The Boston Bruins are headed to the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs after failing to qualify last season.

But as they enter their regular season finale against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night at TD Garden, both their playoff seed and first-round opponent remain TBD.

Let’s take a look at where the B’s stand in the wild card race and which teams they could face in Round 1.

Bruins’ most likely seed

The Bruins are unable to finish top-three in the Atlantic Division, so they will end up in the first or second wild card spot.

Boston enters Tuesday in the first wild card position with a one-point lead over the Ottawa Senators. That means the Bruins would clinch the No. 1 wild card berth with a win of any kind against the Devils in the regular season finale.

The B’s need to finish ahead of the Senators by at least one point to secure the top wild card spot because Ottawa owns the first tiebreaker with a 37-32 edge in regulation wins.

Both the Bruins and Senators have one more game remaining. Ottawa’s finale is against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night, so if the Bruins lose in any fashion to the Devils, they’ll need to wait 24 hours before their seed is finalized.

In summary: The Bruins finish as top wild card team with any kind of win vs. Devils. The B’s would be the second wild card team if the Senators finish tied or ahead of them in the standings. Ottawa is currently one point behind the Bruins.

For what it’s worth, MoneyPuck‘s and HockeyStats‘ analytics models both project the Bruins to finish as the first wild card team.

Bruins’ most likely first-round opponents

There are two potential first-round opponents for the Bruins. If they finish as the first wild card team, they’ll play the Sabres. If they finish as the second wild card team, they’ll play the Hurricanes.

The easiest path to the Eastern Conference Final is probably through the Metropolitan Division. A path consisting of the Hurricanes in the first round and either the Penguins or Flyers in the second round is a little less treacherous than a path that includes the Sabres in the first round and the Lightning or Canadiens in the second round.

The Lightning represent the toughest matchup for the Bruins, so it would be ideal for them to avoid Tampa Bay as long as possible.

The Bruins have played both the Lightning and Hurricanes in the playoffs fairly recently. They haven’t played the Canadiens in the postseason since 2014, and the last Bruins-Sabres playoff series was in 2010. Seeing one or both of those rivalries get reignited would be fun.