Today’s NHL Saturday column looks at the chances for the San Jose Sharks to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2019. Despite being the 12th-best team in the Western Conference, sabermetrically speaking, the Sharks find themselves currently holding down the No. 8 playoff spot. With just eight games left in the regular season, this team that flirted with historical disaster the prior two seasons (2023-2024 and 2024-2025) is on the verge of turning it around and maybe reclaiming former glory.

Alas, the games must still be played.

Winners of four straight contests, currently, San Jose still needs to play Nashville twice (No. 9, sabermetrically, in the conference), Chicago twice (No. 15), Edmonton (No. 5), Anaheim (No. 7), Vancouver (No. 16), and Winnipeg (No. 8). Let’s just consider, for argument’s sake, that the Sharks beat Chicago and Vancouver in those matchups to add six points to their total in the standings. That means 85 points, at a minimum, hopefully. If San Jose splits with the Predators, straight up in regulation, that’s another win.

With potentially 87 points in the bank there, that leaves the three remaining games, home against the Oilers and on the road against the Ducks and the Jets. The Nashville and Winnipeg games are huge, since the Sharks are in direct competition with those two teams for the final postseason slot. San Jose closes the season with three road games, ending the schedule against the Jets on April 16. Obviously, the variables are endless here, depending on what happens in all the other games left to be played, so it all counts.

Here is the way we see it going down:

  • April 4 (tonight): Win at home against Nashville
  • April 6: Win at home against Chicago
  • April 8: Lose at home against Edmonton
  • April 9: Lose on road at Anaheim
  • April 11: Win at home against Vancouver
  • April 13: Lose on road at Nashville, hopefully in overtime/shootout
  • April 15: Win on road at Chicago

Yes, we realize this is somewhat optimistic and silly, but that April 16 game in Winnipeg could be a play-in game for the No. 8 postseason seed. We will leave guessing on that until the moment it comes, but if the Sharks can get that extra point in Nashville on April 13—or even extra points against Edmonton and Anaheim, too—it could make all the difference. Whichever way it goes down, the above scenario leaves San Jose with a 40-33-8 record with the final game left to play. That’s 88 points in the standings.

With the Jets trailing the Sharks right now by three points despite playing an extra game, we project Winnipeg will be eliminated by that April 16 match, with the Los Angeles Kings and the Predators still perhaps alive in the Stanley Cup hunt. Both these teams are tied currently with San Jose in the standings, although the Sharks have a game in hand against both squads. However, as any hockey fan knows, the key to having a game in hand is actually winning that game and getting two points in the standings, too.

We’re going to be joyous homers here and put forth that San Jose beats Winnipeg in that final game, ending the season with a 41-33-8 record, for 90 points and a playoff spot. Of course, it is a win-win situation for the Sharks, for if they make the postseason, it’s a mental block removed for the future, since San Jose won’t stand a chance in the first round against the Colorado Avalanche. Sure, we’ve seen big upsets in the Cup playoffs recently, but this will not be one of them. And if the team misses the playoffs? Well …

There’s another high draft pick waiting in the wings to improve the team for next year, building on the momentum of this season.