Can The Seattle Kraken Ride Olympic Momentum Back To The NHL Playoffs?

After the instant classic that was the Men’s 2026 Olympic Hockey gold medal game between Canada and the triumphant United States, there is understandably a bit of an emotional letdown as everyone heads back to their NHL outposts to see out the rest of the regular season.

Each of the league’s 32 teams has played between 55 and 59 games, and both the annual trade deadline (Mar. 6) and the final day of the regular season (Apr. 16) are suddenly much closer than they appeared before the Olympic break. Teams straddling the line between playoff contention and falling just short must decide which direction they will take at the deadline and beyond: buy, sell, or stand pat. 

Two weeks remain until that choice must be made, and the Seattle Kraken will be one of the lucky few. If they are to claim the second playoff berth in franchise history, the next seven weeks are crucial. Let’s dive into where the team stands following the Olympic break and how likely it is that postseason hockey will return to Seattle come the spring.

Kraken Have Banked Important Standings Points to Date

In terms of their current place in the Western Conference standings, the Kraken are in a good spot ahead of their first game following the break (Feb. 25 against the Dallas Stars). They currently hold the third and final automatic playoff slot in the Pacific Division with 63 points in 56 games. They are five points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the division lead with one game in hand, and only one point behind the Edmonton Oilers for second with two games in hand. It’s a clear improvement on last season, when the Kraken did not pass the 63-point mark until the 67th game of the campaign.

Though they have the upper hand on the teams chasing them, nothing is secured. Here’s a look at the current status of the Western Conference wildcard race:

With the Dallas Stars’ 13-point lead on the Utah Mammoth and their 18-point cushion on the Nashville Predators, the latter two clubs will primarily be concerned with locking up a wildcard berth rather than chasing the third divisional slot in the Central. The Ducks, Kings, and Sharks are all within striking distance of the Kraken, as all three are within five points of grabbing third-place in the Pacific.

The next-closest team (the Chicago Blackhawks) is by no means mathematically eliminated. Still, with only 53 points in 57 games and five points behind even the Sharks, they have been given a less than 1% chance of making the playoffs by the most notable prognosticators.

Kraken Favored by the Numbers in Western Playoff Race

Speaking of prognosticators, the stats gurus at The Athletic give the Kraken an 18% chance of qualifying for the playoffs, while the folks over at MoneyPuck and HockeyReference are much more forgiving at 68%. The discrepancy lies in how The Athletic’s model generates its probabilities, giving much greater weight to last season’s results until later in the season. It’s difficult to find the balance between sometimes lagging indicators of past performance and the temptation of recency bias, so settling down somewhere in the middle represents a fair compromise.

For what it’s worth, Tankathon’s strength-of-schedule metric paints a favorable picture of Seattle’s remaining games, ranking 22nd out of 32 teams by opponent difficulty. However, that advantage is partially neutralized by each of the Ducks, Kings, and Sharks having much easier schedules than the Kraken, ranking 30th, 31st, and 32nd in remaining opponent difficulty, respectively.

With Utah ownership craving playoff excitement to jumpstart a new market, the Ducks hoping for long-awaited playoff seasoning for their young crop of players, and the Kings playing out the final season of Anze Kopitar’s career, it’s difficult to see any of those teams selling at the deadline.

The Sharks are playing with found money after being projected near the bottom of the standings at the beginning of the year, so who knows how far they’ll take the playoff push. Still, the Predators have long been rumored to be starting a rebuild/re-tool, with Steven Stamkos, Ryan O’Reilly, and Jonathan Marchessault among the more popular names being bandied about before the pre-Olympic roster freeze.

Kraken in the Stretch Run

The Kraken have few games remaining against direct playoff rivals, but matchups with Vegas (twice), Edmonton, Utah, and Los Angeles (once each) loom large. They could determine whether Seattle finishes atop the Pacific Division, claims home-ice advantage in the first round, or even makes the playoffs at all.

The Kraken have been better by points percentage (.632 PTS%) than both the Golden Knights (.605) and the Oilers (.529) since the beginning of January, winning 11 of their last 19 games. The hope is that the extended break did not halt the momentum and that Lane Lambert’s charges can keep piling up results as the calendar turns to March.

The Kraken’s playoff hopes are in their own hands, which is something that has rarely been said during the franchise’s brief existence. Can they hold on and bring playoff hockey back to Seattle?

Data courtesy of the NHL.