Even at the top of the table, there’s no such thing as a flawless team. At the other end of the spectrum, every squad that qualifies for the Stanley Cup Playoffs has a punch or two they can throw at an opponent. 

With less than two weeks to go before the puck drops on the post-season, the goal here is to highlight the good and bad — or, at least, slightly worrisome — elements of every club that still has a reasonable shot to qualify for the big dance.

It’s a plus/minus of sorts, as we pat some backs while raising some flags.

We’ll start in the Western Conference — with teams ordered by their points percentage — before heading to the East. 

Colorado Avalanche (.724) Colorado scores the most goals per game (3.74) and gives up the fewest (2.50). You can’t ask for much more than that. That said, with all those weapons, the Avs power play ranks 26^th in the NHL (17.6 per cent).

Dallas Stars (.662) The Stars are a high-end, balanced team. It’s worth noting, though, that Dallas has played a lot of hard hockey while skating in three consecutive Western Conference finals. Also, this would be just the second post-season appearance as the head man for coach Glen Gulutzan. In his first, Gulutzan’s Calgary Flames were swept by the Anaheim Ducks in 2017.  

Minnesota Wild (.649) Every trade rumour surrounding the Wild involves the team’s need for a top centre. In a conference where you have to go through the likes of Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel and Wyatt Johnston, Minny is lacking down the middle. On the plus side, how many teams can lean on a defence pair like Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber? 

Utah Mammoth (.566) Utah’s PP has been humming since play resumed after the Olympics, clipping along at 31.4 per cent (second-best in the NHL). You have to think the atmosphere in Salt Lake City will be outrageous when this club plays Games 3 and 4 at home as part of the first playoff action in Mammoth history. Finally, Utah is likely to face the Pacific Division winner in Round 1, meaning the Mammoth — despite being a wild-card club — could well face an opponent with a worse record than their own. Of course, beyond the blueline trio of Mikhail Sergachev, Ian Cole and Nate Schmidt, there’s not much in the way of playoff experience on this roster.

Edmonton Oilers (.565) Connor McDavid has the third-best playoff points-per-game mark in the history of the league (1.56) and Leon Draisaitl has the fourth (1.47). Of course, Draisaitl’s status for Game 1 is up in the air at this point, and that’s a monster concern for Edmonton. As always, questions about the Oilers crease are one crappy goal away. 

Anaheim Ducks (.565) The Ducks, on the whole, might be inexperienced, but first-year Anaheim coach Joel Quenneville has 121 playoff wins and will pass Al Arbour for second place on the all-time list if Anaheim can win three second-season contests this year. (Nobody is catching Scotty Bowman at 223 career playoff victories). The problem for the Ducks is they allow more goals per game (3.52) than every team currently holding down a post-season slot. 

Vegas Golden Knights (.558) The Knights have Cup pedigree and the potential for some new-coach bump, under John Tortorella, that spills into April and May. The problem all year has been goaltending, with Vegas sporting an .876 team save percentage that ranks 29^th in the league. 

Los Angeles Kings (.539) As always, the Kings have good underlying numbers, with an expected goals mark on the site Moneypuck that ranks fourth in the West and seventh in the NHL (51.89 per cent). Also, as always, the Kings struggle to score. Los Angeles ranks 29^th on the season in goals per game 2.68, though the club has pushed that up to 3.17 since March 1 (11^th-best in the NHL during that span). 

San Jose Sharks (.533) Ever heard of a young fella named Macklin Celebrini? He just might win the Hart Trophy if the Sharks squeeze into the playoffs. The issue in San Jose is keeping the puck out of their net; only the lowly Vancouver Canucks allow more goals per game than the 3.53 the Sharks surrender. 

Nashville Predators (.532) The Preds boast strong special teams, with a league-best penalty-kill since the Olympics (86.4 per cent) and a PP that ranks seventh during that timeframe (25.9 per cent). The issue, as you might guess, is Nashville’s five-on-five goal-differential is minus-29 on the season. The six teams worse than that are all lottery-bound. 

Winnipeg Jets (.519) Kyle Connor has 36 goals, Mark Scheifele has 34 and Gabe Vilardi is on 28. After that, the next-highest total among Jets forwards is Cole Perfetti with 12. This team’s high-end players can kill you, but there hasn’t been enough support behind them. 

St. Louis Blues (.513) The Blues have the best points percentage in the league since the Olympic break (.763), so they’re clearly on a roll. St. Louis is managing to rip off all these wins with a power play that ranks 27^th in the NHL (16.7 per cent) during that time. 

Carolina Hurricanes (.675) The Canes power play is on fire since the break, converting at an NHL-best rate of 34.5 per cent. Saves, though, are hard to come by, with a team save percentage of just .855 — worse than everybody except the Canucks — in that span. 

Tampa Bay Lightning (.662) Tampa has been a little loose down the stretch, allowing 3.41 goals per game (23^rd in the league) since the Olympics. And, overall, the Bolts are a fairly flat 10-9-2 in their past 21 outings. Of course, they’ve got an absolute killer in Nikita Kucherov, all kinds of playoff know-how and a hunger to go deep again after failing to make it out of the first round in three straight springs. 

Buffalo Sabres (.654) It’s hard to believe the vibes will be better anywhere in the NHL come playoff time than in Buffalo, where the local team will be seeing its first post-season action since 2011. The Sabres are the story of the second half, with a league-best .718 points percentage in 2026. Buffalo is only average by advanced metrics like expected goals for, and this will obviously be the first playoff action for a number of very prominent Sabres.

Montreal Canadiens (.649) The Canadiens have a deadly first line, with Nick Suzuki playing between Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky. The drop off to the second unit is precipitous, though, and Montreal will need offence from more than just its top three dudes to do post-season damage. 

Pittsburgh Penguins (.615) Only two teams — the powerhouse Avs and Bolts — have a better five-on-five goal-differential than the wildly surprising Penguins (plus-28). The goaltending could be an issue, however, with neither Arturs Silovs nor Stuart Skinner seizing the net. Pittsburgh called up promising youngster Sergei Murashov on Tuesday, with Skinner listed as day-to-day. 

Boston Bruins (.609) The Bruins are the best home team in the NHL, posting a .731 points percentage in Boston this season. They’re also surrendering a league-best 2.62 goals per game in the second half and goalie Jeremy Swayman has the most goals saved above expected (28.5) in the entire league.

Strange as it is to say about a team we still associate with Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, the B’s are a little weak down the middle. Rookie Fraser Minten has been great and Pavel Zacha is on a heater, but they definitely don’t stack up with what some of the better teams in the conference have at centre. 

Ottawa Senators (.584) The Senators have had strong underlying numbers all year and hold the third-best expected goals mark (55.82 per cent) in the NHL behind only Carolina and Colorado. The bugaboo has been goaltending and — in related news — a penalty-kill that ranks 30^th in the league (74.7 per cent). That said, the PK has been better since the Olympic break. 

Philadelphia Flyers (.584) This team seemed dead and buried coming out of the February hiatus, but Philly has gone 14-5-1 in its past 20 outings to vault back into a playoff spot. The Flyers really struggle to score (2.71 goals per game since the Olympics, 27^th in the NHL), but have become one of the best teams at keeping pucks out of their own net down the stretch (2.38 goals against per game, 2^nd in the league). 

New York Islanders (.571) The Isles have a new coach in Pete DeBoer, who’ll debut with the team when it hosts the Leafs on Thursday. New York is among the worst clubs in the NHL in terms of expected goals (47.01 per cent, 28^th in the league), but has a goalie — in Ilya Sorokin — who gives them a chance to hang with anybody. 

Detroit Red Wings (.571) Detroit has been trending the wrong way for some time, posting a .423 points percentage since Jan. 22 that’s worse than all but five teams in the league and every squad on this list. The Wings are decent defensively, but have scored just 2.54 goals per game in 26 contests since that Jan. 22 date. Only Chicago (2.28) is worse in that timespan.

Columbus Blue Jackets (.571) Columbus has gone into a tailspin at the wrong time, losing six straight games. The Jackets have been stingy in the second half (2.79 goals against per game, 3^rd in the NHL), but the offence can be lacking in stretches. Case in point: Columbus is scoring just 1.60 goals per game in its past eight showings. 

Washington Capitals (.558) The Capitals have a strong foundation with Logan Thompson in goal, but even as they’ve picked up points down the stretch, the offence and power play have only been OK. Washington is also the worst road team on this list, ranking 27^th in the NHL with a .447 points percentage away from home.