At the halfway mark of the 2025-26 NHL season, the standings couldn’t really get much closer. Few teams have established themselves as true contenders, and in the Eastern Conference specifically, teams currently out of a playoff spot are short winning streaks away from finding themselves in one. As a result, the race for the Jack Adams Award — bestowed annually on the league’s top coach as voted on by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association — is also a close one.