Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Features Writer
NHL teams are hoping their American Hockey League prospects can play meaningful games in March and April.
As the 2025-26 season enters its home stretch, the AHL standings show tight competition across all four levels. Whether competing for home field advantage, trying to lock down a playoff spot, or even just keeping the postseason in sight, AHL teams face a busy schedule with just three weeks until the end of the schedule on April 19.
So far, nine of the 23 available playoff spots have been up for grabs, and only two teams have been mathematically eliminated from the playoff picture.
Let's look at each of the league's four divisions, where a given team is held to three points or less, and the impact of each playoff game.
There is severe congestion at locations 4 to 7 atlantic divisionthe top six teams will advance to the playoffs. Finishing fourth meant gaining home-field advantage in the best-of-three first-round series. Only three points separate fourth place from being well below the playoff line.
The Hershey Bears, in fourth place with 65 points, head to Syracuse and Lehigh Valley over the weekend with a 1-1-0-0 record. The two games kick off an eight-game road streak for the Bears, who will visit Bridgeport, Springfield and Hartford on four straight days this week.
One point behind them in fifth place is the Bridgeport Islanders, who will host the Bears on Wednesday. The sixth-ranked Springfield Thunderbirds and seventh-ranked Lehigh Valley Phantoms are tied with 62 points. The Thunderbirds moved into this week's Lehigh Valley game with a 4-2 road win over the league-leading Providence Bruins.
Bridgeport, Hershey and Bridgeport all have eight games remaining, while the Phantoms have just seven games remaining.
exist North DivisionThe Toronto Marlies and Cleveland Monsters, ranked third and fourth respectively, appear to be in good shape and expected to make the playoffs. The Marlies (74 points) and Monsters (73 points) have established a healthy gap between fifth and last place in the division.
But there are many difficulties in getting third place. Specifically, a farewell to the conference semifinals. Fourth place? This means that going into the first round is a best-of-three game, and if you lose just one game, you will face elimination from the playoffs. It's a shaky way to get into the playoffs and has swallowed up quite a few teams over the years.
The Monsters hit a slump at the most inopportune time, heading into Friday night's home game against the Milwaukee Admirals on a five-game losing streak. The Marris have one more game against Cleveland and a tight home schedule. But it's a tough stretch that includes two games against the Charlotte Checkers and Laval Rocket.
Utica and Belleville missed the playoffs, but were just six points behind fifth-place Rochester.
this Central Division The same format as the North Division is used: five teams advance, but the fourth- and fifth-place teams play a best-of-three series first.
This game features the Texas Stars (68 points), Manitoba Moose (66 points) and Milwaukee Admirals (65 points) vying for position. The Admirals enter the game with a record of 7 wins, 2 draws, 0 losses and 0 losses since March 11th. Manitoba, on the other hand, had lost seven of nine games, all in the regular season, before putting on a 1-0 masterpiece last Saturday night in Belleville. The Stars are completing a six-game West Coast road trip. A win in San Jose on Tuesday night would move them to 3-3-0-0. Tuesday's game will also end the Stars' run of eight of 10 games against Pacific Division opponents.
There's still a lot to be said for the schedule before the Central Division is confirmed. Next week's two-game matchup between the Admirals and Moose at the Canadian Life Center may answer some questions. Or it could complicate the game further. After facing the Admirals, the Moose will have another doubleheader at home against Texas State.
Chicago finished the game with a six-point lead over the Stars for second place and home-field advantage in the conference semifinals.
then Pacific DivisionThe stakes become especially high given the playoff format.
Seven of the division's 10 teams will advance to the Calder Cup playoffs. However, only the first-place team has a chance to advance to the conference semifinals. Everyone else (Teams 2 through 7) must first play a best-of-three series.
The Abbotsford Canucks, last season's eventual Calder Cup champions, endured that test, facing elimination in Game 3 against Tucson before going on to win the four-game series to hoist the trophy.
So the fight for first place is crucial, and it's a close race. The Ontario Reign is in first place with 87 points, but they are only one point ahead of Colorado and the Eagles have one win in hand. The teams will meet on April 7 in Ontario.
Battle for seventh place are the San Diego Gulls (70 points) and the Tucson Roadrunners (69 points). The Roadrunners begin a seven-game road trip Wednesday in San Diego.
In between, San Jose (80), Coachella Valley (79), Bakersfield (78) and Henderson (77) are all vying for position.
About two decades in the American Hockey League, TheAHL.com feature writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. In 2016, he received the AHL's James H. Ellery Memorial Award for outstanding coverage of the league.
