How Is The NHL Playoffs Going To Work This Year?

The NHL playoffs are right around the corner, and with the coronavirus pandemic still raging, things are going to look a little different this year. Here’s a rundown of how the playoffs are going to work and what you can expect to see.

Introduction

The 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs will be the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL). The playoffs are scheduled to begin on August 1, 2020, and will end no later than September 28, 2020. The qualifying round will be a best-of-five series played between the bottom seeds in each conference to determine which teams advance to the first round of the playoffs. The first round, second round and conference finals will be best-of-seven series. All rounds are played in a best-of-seven format with four teams from each conference qualifying for the playoffs.

The Stanley Cup Finals will be a best-of-seven series between the champions of the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference, with home ice advantage going to the team with the better regular season record. This year’s playoffs will have a unusual structure due to the cancellation of the last two months of the 2019–20 regular season and subsequent resumption in August 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

How the NHL Playoffs Will Work This Year

The NHL playoffs are going to look a little different this year. The league has expanded the playoffs to include 24 teams instead of the usual 16. This means that there will be more games and more opportunities for teams to compete for the Stanley Cup. Let’s take a look at how the NHL playoffs will work this year.

The Format

The NHL has officially announced the format for the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The playoffs will begin on August 1st with 16 teams in the playoffs. The top four seeds in each conference will play each other in a best-of-five series to advance to the first round of the playoffs. The other playoff teams will play a best-of-three series to determine who advances to the first round.

Here is a breakdown of how the NHL playoff format will work:

There will be 16 teams in the playoffs, eight from each conference.

The top four seeds in each conference will play each other in a best-of-five series. The winner of each series will advance to the first round of the playoffs.

The remaining teams in each conference will play a best-of-three series. The winner of each series will advance to the first round of the playoffs.

The first round of the playoffs will be a best-of-seven series. The winners of each series will advance to the second round of the playoffs.

The second round of the playoffs will be a best-of-seven series. The winners of each series will advance to the Conference Finals.

The Conference Finals will be a best-of-seven series. The winner of each series will advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

The Schedule

The 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs will begin in August with a best-of-5 play-in series involving the16 qualifying teams. The league has not yet announced the specific dates and times for the games, but they have released the matchups.

In the East, the Pittsburgh Penguins will take on the Montreal Canadiens, the Carolina Hurricanes will battle the Nashville Predators, and the New York Islanders will face off against the Florida Panthers. In the West, it will be the Edmonton Oilers vs. the Chicago Blackhawks, the Winnipeg Jets vs. the Calgary Flames, and the Vancouver Canucks vs. the Minnesota Wild.

The four teams that advance from these play-in series will be reseeded for traditional best-of-7 conference quarterfinals. The first round of those playoffs will feature match ups of 1st seed vs. lowest remaining seed, 2nd seed vs. 2nd lowest remaining seed, 3rd seed vs. 3rd lowest remaining seed, and 4th seed vs. 4th lowest remaining seed.

From there, things will proceed as normal until two teams are left standing to compete for Lord Stanley’s Cup in a best-of-7 championship series.

The Teams

The NHL playoffs will feature a new format this year.
16 teams from the Eastern and Western conferences will qualify for the playoffs.
8 teams from each conference will be seeded 1-8 based on their regular season points percentage.
The top four seeds in each conference will play each other in a best-of-five series to advance to the Stanley Cup semifinals.
The other four qualified teams in each conference will play a best-of-five play-in series to earn the right to play the top four seeds in the conference quarterfinals.

Conclusion

So there you have it! The NHL playoffs are going to look a little different this year, but the excitement and competition will be just as intense as ever. Be sure to catch all the action starting on August 1st.