From 1982 to 1993, the NHL held a Divisional Playoff structure every year.
With the coronavirus pandemic making travel dangerous, the league has agreed with the NHL Players Association to bring that postseason plan back for what appears to be this season only.
And you guys, it looks fun!
Playoffs will be top four in each division — each division produces a champion for the Stanley Cup Semifinal
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) December 19, 2020
The structure would go like this.
After a 56-game regular season is played, the top four teams in each division would make the postseason.
Believe there was only one switch from the divisions I relayed a few weeks ago. Dallas for Minn. So here's how it would look, pending BOG approval (if Cdn teams can play in 🇨🇦):
Bos-Buf-NJ-NYI-NYR-Phi-Pgh-Was
Car-CBJ-Dal-Det-Chi-Fla-Nas-TB
Ana-Ari-Col-LA-Min-SJ-STL-VGK
🇨🇦 teams— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) December 19, 2020
The number-one seed team would play the number-four seed while the second and third-ranked teams would match up against eacn other in the first round. The victor of those first-round series would then play each other to determine a division champion. If the Capitals make the playoffs (which is not a given), they would have to defeat two opponents from a stacked East Division which includes the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins.
Each champion from the Canada Division, Central Division, East Division, and West Division would then play against each other in the Stanley Cup Semifinal for the right to advance to the Stanley Cup Final. This plan would guarantee one Canadian team in the final four (if there indeed ends up being an all-Canada Division).
So basically, the team that wins the Stanley Cup would have to win each of these four series.
- Division Semifinal (Round 1)
- Division Final (Round 2)
- Stanley Cup Semifinal (Round 3)
- Stanley Cup Final (Round 4)
According to The Athletic’s Pierre Lebrun, this solution ended up being the most popular because it tamped down on travel costs among the three US divisions, prevented teams from having unnecessary exposure to COVID-19 (all regular-season games will be played against division opponents), and bought the NHL time for the winner of the Canada Division to cross the US/Canada border.
While there are many additional details yet to be revealed — such as tiebreakers for seeding and if neutral sites will be used — this plan seems to make the most sense and should produce another thrilling postseason.
