How Many Teams Make The NHL Playoffs in 2022?
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How Many Teams Make The NHL Playoffs in 2022?
The NHL playoffs are a best-of-seven elimination tournament among 16 teams in the National Hockey League (NHL).
How the NHL Playoff System Works
The NHL playoffs are a best-of-seven tournament held after the conclusion of the NHL’s regular season to determine the league’s Stanley Cup champion for that season. The playoffs are contested by sixteen teams, eight from each conference.
The current system
The current system for the NHL playoffs is a bit complicated, but it essentially comes down to this: there are 16 teams that make the playoffs, eight from each conference. The top three teams in each division make the playoffs, along with two wild card teams from each conference. The division winner with the most points in each conference gets to choose their first-round opponent from among the wild card teams.
The new system
In the new system, the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final will still be played in a best-of-seven series. The first two rounds of the playoffs will now be best-of-seven series as well. The big change is that the first round will be played between the first and second seeds in each conference and the third and fourth seeds in each conference.
How Many Teams Will Make the Playoffs in 2022?
With the NHL regular season comes the always exciting NHL playoffs. But how many teams will make the postseason in 2022? That’s a question many hockey fans will be asking themselves as the season goes on. So, let’s take a look at how many teams have made the playoffs in recent years and try to predict how many will make it in 2022.
The new system
In the 2021-22 NHL season, the top three teams in each division will automatically qualify for the playoffs. The final two playoff spots in each conference will be filled by the two teams with the next-best records, regardless of division.
The current system
The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America, currently consisting of 31 teams: 24 in the United States and seven in Canada. The NHL is considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in the world, and one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada.
The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season. The National Hockey League was organized on November 26, 1917, as a response to attempts at creating a rival league.
The NHL currently uses a playoff system whereby 16 teams (eight from each conference) qualify for the playoffs each year. This system has been used since the 2013–14 NHL season. Each team play eighteen regular season games against their division rivals (36 games), plus a home-and-away series against non-divisional conference opponents (24 games), for a total of 82 regular season games.
How the New System Will Affect the NHL
In 2022, the NHL will have a new playoff system that will expanded from the current 16 teams to 24 teams. This new system will have a profound effect on the NHL. It will mean that more teams will have a chance to make the playoffs, and that the regular season will be more important than ever.
The new system
The new system, which takes effect next season, will have the top four teams in each division qualifying for the playoffs regardless of their records. The four division winners will be seeded one through four in their respective conferences based on their regular-season points percentage (.562 for the No. 1 seed, .543 for the No. 2 seed, etc.). The next 16 teams in the overall standings will compete in a play-in tournament to determine the final eight qualifiers.
The current system
As of the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs, the NHL playoff system is composed of four rounds of best-of-seven series. The three division winners in each conference (the team with the best record in their respective division) and two wild card teams (the two teams with the next best records regardless of division) in each conference qualify for the playoffs. The two conference champions then play each other in the Stanley Cup Finals.
The first two rounds match up the division winners and wild card teams within their conferences. The Divisional Semifinals are played between the 1st and 8th seed, 2nd and 7th seed, 3rd and 6th seed, and 4th and 5th seed. In the Conference Finals, the remaining two teams in each conference face off against each other. The Stanley Cup Finals match up the Eastern Conference champion with the Western Conference champion.
