Playoff odds for the final week of the 2022-23 regular season.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are right around the corner and as we head into the final week of the 2022-23 regular season there are a number of teams around the league still desperately fighting for a playoff spot.

Eastern Conference.

Six teams have secured their spots in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs with the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning set to represent the Atlantic Division, and with the Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers set to represent the Metropolitan Division.

That leaves a 3 team race for the 2 remaining Wild Card spots with the Florida Panthers, New York Islanders and the Pittsburgh Penguins all desperately battling for those spots. The Buffalo Sabres are technically not mathematically eliminated, but with only a 0.4% chance of making it in, they are effectively out of the race.

The same can't be said of the other 3 teams with the Florida Panthers having the best odds of moving on with a 78.7% chance of advancing thanks to the fact that they are in the lead with 91 points, and they hold the tiebreaker advantage with 36 regulation wins on the season.

Right on their heels are the New York Islanders who have a 78% chance of making it in for similar reasons. The Islanders are tied with the Panthers at 91 points and are just one game behind them for the tiebreaker with 35 regulation wins, giving them a distinct advantage over the Penguins.

Those same Pittsburgh Penguins have some ground to make up if they want to advance with only a 42.9% chance of getting in the playoffs headed into the final week. The Penguins are a point behind their two main competitors with only 90 points to their name, and they have no hope of closing the gap on the tiebreaker with only 31 regulation wins this season.

Western Conference.

6 NHL teams have punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup playoffs in the West, with the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild set to represent the Central Division, and the Las Vegas Golden Knights, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings and the Seattle Kraken(Wild Card) set to represent the Pacific Division.

You can argue that the race for the Wild Card spots in the West is even more fierce with the Kraken having already locked in the first Wild Card spot, leaving the Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames and Nashville Predators to duke it out for that final spot.

The Jets have the best odds of making it out with a 78.7% chance of advancing thanks to leading the pack in terms of both points with 91 and regulation wins with 34. The Jets also have a game in hand over their next closest competitors, giving them a major edge headed into the final week of the regular season.

The Flames have the next best shot at making it in but it will be a long one with only an 18.9% chance of getting in with only 2 games remaining on the schedule.  They are a point behind the Jets with 90 points on the season, and have no hope of closing the tiebreaker gap with only 30 regulation wins thus far. The biggest hurdle though will be the fact that the Jets have an extra game on the schedule in which they could further cement their spot ahead of the Flames.

The Predators would need a miracle to get in with only a 2.5% chance of making it, and it seems very unlikely that they will get one. The Predators would need to win out to close the gap on the Jets with only 88 points so far on the season, and they would also need the Jets and the Flames to lose all of their remaining games to make it in.

If you would prefer a visual representation of these odds, check out this excellent graph from Money Puck: