Printable 2026 NHL Playoff Bracket – Make Your Stanley Cup Picks

• The 2026 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs drop the puck on Saturday, April 18
• All 16 teams are locked in, with Colorado (119 pts) and Carolina (113 pts) as the top seeds
• Grab SBD’s printable 2026 NHL playoff bracket below, plus the full first-round schedule

Hockey’s best time of year is finally here. The 2026 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs kick off Saturday, April 18 with a triple-header on ESPN, and all 16 teams are now locked in after the regular season wrapped up on April 16.

Plenty of new faces made the dance this year. The Florida Panthers, winners of the last two Cups, are watching from home. Buffalo is back after a 14-year wait. Utah is making its first playoff appearance as the Mammoth, and Anaheim and Philly are both returning after multi-year absences.

SBD is bringing back our annual printable Stanley Cup playoff bracket. Download it, print it out, and fill it in with your buddies or the office. The image is below — just click to grab the PDF.

Printable 2026 NHL Playoff Bracket

Click the image to download a printable PDF version of the 2026 NHL playoff bracket.

Colorado owns home ice throughout the entire Western Conference after running away with the Presidents’ Trophy at 119 points. It’s one of the best regular seasons the league has seen in years, and the Avs are the clear Stanley Cup odds favorite. History isn’t kind to Presidents’ Trophy winners, though — only one has lifted the Cup in the last decade.

In the East, Carolina locked up the top seed at 113 points. Buffalo ended the NHL’s longest active drought by winning the Atlantic at 109, with Tampa and Montreal both finishing at 106 to round out the division’s top three.

Below is the full first-round schedule. All times listed are Eastern.

Eastern Conference First Round Schedule

M1 Carolina Hurricanes vs. WC2 Ottawa Senators

Game 1: Senators @ Hurricanes, Sat. Apr 18 (3pm, ESPN)
Game 2: Senators @ Hurricanes, TBD
Game 3: Hurricanes @ Senators, TBD
Game 4: Hurricanes @ Senators, TBD
Game 5: Senators @ Hurricanes, TBD*
Game 6: Hurricanes @ Senators, TBD*
Game 7: Senators @ Hurricanes, TBD*

A1 Buffalo Sabres vs. WC1 Boston Bruins

Game 1: Bruins @ Sabres, Sun. Apr 19 (TBD, ESPN/TNT)
Game 2: Bruins @ Sabres, TBD
Game 3: Sabres @ Bruins, TBD
Game 4: Sabres @ Bruins, TBD
Game 5: Bruins @ Sabres, TBD*
Game 6: Sabres @ Bruins, TBD*
Game 7: Bruins @ Sabres, TBD*

A2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. A3 Montreal Canadiens

Game 1: Canadiens @ Lightning, Sun. Apr 19 (TBD, ESPN/TNT)
Game 2: Canadiens @ Lightning, TBD
Game 3: Lightning @ Canadiens, TBD
Game 4: Lightning @ Canadiens, TBD
Game 5: Canadiens @ Lightning, TBD*
Game 6: Lightning @ Canadiens, TBD*
Game 7: Canadiens @ Lightning, TBD*

M2 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. M3 Philadelphia Flyers

Game 1: Flyers @ Penguins, Sat. Apr 18 (8pm, ESPN)
Game 2: Flyers @ Penguins, TBD
Game 3: Penguins @ Flyers, TBD
Game 4: Penguins @ Flyers, TBD
Game 5: Flyers @ Penguins, TBD*
Game 6: Penguins @ Flyers, TBD*
Game 7: Flyers @ Penguins, TBD*

Western Conference First Round Schedule

C1 Colorado Avalanche vs. WC2 Los Angeles Kings

Game 1: Kings @ Avalanche, Sun. Apr 19 (TBD, ESPN/TNT)
Game 2: Kings @ Avalanche, TBD
Game 3: Avalanche @ Kings, TBD
Game 4: Avalanche @ Kings, TBD
Game 5: Kings @ Avalanche, TBD*
Game 6: Avalanche @ Kings, TBD*
Game 7: Kings @ Avalanche, TBD*

C2 Dallas Stars vs. C3 Minnesota Wild

Game 1: Wild @ Stars, Sat. Apr 18 (5:30pm, ESPN)
Game 2: Wild @ Stars, TBD
Game 3: Stars @ Wild, TBD
Game 4: Stars @ Wild, TBD
Game 5: Wild @ Stars, TBD*
Game 6: Stars @ Wild, TBD*
Game 7: Wild @ Stars, TBD*

P1 Vegas Golden Knights vs. WC1 Utah Mammoth

Game 1: Mammoth @ Golden Knights, Sun. Apr 19 (TBD, ESPN/TNT)
Game 2: Mammoth @ Golden Knights, TBD
Game 3: Golden Knights @ Mammoth, TBD
Game 4: Golden Knights @ Mammoth, TBD
Game 5: Mammoth @ Golden Knights, TBD*
Game 6: Golden Knights @ Mammoth, TBD*
Game 7: Mammoth @ Golden Knights, TBD*

P2 Edmonton Oilers vs. P3 Anaheim Ducks

Game 1: Ducks @ Oilers, Sun. Apr 19 or Mon. Apr 20 (TBD)
Game 2: Ducks @ Oilers, TBD
Game 3: Oilers @ Ducks, TBD
Game 4: Oilers @ Ducks, TBD
Game 5: Ducks @ Oilers, TBD*
Game 6: Oilers @ Ducks, TBD*
Game 7: Ducks @ Oilers, TBD*

* If necessary

Full game times for Games 2 and beyond will be released by the NHL shortly. I’ll update this page once they’re official. For live bracket updates and matchup breakdowns, head to the NHL playoff bracket.

Biggest Storylines of the 2026 NHL Playoffs

Panthers miss the dance. The back-to-back defending champs are out. It’s the biggest story of the 2025-26 regular season and blows the door wide open for a new Cup winner.

Sabres end the longest drought. Buffalo is back for the first time since 2011. Fourteen years of losing, finally over, and they won the Atlantic outright to get a home-ice matchup with Boston. KeyBank Center is going to be absolutely rocking for Game 1.

Avs chasing history. Colorado’s 119 points and 54 wins put them in rare air, and they have home ice against any Western opponent. The Presidents’ Trophy has been more curse than crown lately — nine of the last 10 winners haven’t made the Final.

Utah’s first dance. The Mammoth clinched in just their second season, making them one of the quickest expansion-era franchises to reach the playoffs. They draw Vegas in Round 1, a rematch of sorts against the team that set the gold standard for early expansion success.

Flyers and Ducks return. Two long-suffering fan bases get their fix. Philadelphia is in for the first time since 2020 and draws a Battle of Pennsylvania clash with Pittsburgh that hasn’t happened in the postseason since 2018. Anaheim’s first appearance since 2018 sets up a Pacific Division matchup with Edmonton.

Kopitar’s last ride. Kings captain Anze Kopitar announced this is his final NHL season. LA drew the toughest possible opponent in Colorado, but one last run for a franchise legend is a storyline that carries a series.

Which first-round series are you most fired up about? Can Colorado close the deal, or does another team steal the show? Drop a comment below and enjoy the playoffs.