Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
NHL teams want their prospects in the American Hockey League playing meaningful games in March and April.
As the 2025-26 season reaches the home stretch, the AHL standings show tight races in all four divisions. Whether it’s fighting for home-ice advantage, trying to lock down a playoff berth, or even just keeping the playoff pack within sight, AHL teams face a hectic three weeks before the schedule concludes April 19.
Nine of the 23 available playoff berths have been claimed so far, and only two teams have been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.
Let’s look at each of the league’s four divisions where three or fewer points separate a particular cluster of teams, and the implications of each of those playoff races.
Major congestion exists in the fourth through seventh spots of the Atlantic Division, where the top six teams will make the playoff cut. Finishing fourth means getting home-ice advantage for the best-of-three first round. Only three points separate holding fourth place from being below the playoff line altogether.
In fourth place at 65 points are the Hershey Bears, who are coming off a 1-1-0-0 weekend that featured trips to Syracuse and Lehigh Valley. Those two contests started a run of eight consecutive road games for the Bears, who visit Bridgeport, Springfield and Hartford in a four-day stretch this week.
One point behind them in the fifth spot are the Bridgeport Islanders, who will host the Bears on Wednesday. Tied at 62 points are the sixth-place Springfield Thunderbirds and the seventh-place Lehigh Valley Phantoms. A massive 4-2 road win against the league-leading Providence Bruins gave the Thunderbirds the edge on Lehigh Valley coming into this week.
Bridgeport, Hershey, and Bridgeport all have eight games to go while the Phantoms are down to seven.
In the North Division, sitting in third and fourth place respectively, the Toronto Marlies and Cleveland Monsters would seem to be in good shape to claim a playoff berth. The Marlies (74 points) and Monsters (73 points) have built a comfortable gap between them and the fifth and final spot in the division.
But there is a lot riding on a third-place finish. Specifically, a bye to the division semifinals. Fourth place? It means going to the best-of-three first round, where if you lose just one game you’re facing playoff elimination. It’s a precarious way to go into the postseason and has swallowed up more than a few teams through the years.
A slump at a most inopportune time has struck the Monsters, who will bring a five-game losing streak into their home game Friday night against the Milwaukee Admirals. The Marlies, who have a game in hand on Cleveland, have a home-heavy schedule ahead of them. But it’s a tough one that includes two-game sets against the Charlotte Checkers and the Laval Rocket.
Utica and Belleville are outside the playoff picture, but sit just six points back of fifth-place Rochester.
The Central Division employs the same format as the North Division: five teams make the cut, but the fourth- and fifth-place teams go to a best-of-three series first.
This jam-up features the Texas Stars (68 points), Manitoba Moose (66) and Milwaukee Admirals (65 points) fighting for positioning. A 7-2-0-0 surge since March 11 has allowed the Admirals into the heart of the race. Manitoba, on the other hand, had lost seven of nine games, all in regulation, before putting together a 1-0 masterpiece this past Saturday night at Belleville. The Stars are almost through a six-game West Coast road trip. A win Tuesday night at San Jose would give them a 3-3-0-0 finish. Tuesday’s game will also complete a period of eight of 10 games against Pacific Division opponents for the Stars.
The schedule will have plenty to say before the Central Division is settled. An Admirals-Moose two-game showdown next week at Canada Life Centre could answer some questions. Or it could further complicate the race. After facing the Admirals, the Moose will have another two-game home series against Texas.
Chicago sits six points clear of the Stars in the race to finish second and earn home-ice advantage in the division semifinals.
And then there’s the Pacific Division, where the stakes become particularly high given its playoff format.
Seven of the division’s 10 teams will advance to the Calder Cup Playoffs. However, only the first-place team gets a bye to the division semifinals. Everyone else – teams two through seven – must play a best-of-three series first.
Last season’s eventual Calder Cup champion, the Abbotsford Canucks, went through that gauntlet, facing elimination in a Game 3 against Tucson before prevailing and winning four more series to lift the Cup.
So the fight for first place is crucial, and it’s a close one. Holding first with 87 points are the Ontario Reign, but their lead is just one point on Colorado and the Eagles hold a game in hand. The teams meet in Ontario on Apr. 7.
Battling for seventh place are the San Diego Gulls (70 points) and Tucson Roadrunners (69). The Roadrunners begin a seven-game road stretch Wednesday in San Diego.
In between, San Jose (80), Coachella Valley (79), Bakersfield (78) and Henderson (77) are all jockeying for position.
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
