Report: Playoff format with 24 NHL teams expected to pass NHLPA vote

A 24-team playoff format that would include a play-in round is expected to pass NHLPA voting, OilersNation’s Jason Gregor and TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported Friday.

The voting kicked off Thursday night and carried into Friday. Gregor said while some top teams are “not living format,” it’s still expected to pass. McKenzie noted that an NHLPA conference call Thursday night “got a little heated.”

Once the NHL has official word on the vote, which requires 18/31 votes to pass, the league has its own process to go through.

The Calgary Flames NHLPA rep is Mikael Backlund, with Matthew Tkachuk serving as an alternate rep.

Under the format, the top four teams in each conference would play each other with the other 16 clubs going through a best-of-five play-in round. The league is working through the process of selecting hub cities to play games out of in a central manner.

The format would see the Calgary Flames face off against the Winnipeg Jets with the winner playing the defending Stanley Cup champs St. Louis Blues.

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