The Buffalo Sabres. Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning are all tied with 102 points heading into the last four games of the NHL regular season. It's an entertaining battle for the Atlantic Division title that may come down to the final day.
Although all three clubs want the top spot, which would avoid a first-round matchup against another member of the divisional title chase, the results could also have a massive impact on the close race for the Jack Adams Award as the league's Coach of the Year.
Lindy Ruff (Sabres) and Jon Cooper (Lightning) have emerged as the top contenders for the NHL's highest coaching honor. (Sorry, Martin St. Louis.)
Given how a clear winner hasn't emerged down the stretch, it's quite possible the voting may come down to whether Buffalo or Tampa Bay finishes higher in the Eastern Conference standings.
Award finalists are usually revealed in late April or early May. A date and location for the 2026 NHL Awards ceremony hasn't been publicly announced.
Nikita Kucherov's dominance for the Lightning could tip the Jack Adams Award scales in favor of the Sabres' Lindy Ruff
Both Ruff and Cooper have a strong case as the NHL's Coach of the Year. They were each dealt a seemingly endless stream of injuries that forced them to juggle their lineups, and yet the Sabres and Bolts are still battling atop the East as the campaign winds down.
There's also been a sense of injustice that Cooper hasn't captured the award previously despite Tampa's extended stint as one of the league's top Stanley Cup contenders during his coaching tenure, which was highlighted by back-to-back championships in 2020 and 2021.
Yet, Cooper has benefited greatly from having Kucherov to carry the load, which he's done to an extraordinary degree, while Ruff has pushed the Sabres toward contention without the benefit of an elite scorer.
Kucherov has recorded an eye-popping 127 points (43 goals and 84 assists) in 72 appearances this season. Buffalo's leading scorer is Tage Thompson at 78 points, an amount lower than the Russian winger's assist total.
That matters. Having a player who can completely take over a game on a nightly basis is a massive advantage. It significantly improves a team's floor.
Sure, Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin (70 points as a defenseman) have their moments as game-changers, but they aren't on the same tier as Kucherov in the exclusive group of NHL elites alongside the likes of Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers) and Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche).
Ruff has accomplished more with less. He's motivated Jack Quinn, who drew the coach's ire on a frequent basis last season, to score 50 points for the first time and helped Mattias Samuelsson, who was the subject of buyout suggestions last offseason, play the best hockey of his career.
Add in a breakthrough campaign from Josh Doan, a significant step forward by Peyton Krebs and a sudden bounce back by Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, and there are a lot of indications that Ruff truly helped the switch flip for the long-suffering Sabres.
That's not to say there aren't other strong candidates, of course. Cooper, St. Louis, Rick Bowness (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Dan Muse (Pittsburgh Penguins) all deserve a lot of credit this season.
Ending a 14-year playoff drought, the longest such streak in NHL history, on the foundation of substantially improved across-the-board performance rather than being dependent on a singular superstar to put the club on his shoulders deserves recognition.
That's why Ruff should win the Jack Adams Award for the second time. He previously earned Coach of the Year honors in 2006, which would set a new record for the longest gap between winning the trophy.
It wouldn't be a shock if the voters opted for Cooper if the Lightning edge the Sabres in the final Atlantic Division standings, though.