The battle for playoff positions is heating up as several teams vie for their places in the postseason. In the Eastern Conference, the Washington Capitals have already secured their playoff berth with an impressive 105 points.

Welcome back to The Hockey News' NHL power rankings, where we rank all 32 teams based on their weekly performance.

Those teams have been anything but a shoo-in to win the Stanley Cup, however. Just two clubs in the salary cap era (since 2005-06) have won the Presidents' Trophy and hoisted the Stanley Cup: the 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings and the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks. Two of the past six Presidents' Trophy winners have lost in the first round.

Overall, the Leafs have the toughest remaining strength of schedule of the three teams (opposing win percentage of 51.3%, 11th toughest in the league); the Panthers are next (49.5%, 21st), and the Lightning have the easiest road (47.6%, 25th).

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The teams have met just once in the postseason in the last handful of years, with the Hurricanes eliminating the Devils in five games in 2023. They played four games in the 2024-25 season, splitting the series by the narrowest of margins, with Carolina scoring 13 goals to New Jersey's 12.

The stretch run is heating up in a huge way in the National, and the movement in ClutchPoints' NHL Power Rankings is significant in Week 25.

The Winnipeg Jets are up one spot from sixth to fifth, while the Montreal Canadiens are down nine spots from 18th to 27th. But the good news for Habs fans is that their team is sitting in a playoff spot right now.