NHL playoff standings: Projecting the Red Wings' chances - ESPN

The Buffalo Sabres have the NHL's longest postseason drought, with the club last appearing in a postseason game in the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs.

It appears that Buffalo will not only make the playoffs this season — the Sabres might go in as one of the top seeds in the Eastern Conference.

The NHL's second-longest postseason drought belongs to the Detroit Red Wings, whose last appearance was in the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs. Will their playoff-less streak also end in 2026?

Coincidentally, the two teams meet Friday (7 p.m. ET, NHL Network) for the final time this season. Given the current standings, one of the two teams needs a win a bit more than the other.

The Red Wings enter the game with 84 points and 27 regulation wins through 71 games. That puts them one point and five RW behind the Ottawa Senators for the second wild card, as well as four points and two RW behind the Boston Bruins for the first.

Detroit does not have any games remaining against Ottawa or Boston, so the Red Wings can't directly beat the teams they are chasing.

Of the Red Wings' final 10 games, just four are against teams currently in the playoffs; oddly, three of the remaining 10 are against the Philadelphia Flyers, who are also on the playoff bubble.

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How does that compare with the teams Detroit is chasing? Ottawa has 10 games remaining, including five against current playoff teams, while Boston's final 10 games include seven games against teams in playoff position.

Stathletes gives the Red Wings a 34.7% chance of qualifying for a playoff spot, which trails the Senators (79.7%) and Bruins (66.9%).

Every team has around 10 games remaining before the regular season