A peek at the playoff race

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

It's looking like the Saint John Sea Dogs will be – yet again – fighting for the final few playoff spots in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.

The top-16 teams in the QMJHL will qualify for the post-season. The Sea Dogs currently sit 15th overall with a 16-22-4-0 record for 36 points.

With just over two months of regular season play remaining, it's shaping up to be an entertaining race, especially if the Baie-Comeau Drakkar can make a push out of the basement. We'll see how things shake down in the coming weeks.

Here's what the first-round matchups would look like if the playoffs started today. Saint John, as the ninth-place team in the Eastern Conference, would move over to the Western side and become the No. 7 seed (they have more points than Victoriaville currently).

Eastern Conference

1) Chicoutimi vs 8) Rimouski

2) Moncton vs 7) Halifax

3) Newfoundland vs 6) Quebec

4) Cape Breton vs 5) Charlottetown

Western Conference

1) Drummondville vs 8) Victoriaville

2) Blainville-Boisbriand vs 7) Saint John

3) Shawinigan vs 6) Sherbrooke

4) Rouyn-Noranda vs 5) Val-d'Or

The Sea Dogs did not qualify for the last year's playoffs, finishing with a 21-43-0-0 record for 42 points.

Saint John has not won a playoff series since 2017. They've not finished higher than 15th overall in the standings since the 2022 playoffs, where they were upset in the best-of-five first-round.