Ducks Could Be Dark Horse in Western Conference Playoffs

The current Pacific Division leaders in the Anaheim Ducks have not been given nearly enough credit for how well they have played lately and could be an underrated team come playoff time.

Jan 25, 2026; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Anaheim Ducks left wing Cutter Gauthier (61) skates during the warmup period against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images | Sergei Belski-Imagn Images

The Anaheim Ducks have won 7 of their last 8 games and now sit in first place in the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and are looking like a scary team. They recently beat the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Islanders who are current playoff teams in the Eastern Conference.

And to make matters better for the Ducks, they also have gone 13-3 in their last 16 games after having a brutal stretch where they went 0-8-1 from late December to early January. The Ducks are a team in the West that nobody wants to play.

They have guys like Beckett Sennecke, Cutter Gauthier, Chris Kreider, Troy Terry, Leo Carlsson, John Carlson, Mason McTavish, Mikael Granlund, Jackson Lacombe, Pavel Mintyukov, and Alex Killorn. They have a lot of firepower, and other teams in the West chasing them will have a tough time if they match up in the playoffs.

Jan 25, 2026; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Anaheim Ducks right wing Beckett Sennecke (45) skates against the Calgary Flames during the third period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images | Sergei Belski-Imagn Images

The Ducks are one of a few teams that have been in a playoff drought for a few years now and look destined to change that this season. Adding Carlson at the Trade Deadline helps a lot for their playoff hopes because he is a seasoned veteran with a Stanley Cup to his name that will be a very good influence on the other Ducks defensemen.

If the Ducks make the playoffs it will be in thanks to beating playoff teams in these streaks

Every hockey fan knows that if you want to make the playoffs, you are going to have to beat other playoff teams at some point. And in that 16 game stretch where they went 13-3, the Ducks beat 8 playoff teams.

That is more than good enough for a team of the Ducks' caliber. The Ducks, as of the current moment, would match up with the Utah Mammoth, who are in the first wild card spot in the Western Conference.

Utah has been a good team this year as well as they feature stars like Logan Cooley, JJ Peterka, and Dylan Guenther, among others. A playoff series between the Ducks and Mammoth could easily go the distance of seven games, as both teams are good and have flaws of their own.

But the Ducks have done a good job of beating playoff teams in this stretch. In the NHL, if you only beat the bad teams and get into the playoffs knowing that you struggled with the good teams, that is a recipe for disaster.

The Ducks making the playoffs looks very likely as of the current moment and they definitely have earned it. But the race is not over yet, and they need to keep it up.

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