How Are The NHL Playoffs Going To Work This Year?

The NHL playoffs are a best-of-seven tournament among the 16 teams that qualified for the playoffs. The Stanley Cup Finals will be a best-of-seven series between the winner of the Western Conference and the winner of the Eastern Conference.

Introduction

The National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs are an elimination tournament competition in which two teams, referred to as “Conference Finals club,” “Divisional club,” or simply as “playoff teams”, vie to advance to the next round of the playoffs and ultimately win the Stanley Cup. Conference and divisional alignment are determined by regular-season points. The playoffs are organized into four rounds of best-of-seven series. With a win in each series, a team advances to the next round; a loss in any series causes elimination from the playoffs and ends a team’s season.

The Format

The NHL playoffs are going to be a little different this year. Instead of the traditional 16-team playoff format, the NHL has expanded to include 24 teams. This is because the NHL wants to give more teams a chance to compete for the Stanley Cup. Here’s a breakdown of the new playoff format.

Round Robin

The NHL’s Return to Play features a round robin tournament to determine the seeds for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Here’s how it will work:
The top four teams in each conference will play each other once in a best-of-five series, with the possibility of overtime and shootout losses. The purpose of the round robin is to help seed the top four teams in each conference for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The regular season standings will be used to determine the matchups, with the first-place team playing the fourth-place team and the second-place team playing the third-place team.
The higher seeded team will be considered the home team for games one and two, as well as five if necessary. The lower seeded team will be considered the home team for games three and four, as well as game six if necessary.
The round robin will be played at one of two hub cities, which have yet to be announced.
Each team is guaranteed to play at least three games, but could play as many as five if they lose their first two games and need to play a game five to determine seeding.

Qualifying Round

The qualifying round will feature best-of-five series to be played between the 24th and 28th of August. These games will be held in two hub cities: Edmonton, Alberta and Toronto, Ontario. The top four seeds in each conference (based on regular season points percentage) will play each other in the qualifying round. The 5th seed will play the 12th seed, the 6th will play the 11th, 7th will play 10th, and 8th will play 9th. The matchups for these series were determined by regular season points percentage, not by seeding. That means that, for example, the 5 seed could be playing a team with a better record than the 4 seed.

The Teams

The NHL playoffs are going to be a little different this year. For starters, the top 12 teams from each conference will make it to the playoffs. This means that there could be some teams with losing records that make it in, and some good teams that don’t.

Eastern Conference

(8) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (9) Montreal Canadiens
The Leafs are looking to continue their recent success against their Canadian rivals, the Canadiens. In the last 10 games played between these two teams, the Leafs are 7-2-1. The last time these two teams met in the playoffs was in 1979, when the Canadiens won in the second round.

(7) New York Islanders vs. (10) Florida Panthers
The Islanders are looking to make a deep run in the playoffs this year, led by captain Anders Lee. The team’s young core will be tested against a veteran Panthers squad that includes goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and forwards Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau.

(6) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (11) Nashville Predators
The Hurricanes are led by forward Sebastian Aho and defenseman Dougie Hamilton. The team is looking to make a return to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2009. The Predators are led by goaltender Pekka Rinne and defenseman Roman Josi.

Western Conference

TheWestern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) is one of two conferences that makes up the league, the other being the Eastern Conference. The Western Conference was created in 1926 as the Clarence Campbell Conference, and in 1970, it was renamed the Western Conference.

As of the 2014–15 NHL season, the Western Conference has 15 teams, divided into two divisions: the Pacific Division and the Central Division. The top three teams in each division qualified automatically for the playoffs. The next two teams in each division earned wild card berths.

In addition to piecing together a regular season schedule that kept geographical rivalries intact as much as possible while also ensuring each team played every other at least twice, realignment has granted an extra playoff spot to each conference. That means that, instead of eight teams advancing to the conference quarterfinals as in years past, 10 will qualify this time around.

The Schedule

The first thing you need to know about the 2020 NHL playoffs is when they’re happening. The NHL regular season is scheduled to end on April 4, and the playoffs are slated to begin just a few days later on April 8.

Round Robin

The NHL has announced the playoff format for the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The 24 teams that will participate in the playoffs will be split into two conferences, with each conference getting its own mini tournament.

In the East, the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, and Philadelphia Flyers will compete in a round-robin tournament to determine seeding for the first round of the playoffs. The West will see the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, and Vegas Golden Knights do the same.

The first round of the playoffs will be a best-of-five series, with all games taking place in Toronto (East) and Edmonton (West). The semifinals and Stanley Cup Final will be best-of-seven series.

Qualifying Round

With the NHL regular season now officially over, the stage is set for the unique 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

24 teams will compete in a qualifing round to advance to the 16-team tournament for the Stanley Cup.

The qualifying round will be a best-of-five series played in two hub cities – Toronto for the East and Edmonton for the West. The higher seeded team in each matchup will host Games 1, 2, and 5 (if necessary), while the lower seed will host Games 3 and 4 (if necessary).

The qualifying round features three matchups in each conference:
EAST: No. 5 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. No. 12 Montreal Canadiens; No. 6 Carolina Hurricanes vs. No. 11 New York Rangers; No. 7 New York Islanders vs. No. 10 Florida Panthers
WEST: No. 5 Edmonton Oilers vs. No. 12 Chicago Blackhawks; No. 6 Nashville Predators vs.. No 11 Arizona Coyotes; No 5 Calgary Flames vs..No 8 Winnipeg Jets

The Playoffs

The NHL playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament among 16 teams that qualified for the playoffs. The Stanley Cup Finals is the championship series of the NHL playoffs. This year, the playoffs are going to look a bit different. Let’s take a look at how they are going to work.

Eastern Conference

In the Eastern Conference, the top four teams in each division will qualify for the playoffs. The first two rounds of the playoffs will be played within each division and will be a best-of-seven series. The winners of each division will then advance to the Conference Finals, which will also be a best-of-seven series.

The 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs will begin on Wednesday, May 19 and conclude no later than June 27.

Western Conference

In the Western Conference, the top four teams in each division will play each other in the first round of the playoffs. The first-place team in each division will play the fourth-place team and the second-place team will play the third-place team. The division winner with the best regular season record will play the wild card team with the worst regular season record, and the division winner with the second best regular season record will play the wild card team with the second worst regular season record.

Conclusion

So there you have it, a brief overview of how the NHL playoffs are going to work this year. It will be interesting to see how things play out, and who ultimately comes out on top. Regardless of who wins, it should be a great tournament.