For several years now, NHL fans have been complaining about the NHL's current playoff format which has without a doubt had an impact on the outcome of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Now, one of the league's top stars, Sidney Crosby, has echoed those sentiments stating how he missed the league's old playoff format, and that it would be the best way to reward the best teams over the course of the regular season.
To refresh everyone's memory, From 1993 to 2013, the NHL had three divisions in each conference, with the three division winners grabbing the top three seeds. After that, it was just based on overall points, with the No. 1 seed playing the No. 8 seed, No. 2 vs. No. 7, No. 3 vs. No. 6, and No. 4 vs. No, 5. The teams would also re-seed after the first round. The current NHL Playoff format has the 1 seed in each conference playing the 2nd wildcard team, 2nd the seed team in each conference plays the 1st wildcard team; After that, the other two first-round matchups were based on division, so the 2nd and 3rd seed in each division would end up facing each other. Teams were not re-seeded after the first round, and already know who they had the play in the following rounds. Gary Bettman has already come out and stated that the league has no interest in changing the playoff format nor does he intend on including more teams in a play-in tournament like the NBA or having a wildcard round like NFL and MLB.
Playoffs standings w/ in the current playoff format:
Eastern Conference
Metropolitan
1 Carolina Hurricanes-76 pts
2 New Jersey Devils-70 pts
3 NY Rangers-64 pts
Atlantic
1 Boston Bruins-83 pts
2 Toronto Maple Leafs-70 pts
3 Tampa Bay Lightning-68 pts
Wildcard
1 Washington Capitals-60 pts
2 Pittsburgh Penguins-59 pts
Western Conference
Central
1 Dallas Stars-68 pts
2 Winnipeg Jets-65 pts
3 Minnesota Wild-58 pts
Atlantic
1 Vegas Golden Knights-64 pts
2 Seattle Kraken-63 pts
3 LA Kings-63 pts
Wildcard
1 Edmonton Oilers-62 pts
2 Colorado Avalanche-58 pts
First-Round Matchups based on Current Playoff Format
Eastern Conference
A1 Boston Bruins vs W2 Pittsburgh Penguins
M1 Carolina Hurricanes vs W1 Washington Capitals
M2 New Jersey Devils vs M3 New York Rangers
A2 Toronto Maple Leafs vs A3 Tampa Bay Lightning
Western Conference
C1 Dallas Stars vs W2 Colorado Avalanche
P1 Vegas Golden Knights vs W1 Edmonton Oilers
C2 Winnipeg Jets vs C3 Minnesota Wild
P2 Seattle Kraken vs P3 LA Kings
If the NHL were to incorporate a play-in or wildcard round, these would be the matchups:
Eastern Conf. wildcard
7 WSH vs 10 BUF
8 PIT vs 9 NYI
Western Conf. Wildcard
7 MIN vs 10 NSH
8 COL vs 9 CGY
The winners of each of these matchups will end up being the two wildcards and these additional "playoff" matchups would create a lot of buzz for the league and get the playoffs off on a bang.
In order to use the old playoff format, the NHL would first have to divide each conference into 3 divisions again.
Eastern Conference
Metropolitan
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers
Columbus Blue Jackets
Adams Division
Boston Bruins
Toronto Maple Leafs
Buffalo Sabres
Ottawa Senators
Detroit Red Wings
Montreal Canadiens
Patrick Division
Carolina Hurricanes
Tampa Bay Lightning
Washington Capitals
Pittsburgh Penguins
Florida Panthers
Western Conference
Norris Division
Dallas Stars
Minnesota Wild
Colorado Avalanche
Nashville Predators
St.Louis Blues
Chicago Blackhawks
Smythe Division
Winnipeg Jets
Seattle Kraken
Edmonton Oilers
Calgary Flames
Vancouver Canucks
Pacific Division
Vegas Golden Knights
LA Kings
San Jose Sharks
Arizona Coyotes
Anaheim Ducks
Playoffs standings look now in the old playoff format:
Eastern Conference
1 Boston Bruins
2 Carolina Hurricanes
3 New Jersey Devils
4 Toronto Maple Leafs
5 Tampa Bay Lightning
6 New York Rangers
7 Washington Capitals
8 Pittsburgh Penguins
Western Conference
1 Dallas Stars
2 Winnipeg Jets
3 Vegas Golden Knights
4 Seattle Kraken
5 LA Kings
6 Edmonton Oilers
7 Minnesota Wild
8 Colorado Avalanche
Miraculously the first-round playoff matchups using the old format is the same as it is using the new format, however, the reseeding after the first round would change the whole complexion of the playoffs. The NHLs reasoning for not changing the current playoff format is that they want to generate in-division rivalries, but rivalries are going to be naturally created throughout the course of a 7 game series because every team is fighting for one common goal. The NHL has a lot going for them, but when you compare them to the other three major sports leagues in North America, they just don't stack up, and a major reason is that the playoffs aren't as interesting as in other leagues.
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