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The NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off break is nearly over, and the focus will shift from Team Canada and Team USA Thursday night to the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoff race. And with about one-third of the regular season yet to play, there are going to be some teams that need a very good start coming out of the break.
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Below, we’re going to identify four such teams:
1. New York Rangers
After a brutal start that left them with a 16-19-1 record at the end of 2024, the Rangers battled back with an 11-5-3 stretch that now has them three standings points behind the Detroit Red Wings for the second and final wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference. They’ve got 27 games left to try and squeeze into the post-season, but the Blueshirts’ remaining schedule won’t be easy.
Indeed, coming out of the break, the Rangers have to capitalize on a relatively-easy-ish schedule, including games against Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Nashville in their first five post-break games. But they’ve also got showdowns against tougher teams like the Maple Leafs, New York Islanders (twice), Capitals, Senators and Blue Jackets. And after that, they’ve got tilts against Winnipeg, Minnesota, Columbus (again), Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto (again), Vancouver and the Kings.
Thus, the Rangers are going to need a .600 points percentage in their first 17 games to have any hope of making the playoffs – and to be frank, we’ve got our doubts they can do so. In their seven games heading into the 4 Nations break, the Rangers went 3-4-0, so this is still very much a flawed group. Rangers GM Chris Drury could be active at the March 7 trade deadline, but he’s going to need his team to put up a fight out of the break to be incentivized to make trades. And skeptics aren’t wrong to believe that may not happen.
2. Columbus Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets stumbled into the 4 Nations break on a four-game losing skid, but prior to that, they’d put up a 14–4-2 record to slip into wild-card contention. They’re currently one point behind Detroit (although the Red Wings have a game in hand) for the second wild-card spot and two points behind the Senators for the first wild-card spot.
That said, Columbus’ post-4-Nations-break schedule is incredibly difficult. They get things started with a very winnable game against Chicago, but after that, it’s a murderer’s row of opponents, including Dallas, Detroit (twice), Tampa Bay, Florida, the Rangers (twice), New Jersey (twice), Florida (twice), Vegas, the Islanders, Pittsburgh, Vancouver and Ottawa. Only the Penguins are a ‘gimme’ game, and otherwise, they’re going to need all hands on deck to have a strong start to the final third of the regular-season schedule.
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The Blue Jackets are playing meaningful hockey down the stretch, which is considerably different than their efforts in recent years. But getting agonizingly close to the post-season, only to fail, would be a painful way to end the year. If they can make a strong push out of the gate when games resume, they can have momentum on their side and hopefully, for their fans’ sake, find a way to get into the playoffs.
3. Calgary Flames
Few people believed the Flames would be challenging for a playoff spot this season, but here we are, and Calgary is sitting three points behind Vancouver for the second wild-card berth in the Western Conference. They’re not likely to catch the Colorado Avalanche for the first wild-card spot, so they need to focus on the Canucks coming out of the break. And they’ve got to do much better than what they did heading into the break when they dropped six of eight games.
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The key to Calgary’s playoff hopes will be to improve their road record, which is a sub-par 10-11-4. They’ve got 16 road games left, including away games against Washington, Tampa Bay, Florida, Carolina, Dallas, the Rangers, Devils, Islanders, Oilers, Avalanche and Kings. If that sounds like an uphill battle, that’s because it is.
Unless the Flames come out of the gate strongly, they’re probably not going to have enough in the tank to land a wild-card spot. Calgary may yet prove to be a playoff-worthy squad, but the manner in which they start the final third of the year will likely dictate what their destiny will be the rest of the way.
4. Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks have been somewhat of a disappointment this season, but in their final eight games before the 4 Nations Face-Off, they won six of those games, including two three-game win streaks. They need to produce a similar standings points win percentage to outlast the Flames and Utah Hockey Club.
That might sound like a tall order, but given that Vancouver has post-4-Nations-break games against Anaheim (twice), Seattle, Montreal and Chicago in their first 11 games, the Canucks have their fate in their own hands. However, a collapse out of the gate would provide an opening for the Flames in particular to pass Vancouver in the standings.
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But if the Canucks make some additions via trade – something that’s not only possible but probable – they should have enough competitive gas to not only secure a playoff spot but potentially overtake Los Angeles for third place in the Pacific Division. Vancouver can assure itself of a post-season appearance with a strong start to its post-4-Nations schedule, but if they don’t do so, the Canucks will only have themselves to blame.
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