The NHL Could Be Looking at a 24-team Playoff Format
4 years ago
Yesterday on social media, rumours were circling that the NHL is mulling over a 24-team playoff format if the league is safely able to resume play.
Even though the idea of the Stanley Cup being awarded very much in limbo considering the fluid news cycle when it comes to COVID-19, the NHL is working to put together a playoff format for the league’s eventual return. Despite the legwork being put in and varying ideas floating around, the league doesn’t know what kind of timeline it would have for a playoff tournament but the NHL is considering all of its options.
Gary Bettman appeared on Hockey Central this past Friday to discuss the latest:
“I don’t want to speculate as to which direction we’re going in. We are analyzing every conceivable option that is available to us and that’s not something that’s static. In other words, what’s an option today, there may be different options. (There may be) fewer options or more options — who knows?”“My hope and expectation is that we can finish the season in some form, award the Stanley Cup and then be able to move on feeling that we accomplished that goal of finishing the season for our fans.”
At Sportsnet, columnist Chris Johnston reported rumblings he had heard about a format that would see four teams per conference getting a bye (West: St. Louis, Colorado, Vegas, Edmonton — East: Boston, Tampa, Washington, Philadelphia) while the remaining 16 teams would compete in a best-of-three play-in series based on points percentage. Surely, the format is not without its issues seeing as teams have often played a different number of games, but it would likely be the more “fair” way of making it work.
According to the Sportsnet report, the league would also need to consider where teams finished within their own division as opposed to drawing a line in the sand based on conference ranking. In this scenario, the new “standings” would look like this:
| WEST | EAST |
| 1. St. Louis (.662) | 1. Boston (.714) |
| 2. Colorado (.657) | 2. Tampa (.657) |
| 3. Vegas (.606) | 3. Washington (.652) |
| 4. Edmonton (.585, 2nd Pacific) | 4. Philadelphia (.645) |
| 5. Dallas (.594) | 5. Pittsburgh (.623) |
| 6. Vancouver (.565, 3rd Pacific) | 6. Toronto (.579, 3rd Atlantic) |
| 7. Nashville (.565) | 7. Carolina (.596) |
| 8. Calgary (.564) | 8. N.Y. Islanders (.588) |
| 9. Winnipeg (.563) | 9. Columbus (.579) |
| 10. Minnesota (.558) | 10. Florida (.565) |
| 11. Arizona (.529) | 11. N.Y. Rangers (.564) |
| 12. Chicago (.514) | 12. Montreal (.500) |
In the Western Conference, the play-in series would have Winnipeg going up against Calgary, Vancouver versus Arizona, Nashville versus Minnesota, and Dallas versus Chicago.
In the Eastern Conference, Pittsburgh match up with Montreal, Toronto play New York Rangers, Carolina would battle Florida, and the New York Islanders would take on Columbus.
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