Avalanche become first NHL team to clinch 2026 playoff spot

The Colorado Avalanche became the first team in the NHL to clinch a spot in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, doing so with a 4-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night at the United Center. 

Entering the night atop the NHL standings with 90 points through 67 games, the Avalanche needed just an overtime point to qualify for the postseason. By hitting that mark, they became the second-fastest team to clinch a playoff spot since the NHL switched to an 82-game schedule, trailing only the 67-game pace they set to top the standings in 1996-97. 

Following Friday’s clinch, the Avalanche have 14 games remaining in the regular season and with the playoffs already secured, the focus turns to rest and recovery as well as ensuring that the top seed in the Western Conference’s Central Division. 

The Stanley Cup Playoff tournament itself is set to begin on April 18, giving the Avalanche plenty of time to get healthy and for head coach Jared Bednar to opt for a top goaltending option in the battle between Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood. 

While goaltending has been an up-and-down mix of results for the Avalanche, it has been another stellar season from defenseman Cale Makar, who has 20 goals and 69 points, as well as Nathan MacKinnon, whose output reached 45 goals and 11 points. 

Already boasting elite talent that could contend for another Stanley Cup, the Avalanche took big swings at the NHL Trade Deadline, re-acquiring forwards Nazem Kadri from the Calgary Flames and Nicolas Roy from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Avalanche have now qualified for the NHL postseason in each of the past eight campaigns, highlighted by the franchise’s third-ever Stanley Cup championship in 2022, in which the recently added Kadri was a vital piece, as well as titles in 1996 and 2001.