue. Another important special event is the league’s game at Madison Square Garden on Apr. 4, when the New York Sirens will host the Seattle Torrent.
When Do The NHL And PWHL Playoffs Begin?
For the NHL, the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs will begin on Saturday, Apr. 18. Sixteen of the league’s 32 teams will qualify for the four-round post-season, with all series best-of-seven.
The start date for the 2026 Walter Cup playoffs has not yet been announced, but will likely come during the last few days of April. Though the league has expanded from six to eight teams this season, the playoff format remains the same: four teams qualify for the two-round post-season, with all series best-of-five.
Which NHL And PWHL Teams Are The Playoff Front-Runners?
Coming out of the break, the Colorado Avalanche hold a five-point lead over their closest challengers in the NHL standings. That’s a significant margin, which they’ve maintained after their torrid start to the season.
On Dec. 3, the Avalanche were 19-1-6 for an .846 points percentage, on pace for a potential 138-point season that would be an all-time NHL record.
On Feb. 24, Colorado is 37-9-9. That’s a .755 points percentage that puts them on pace for 124 points — the most in three years. The Avalanche are still head-and-shoulders above any other competition in the Western Conference, including the perennially strong Dallas Stars and the improving Minnesota Wild.
Since the Christmas break, the league’s six hottest teams all hail from the Eastern Conference. That group is led by the Lightning, with a record of 17-1-1 that has them tied with the Carolina Hurricanes atop the Eastern standings. The Hurricanes sit third by points percentage, at 17-4-3 over their last 21 games, while the Pittsburgh Penguins are second at 14-3-3, the Boston Bruins are fourth at 12-3-4, the Columbus Blue Jackets are fifth at 14-5-1 and the Buffalo Sabres are sixth at 14-5-2.
Of those six teams, only the Lightning and the Hurricanes made the playoffs last season. The Penguins, Sabres and Bruins are all holding down playoff berths coming out of the break while the Blue Jackets are four points out, in the first wild-card spot. Columbus is on the rise — in the middle of a classic new-coach bump. the team’s record is incredible 10-1-0 since Rick Bowness took the reins on Jan 12.
In the West, it’s the Wild, the Utah Mammoth and the Seattle Kraken with the best records since the Christmas break. All three are now in playoff position, with the Mammoth looking for their first playoff berth in their second season in their new home and the Kraken seeking their second post-season run in their team’s five-year history.
Over in the PWHL, it’s the Boston Fleet who top the standings with a record of 8-2-2-2 for 30 points in 14 games. Boston reached the fifth and deciding game of the Walter Cup Final against the Minnesota Frost in Year 1, then failed to qualify for the playoffs in Year 2.
The other teams currently in playoff positions are the Frost, the Victoire and the Sirens. But a small eight-team circuit means things can change in a hurry. Three points for a regulation win can add up fast, and half the season is still to be played.
In the PWHL’s first two years of operation, playoff positioning came down to the final day of the regular season. In 2025, a tie-breaking formula was needed to declare Minnesota and Ottawa in, while Boston fell short.
Where Can I Watch The Top Men’s And Women’s Olympic Ice Hockey Stars?
Here are the NHL affiliations for some of the most noteworthy men’s players from the Olympics:
Connor McDavid (MVP) – Edmonton OilersJack Hughes (golden goal scorer) – New Jersey DevilsConnor Hellebuyck (top goalie) – Winnipeg JetsQuinn Hughes (top defenseman) – Minnesota WildMacklin Celebrini (all-star) – San Jose SharksJuraj Slafkovsky (all-star) – Montreal CanadiensCale Makar (all-star) – Colorado Avalanche
On the women’s side, MVP and leading scorer Caroline Harvey has not yet turned pro. The 23-year-old is a senior at the University of Wisconsin, and will be eligible for the 2026 PWHL draft.
Harvey and her U.S. teammate, Laila Edwards, were named the best defenders of the tournament. Edwards is also a senior at Wisconsin. She plays both forward and defense at college.
The Badgers are the top-ranked women’s hockey program in the NCAA and the defending national champions. They’ll play the first round of their WCHA playoffs this weekend against Bemidji State.
Here’s where you’ll find the other individual award winners from the women’s Olympic tournament:
Marie-Philip Poulin (best forward) – Montreal VictoireAndrea Brandli (best goaltender) – Frolunda (SDHL – Sweden)Hannah Bilka (all-star) – Seattle TorrentAlina Muller (all-star) – Boston Fleet