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Will the NHL parity trend continue? Which 100-point team misses playoffs?
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Photo credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Jason Gregor
Aug 13, 2026, 13:00 EDTUpdated: Aug 13, 2026, 12:39 EDT
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We have seen more parity in the NHL over the previous three seasons. There haven’t been as many glaringly weak teams, but will that continue this season and beyond as the salary cap continues to increase significantly?
Last season, Vancouver was the only team under 72 points. In 2022, six teams had 68 points or fewer, while six teams in 2023 had 70 and below. In 2024, only four teams were below 76 points; three had fewer than 76 points in 2025, and last season only two teams had fewer than 77 points. We have seen a consistent decline in truly non-competitive teams, and I wonder if it tightens up even more this season.
The six teams below 82 points last season included Seattle (79), Toronto (78), Calgary and the New York Rangers (77), Chicago (72), and Vancouver (58). Most feel Toronto should be more competitive this season, and so should the Rangers. Seattle is determined to improve, and even though they were unable to land Artemi Panarin and Jason Robertson, despite offering them big money, they will keep trying. I don’t think they’ve done enough to make the playoffs, but I don’t see them regressing much.
Calgary is similar to last season, while Chicago has more young skill, but with Connor Bedard out for the first month to six weeks, their chances of competing for the playoffs don’t look much better. Vancouver is the only team I would say with 100 per cent certainty won’t make the playoffs. They are trying to rebuild their franchise, both on and off the ice. Other teams are good bets to miss, but no one thought San Jose would be in the mix last year and they were, so you never know.
This is how teams fared last season.
There were 11 teams with 98-plus points. Why did I use 98, you are wondering? Because this season the league expands to 84 games played, so winning one of those two extra games, or losing both in OT/SO, will give a team an extra two points, and I’m wondering how many teams will reach 100-plus points.
Here is how many teams reached 98-plus points the past five seasons:
  • 2026: 11. All eight East teams had 98-plus points, while the West had Vegas (95), Edmonton (93), Anaheim (92), Utah (92), and LA with 90.
  • 2025: 11. The West had six with 100-plus points, and Minnesota (97) and St. Louis (96) were the Wildcard teams. Calgary (96) lost out in a tiebreaker as they had one fewer regulation win (RW) than the Blues.
  • 2024: 14. All eight West teams had 98-plus points, while the East had six. The Islanders finished third in the Metro with 94, and Washington grabbed the second WC spot with 91. Detroit lost a tiebreaker with WSH due to fewer RW.
  • 2023: 13. Seven West teams had 100-plus points and Winnipeg was 8th with 95. The Islanders (93) and Florida (92) were the Wildcard teams, while Buffalo and Pittsburgh missed the playoffs by one point.
  • 2022: 15. Nashville was the only playoff team without 98 points and they had 97. The East was very lopsided with eight teams having 100-plus points while the other seven had 84 or fewer.
It is crazy to see how much the gap between competitive and non-competitive teams has shrunk the past five years. In 2022, the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference was decided in January. Boston sat in eighth place and was nine points ahead of ninth place Detroit, and the Bruins had three games in hand. Boston hadn’t even played half its games as it had 42 games remaining. Compare that to last season when, with one week remaining in the season, four teams were within three points of the final playoff spot in the East and LA was actually one point back of Nashville, with a game in hand in the West.
Another interesting trend from the past few seasons is teams going from being 100-plus point teams to missing the playoffs the following season.
  • 2022: Calgary had 111 points, St. Louis had 109, Pittsburgh had 103, and Washington had 100. All four missed the playoffs in 2023, with the Capitals dipping to 80 points, the Blues finishing with 81, the Penguins with 91, and the Flames with 93. Calgary did lose Johnny Gaudreau and traded Matthew Tkachuk, so their drop made sense.
  • 2023: New Jersey had 112 points and many felt they were entering their competitive era. They dropped to 81 points in 2024, missed the playoffs, and haven’t had more than 91 points since. The Wild had 103 points but dipped to 87 in 2024 and finished 20th, while Seattle had their surprising 100-point season in 2023, then upset Colorado in seven games of the opening round. They couldn’t recapture the magic in 2024 and finished 25th with 78 points.
  • 2024: The Rangers had 114 points and won the Presidents’ Trophy, but dropped to 85 points in 2025 and down to 77 last year. Vancouver had 109 points, won the Pacific division, then lost in Game 7 in the second round and fell to 90 points in 2025 and down to 58 last year. It was a quick descent to the basement. Boston had 109 points but crashed down to 76 in 2024 with a remarkable dip of 33 points.
  • 2025: Winnipeg won the Presidents’ Trophy with 116 points, but plummeted down to 82 last year. Will Connor Hellebuyck stay and help them return to the playoffs, or will they trade him and have to rebuild/re-tool? Toronto had 108 points and dropped to 78 last year. Can they rebound, or will they follow in the path of the Canucks and Rangers? Washington had 111 points and dipped to 95 in 2026 and missed the playoffs by three points. They made some key moves this summer, acquiring Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch. Will it be enough to return to the postseason? I’d bet it is.
No team wants to continue this trend, but we know a few teams who eclipsed 100 points last year won’t return this season and will likely fall out of the playoffs. Who is your pick?
Only eight teams had 100 points last year, the lowest total since 2011 when there were also eight. The fewest 100-point teams in the salary cap era (full 82-game season) were five in 2008 and seven in 2009.
If I had to pick among the eight with 100 last year, I’ll take Boston. They are in a very competitive division, and I think they will be in a dogfight to make the playoffs.

SCORING TRENDS…

We’ve seen fewer goals the past three seasons, likely due to the bottom teams improving, but it isn’t a trend I love, to be honest. Here is a look at the past five seasons and the number of teams scoring 300-plus goals or fewer, as well as the total number of actual goals, not including shootout goals, and the most goals scored by one team in parenthesis.
Year
300+
280
270
260
Total G
2026
0 (298)
6
9
15
8086
2025
0 (292)
2
6
10
7901
2024
1 (302)
5
9
14
8086
2023
2 (325)
8
13
17
8248
2022
5 (337)
8
10
13
8150
Fewer power plays are a key factor. In 2022, the league had 7,578, then 8,058 in 2023, 7,917 in 2024, 7,101 in 2025, and 7,555 in 2026. That is a massive dip from the first five seasons of the salary cap era (2006–2010), where there was an average of 11,246 power play chances each season, which is much higher than the 7,642 of the previous five seasons.
The games are faster than ever, but we see fewer man advantages now. I’m sorry, but I don’t see players being more disciplined. I think the standard has dipped on what is called. Power plays are better than ever. In the first five seasons of the salary cap era (2006–2010), only four teams averaged over 20 per cent in those five seasons, and Montreal was the best at 21.3 per cent. In the past five seasons (2022–2026), there have been 23 teams averaging 20 per cent or better. Edmonton is the best at 28 per cent, while 16 teams are better than Montreal’s 21.3 per cent from the first five years of the cap era.
What I don’t understand is why the league is afraid to enforce the rulebook. The NHL is the only league afraid of more offence. It is wild.
Player scoring
Here’s a look at goal scoring by top players the past five seasons. It ranks the number of 60, 50, 40 and 30 goal scorers each season.
Year
60+
50+
40+
30+
2026
0
2 (53)
15
45
2025
0
1 (52)
8
46
2024
1 (69)
4
17
47
2023
2 (64)
5
19
54
2022
1 (60)
4
17
51
And the point totals in the same span, with 130- to 90-point players and the highest point getter in parentheses.
Year
130+
120+
110+
100+
90+
2026
2 (138)
3
4
8
13
2025
0
1 (121)
2
6
12
2024
3 (144)
4
5
9
17
2023
1 (153)
2
5
11
19
2022
0
1 (123)
4
8
16
Even with goal totals across the league down the past three seasons, elite players like Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Nikita Kucherov have still managed to post 130-plus point seasons. The league’s top players are scoring despite the league’s insistence on not enforcing the rulebook regularly. The NHLPA should speak up about this, but they rarely do. It is odd to me.
More competitive games and fewer terrible teams are good for the league, but it would be better if the league enforced the rules and the most skilled players could show off their skills even more.

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