Avalanche become first NHL team to clinch playoff spot with win over Blackhawks

The Colorado Avalanche have been the NHL's best team from the very beginning of the 2025-26 season, and now they are officially the first team to clinch a playoff spot. The Avalanche clinched on Friday night with a 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks, extending their lead in both the Central Division and in the race for the Presidents' Trophy (NHL's best regular season record).

Friday's win already gave the Avalanche 100 points for the season, and with 14 games to go, their current points pace would put them on track for 120 points this season.

If they reach that level, it would be a franchise record, topping the 119-point mark they set during the 2021-22 Stanley Cup-winning season.

Now that they are in the playoffs, the next goal is winning another championship.

Avalanche look like the top Stanley Cup contender in NHL

While they are going to get a significant challenge in the playoffs from either the Dallas Stars or Minnesota Wild, the Avalanche look like a serious contender to win it all this season, as they have pretty much every major ingredient you would ever want to see from a Stanley Cup-contending team.

With forward Nathan MacKinnon (third in the NHL with 111 total points) and defenseman Cale Makar, they have two of the best players in the NHL and a potential MVP winner in MacKinnon.

They also have incredible depth, especially at center, with a trio of MacKinnon, Brock Nelson and trade deadline acquisition Nazem Kadri forming one of the best center depth charts in the league. Add in an elite goaltending performance from the duo of Scott Wedgewood and MacKenzie Blackwood, and a dominant 5-on-5 performance that has them near the top of the league in every meaningful possession metric (scoring chances, expected goals, high-danger scoring chances), and it is a team with no obvious weaknesses.