New Stanley Cup Playoffs Format Could Feature Intriguing Match-Ups

BY JAMIE MOUNTAIN - COUCH POTATO SPORTS

The NHL unveiled its Return to Play Plan on Tuesday, May 26 with 24 teams now in competition for the Stanley Cup.

The format brings with it the possibility of some intriguing match-ups as those 24 teams vie for hockey's holy grail.

As it's structured, the tournament will begin with a 16-team, eight-series Qualifying Round and a Seeding Round Robin among the top four teams in each conference to determine seeds for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The NHL paused the regular season March 12 due to concerns surrounding the novel coronavirus and its remaining 189 games will not be completed. The 12 qualifying teams from the Eastern and Western conferences were determined by points percentage as of that date. Seven teams did not qualify.

The Qualifying Round and Seeding Round Robin will be held at two hub cities to be identified -- one for the 12 participating Eastern Conference teams and one for the 12 Western Conference teams - and begin at a date to be determined. 

Some candidates for the hub cities include Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Vancouver.

The teams with home-ice advantage might not even be in their actual home rink...very interesting. Will be something to watch for.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the decision on the hub cities and when play will begin will depend on COVID-19 conditions, testing ability and government regulations. A comprehensive system for testing will be in place in each hub city, and each team will be permitted to travel a maximum of 50 personnel, including players, coaches and staff.

In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Bruins (44-14-12, .714 points percentage), Tampa Bay Lightning (43-21-6, .657), Washington Capitals (41-20-8, .652) and Philadelphia Flyers (41-21-7, .645) will all have a bye and play each other once to determine the order of the top four seeds for the first round of the playoffs.

The Eastern Conference Qualifying Round will have four best-of-5 series:

Pittsburgh Penguins (40-23-6, .623) vs. the Montreal Canadiens (31-31-9, .500)

Carolina Hurricanes (38-25-5, .596) vs. the New York Rangers (37-28-5, .564)

New York Islanders (35-23-10, .588) vs. the Florida Panthers (35-26-8, .565)

Toronto Maple Leafs (36-25-9, .579) vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets (33-22-15, .579). The Leafs versus Blue Jackets match-up really intrigues me because, if you remember last year's post-season, Columbus pulled off a monumental upset of the President's Trophy-winning Lightning in a first-round sweep. Could Columbus find lightning in a bottle twice and knock off the high-flying Maple Leafs? Will Toronto exorcise its first-round demons? It would definitely make for some must-watch TV.

In the Western Conference, meanwhile, the St. Louis Blues (42-19-10, .662), Colorado Avalanche (42-20-8, .657), Vegas Golden Knights (39-24-8, .606) and Dallas Stars (37-24-8, .594) will each have a bye and play round-robin to determine their seeding order. The Western Conference best-of-5 qualifying round series are:

Edmonton Oilers (37-25-9, .585) vs. the Chicago Blackhawks (32-30-8, .514)

Nashville Predators (35-26-8, .565) vs. the Arizona Coyotes (33-29-8, .529)

Vancouver Canucks (36-27-6, .565) vs. the Minnesota Wild (35-27-7, .558)

Calgary Flames (36-27-7, .564) vs. the Winnipeg Jets (37-28-6, .563). The all-Canadian match-up in the West between the Flames and Jets will be fantastic to see as both sides have great young stars and also players who aren't afraid to get in the opposition's faces.

Seven teams did not qualify and their season is over: the Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings. Each will participate in the NHL Draft Lottery, which will hold its first phase on June 26.

The games in the qualifying round will be played with playoff overtime rules. The round-robin games will be played with regular-season overtime and shootout rules with ties in the standings broken by regular-season points percentage. After the round-robin and the qualifying round, the conference-based playoffs will continue in the two hub cities. Each of the winners of the qualifying round will advance to face one of the round-robin teams in the first round. The Return to Play Committee is discussing whether those first-round series will be set through seeding or by bracket. The Return to Play Committee also has yet to decide the length of both the first-round and second-round series, and whether the second-round series will be determined through seeding or by bracket. The Eastern Conference Final, Western Conference Final and Stanley Cup Final will each be a best-of-7 series.  Commissioner Bettman told NBCSN there is a slim possibility the final three series can be played in the home arenas of the teams that reach those rounds, but that would require a substantial change in the outlook of the pandemic. It's most likely all games will be played in the hub cities without fans in attendance. The two hub cities that are selected will depend on the circumstances in that city. For example, though Edmonton, Toronto and Vancouver are among the cities being considered, the current edict in Canada requiring those who enter the country to be quarantined for 14 days would probably preclude one of those cities from being selected. Training camps could open no earlier than July 10 as part of Phase 3 of the Return to Play Plan, and Commissioner Bettman said the NHL believes the qualifying and first two rounds of the playoffs can be completed in a little more than a month. It will be fascinating to see if the NHL can actually resume its season and where the games will be played when it comes to the chosen hub cities. For everyone who is missing hockey, the NHL's potential return is definitely just what the doctor ordered.