March 14, 2025/Midnight
Erie, PA. —Some of the most important events in sports are coming up in the next few weeks. That’s right, the postseason. In just under a week, college basketball’s postseason also known as March Madness will begin. Meanwhile the NBA and NHL playoffs will begin next month as well. While the NCAA and NBA formats have been positively received, the NHL’s format has fans asking for a change per The Score.
The NHL’s playoff format used to be nearly identical to the NBA according to NHL Records. All playoff teams in each conference would be seeded 1-8 with the highest seed playing the lowest seed regardless of division. For example, one would play eight, two would play seven, three would play six, and four would play five.
However, in 2014, following the division realignment, commissioner Gary Bettman adopted a brand-new playoff format that would reward teams for finishing higher in their division. In this new system, the top three teams in all four divisions would make the postseason as reported by NHL.com. The final two teams in the conference with the best record would participate as wild cards. The division winners would play wild cards while the second and third teams in each division would play against each other.
There are a couple of reasons why this format is successful. First, it gives incentive towards winning the division and guarantees a top two seed. Second, it allows rivals to match up in the playoffs more often which creates chaos and excitement.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of problems that have hurt this postseason format. First, it has made the final weeks of the regular season less exciting. For example, in February of the 2022-23 season, the Boston Bruins were up 13 points for the division lead and all but running away with the title as noted by NHL.com. Meanwhile the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning were both 10+ points ahead of the Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers in the division standings. This meant that these teams were all but guaranteed to play each other in the first round of the playoffs. This made the remaining games for each team having little to play for besides home-ice advantage.
Second, it has given the same matchup in consecutive years. For example, the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings have faced off in the first round of the playoffs each of the last three years. Edmonton has won all three series per NHL.com. If the postseason ended today, both teams would play each other once again for a fourth-straight year. Third, it punishes teams with better records. In the old format, last year’s Carolina Hurricanes team would’ve been the second seed and would not have to face the one-seeded New York Rangers until the conference finals according to The Score. Instead, the teams matched up in the second round because they were both in the same division.
If the NHL wants to fix the problem, the solution is simple. The league should go back to the 1-8 playoff format pre-2014. It has been successful for the NBA and has created many new matchups. Should there be reseeding following the first round? Scott Stinson of The Score believes so, but that is a very debatable question. While the NBA nor March Madness reseed, the NFL does and has worked for many years. I would go without reading my opinion. The NHL needs a change, and the answer is right in front of them.
