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Also Read: 2023-24 NHL power rankings
NHL Standings
What is the best NHL team right now?
With the 2023-24 season now over, the New York Rangers ended the year with the most points (114) and were the first team this season to clinch an NHL playoffs spot. Following them in the overall NHL standings was the top team in the Western Conference, the Dallas Stars (113 points).
The other squads among the five best NHL teams to end the season were the Carolina Hurricanes, Winnipeg Jets, and the Florida Panthers. When it comes to the worst teams in the NHL the Chicago Blackhawks (52 points) and San Jose Sharks (47 points) ended the year at the bottom of the final NHL standings.
How many teams make the NHL Playoffs?
The top 16 teams from the NHL standings make the playoffs — eight in each conference. Those teams then face off in a best-of-seven series over several rounds. The top three squads in the Metropolitan, Atlantic, Central, and Pacific divisions earn automatic births. Then, the teams with the next highest regular-season points total land the last two spots in the NHL playoffs for a date with the division winners.
Related: Don’t miss any of the action, check out Sportsnaut’s NHL TV schedule now
NHL Playoff bracket
Once the final eight teams from each conference are decided, the brackets shake out like so. First, the top overall seed faces the lowest of the two wild card teams. Then, the second seed plays the other wild card. After that, the third seed faces the sixth, and the fourth takes on the fifth.
Once winners are decided among the first eight in each conference, the next four teams move on to the semifinal round and are then re-seeded. The team with the most points among the remaining four then faces the semifinal squad with the least regular-season points.
When do the NHL Playoffs start?
Once the regular season came to a close on April 17, 2024. The various games for the championship tournament will air on ABC, ESPN, TNT, and TBS.
Who won the Stanley Cup in 2023?
In what has been an impressive first few seasons in the league, the Vegas Golden Knights finally delivered on the potential they have shown since their creation and won the franchise’s first Stanley Cup trophy to end the 2022-23 NHL season. Beating the Florida Panthers in just four games.
Recent Stanley Cup winners
- 2023: Vegas Golden Knights (4 games vs Flordia Panthers)
- 2022: Colorado Avalanche (6 games vs Tampa Bay Lightning)
- 2021: Tampa Bay Lightning (5 games vs Montreal Canadiens)
- 2020: Tampa Bay Lightning (6 games vs Dallas Stars)
- 2019: St. Louis Blues (7 games vs Boston Bruins)
- 2018: Washington Capitals (5 games vs Vegas Golden Knights)
- 2017: Pittsburgh Penguins (6 games vs Nashville Predators)
- 2016: Pittsburgh Penguins (6 games vs San Jose Sharks)
- 2015: Chicago Blackhawks (6 games vs Tampa Bay Lightning)
- 2014: Los Angeles Kings (5 games vs New York Rangers)
- 2013: Chicago Blackhawks (6 games vs Boston Bruins)
Who has never won the NHL Stanley Cup?
The Phoenix Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, San Jose Sharks, Winnipeg Jets, Ottowa Senators, Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers, and Seattle Kraken are the only NHL teams to have never won the Stanley Cup trophy.