ESPN.com · Nov 26, 2025
Thanksgiving Panic Index: Which NHL teams are most anxious?
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Thanksgiving in the USA. Turkey, pumpkin pie, that parade with all the giant balloons and the time-honored tradition of NHL teams in playoff seeds breathing just a bit easier.
Since the NHL switched to the wild-card format in 2013-14, 77% of teams in a playoff position on Turkey Day go on to make the Stanley Cup playoffs (excluding the two COVID-impacted seasons), according to ESPN Research. In half of those 10 seasons, 13 of 16 teams remained in playoff spots by season's end. There's never been fewer than 11 or more than 13 Thanksgiving playoff teams that eventually made the cut.
In other words, there are always teams on the outside who get in.