The NHL appears to be inching towards a 24-team playoff format and a delayed entry draft
By Zach Laing
3 years agoSportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman had a few interesting notes in his Thursday 31 thoughts column.
First and foremost, it appears the league is going to be delaying their entry draft. Friedman reported that the league was going to be giving 30 days notice to clubs on a draft date.
With an initial suggestion of June 5th or 6th, the ability for the NHL to give that aforementioned notice has come and gone.
The league could go back to its original date of June 26–27, but online. However, there is a growing sense that the league office is backing away from this fight. On the Board of Governors call three days after that memo, it’s believed that approximately half the teams indicated they were completely against doing it before the end of the playoffs. Even more of an issue was there weren’t many teams willing to fight for doing it early. One of the concerns with having it in the fall is suddenly the sports calendar is jammed with NFL, tennis majors, golf majors, big horse races, MLB, etc. But that argument is not swaying anyone. –Friedman’s 31 thoughts
I, for one, am a fan of the league pushing the draft back and it largely surrounds the fact that I think the ability to move players need to be there. Clubs get a lot of their work done in terms of shaping rosters at the draft and some of the biggest trades in recent years have either happened on the draft floor, or happened because of discussions held there.
On the playoff format
The league appears to be inching towards playing out the remainder of their season in part with a 24-team playoff format. Calgary Flames GM Brad Treliving told media the other day “…I do sense some momentum that next week there could be at least a preliminary plan in place for where we go.”
Friedman reported that while there’s no guarantee on what could happen, he did break down what the format could look like.
METROPOLITAN HUB: Washington, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Carolina, Islanders, ColumbusATLANTIC HUB: Boston, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Florida, Montreal, Rangers (added as lowest seed from Metropolitan — Bruins are top-ranked in East, and should have that reward in their hub)CENTRAL HUB: St. Louis, Colorado, Dallas, Winnipeg, Nashville, Chicago (Blackhawks stay in Central because Blues are top-ranked in West)PACIFIC HUB: Vegas, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Arizona, MinnesotaThe first round “becomes” a five-game round robin — with a handicap by standings at arrival of the pause. Based on points percentage, the seeds could be given from 10 points (first) to 0 (sixth) at the start. If you think that’s too much, maybe go from five points to zero. That way, every team that comes back gets a minimum of five games.Top four move on to the next round, and decide if we’re dealing with best-of-five or best-of-seven from then on.
I think this format is a little bit excessive and brings in teams that maybe shouldn’t be in the conversation for playoffs. Chicago and Montreal, as the first two, jump out as teams who probably shouldn’t be in the conversation.
At the end of the day, I’m just looking forward to having hockey back whenever it’s safe to do so. My biggest concern, as should be the league’s is the safety of everyone involved in the game.
On Twitter: @zjlaing
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