The NHL and NHLPA have worked out several of the remaining details of the 24-team playoff format.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the NHL playoffs will be re-seeded after every round. All playoff series will be best-of-seven, while the qualifying round will be best-of-five.
The NHL Playoffs will not be bracketed, but re-seeded after every round. Qualifying will be best-of-five. All other rounds will be best-of-seven.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 4, 2020
According to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, the NHL and NHLPA still must negotiate how Phase 3 and Phase 4 will work.
Keep in mind, this is just the format agreement. Still to come are Phase 3 (training camp) and Phase 4 (games/hubs/protocol) which still have to be negotiated. Only preliminary talks so far on those fronts.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 4, 2020
Other recent developments include the top four seeds will be determined by the round-robin with regular-season points percentage serving as a tiebreaker.
Of note on the NHL playoff format: The top four seeds in each conference will be determined by the results of the three-game round robin, with regular-season points percentage serving as a tiebreaker if needed.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) June 4, 2020
The NHL just confirmed the news in a press release.
NHL Announces More Details of Playoff Format for Return to Play Plan
NEW YORK (June 4, 2020) – The National Hockey League announced today more details of its playoff format for the 2019-20 Return To Play Plan:
Series Lengths
The Qualifying Round will be composed of best-of-five series. All other rounds (First Round, Second Round, Conference Finals, Stanley Cup Final) will be best-of-seven series.
“Seeding” Format
In each succeeding round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the highest remaining seed in each conference will face the lowest remaining seed, the second-highest remaining seed in each conference will face the second-lowest remaining seed, etc.
Round Robin Tiebreaker
Ties in the Round Robin – featuring the top four teams from each conference – will be broken by regular season points percentage. The seeding order for these teams then will remain the same throughout the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“Home” Ice
* In the Qualifying Round, the higher-seeded team will be designated as the home team in Games 1, 2 and 5. The lower-seeded team will be designated as the home team in Games 3 and 4.
* In the First Round, Second Round and Conference Finals, the higher-seeded team will be designated as the home team in Games 1, 2, 5 and 7. The lower-seeded team will be designated as the home team in Games 3, 4 and 6.
* In the Stanley Cup Final, the team with the higher regular season points percentage will be designated as the home team in Games 1, 2, 5 and 7. The team with the lower regular season points percentage will be designated as the home team in Games 3, 4 and 6.
Today’s announcement follows approval by the League’s Board of Governors and the National Hockey League Players’ Association. The agreement is subject to the NHL and the NHLPA reaching an overall agreement on resuming play.
Headline photo: Pixabay
