What if the NHL had a 3-2-1-0 points system?

7 years ago

The NHL points system is a little… odd, to say the least.

I mean, you get points for losing. That’s really all you have to say to question it. That doesn’t make sense.

But it does create the interesting spectacle of three-point games, which contributes to intense playoff races. That’s a large part of the justification for the system, and it’s been going strong for several years now.

There’s another points system that the NHL could adopt instead, though: three points for a win, two points for an overtime win, one point for a shootout win, and no points for a loss. The idea behind it: you don’t reward teams for losing, and you don’t encourage them to just wait out the clock and play for overtime instead of playing to win, either.

Would it make that much of a difference in the standings, though?

For this exercise, I’ve decided to look only at the Western Conference since the wild card format was introduced. It’s not a big sample size, but it is a snapshot of what would have changed in recent years – particularly as the Flames were either tanking, or fighting for a playoff spot of their own.

Any changes in the standings are italicized.

2013-14

	2-0-1 points system					3-2-1-0 points system
	Team	W	L	OT	PTS	Team	W	OTW	SOW	L	PTS
Central Top 3	Colorado	52	22	8	112	Colorado	37	10	5	30	136
	St. Louis	52	23	7	111	St. Louis	40	3	9	30	135
	Chicago	46	21	15	107	Chicago	39	1	6	36	125
Pacific Top 3	Anaheim	54	20	8	116	Anaheim	44	7	3	28	149
	San Jose	51	22	9	111	San Jose	37	4	10	31	129
	Los Angeles	46	28	8	100	Los Angeles	34	4	8	36	118
Wildcard	Minnesota	43	27	12	98	Dallas	34	2	4	42	110
	Dallas	40	31	11	91	Minnesota	32	3	8	39	110
Out of Playoffs	Phoenix	37	30	15	89	Nashville	33	3	2	44	107
	Nashville	38	32	12	88	Phoenix	28	3	6	45	96
	Winnipeg	37	35	10	84	Vancouver	25	6	5	46	92
	Vancouver	36	35	11	83	Winnipeg	24	5	8	45	90
	Calgary	35	40	7	77	Calgary	21	6	7	47	82
	Edmonton	29	44	9	67	Edmonton	20	5	4	53	74

In 2013-14, there aren’t any real changes in the playoffs. Dallas and Minnesota swap spots – eliminating the tiebreaker of ROW, and going with just regular wins as the first time breaker – meaning Minnesota would face off against the Ducks instead of the Avalanche (and probably lose), while Dallas would get the Avalanche (and have a better shot at advancing).

That’s about it, though. Nashville would have been a win closer to making the playoffs, but still wouldn’t have made it; Phoenix would have had significantly less hope. Vancouver and Winnipeg’s draft positions would be affected, but they may have ended up selecting Jake Virtanen and Nikolaj Ehlers respectively, anyway.

All in all, though? Not much changes.

2014-15

	2-0-1 points system					3-2-1-0 points system
	Team	W	L	OT	PTS	Team	W	OTW	SOW	L	PTS
Central Top 3	St. Louis	51	24	7	109	St. Louis	37	5	9	31	130
	Nashville	47	25	10	104	Minnesota	38	4	4	36	126
	Chicago	48	28	6	102	Nashville	34	8	6	35	124
Pacific Top 3	Anaheim	51	24	7	109	Anaheim	35	8	8	31	129
	Vancouver	48	29	5	101	Vancouver	36	6	6	34	126
	Calgary	45	30	7	97	Calgary	32	9	4	37	118
Wildcard	Minnesota	46	28	8	100	Chicago	36	3	9	34	123
	Winnipeg	43	26	13	99	Los Angeles	37	1	2	42	115
Out of Playoffs	Los Angeles	40	27	15	95	Winnipeg	34	4	7	39	111
	Dallas	41	31	10	92	Dallas	33	4	4	41	111
	Colorado	39	31	12	90	San Jose	34	2	4	42	110
	San Jose	40	33	9	89	Colorado	27	2	10	43	95
	Edmonton	24	44	14	62	Edmonton	17	2	5	58	60
	Arizona	24	50	8	56	Arizona	14	5	5	58	57

There are more changes this time around. The Flames still make the playoffs – but in this scenario so do the Kings, who Calgary eliminated in the penultimate game of the regular season using the 2-0-1 system. Winnipeg fails to advance.

Chicago also no longer finishes top three in their division, Minnesota shooting way up to claim that spot.

The Flames still play the Canucks, though – but in the second round, they would face either Anaheim or Chicago. It’s difficult to imagine them making it past either of those teams, so not much else changes.

The point separation is a little greater, but then, wins are worth more, so it’s not as difficult to close the gap. All in all, though? Still not that much changes.

2015-16

	2-0-1 points system					3-2-1-0 points system
	Team	W	L	OT	PTS	Team	W	OTW	SOW	L	PTS
Central Top 3	Dallas	50	23	9	109	Dallas	42	6	2	32	140
	St. Louis	49	24	9	107	Chicago	36	10	1	35	129
	Chicago	47	26	9	103	St. Louis	36	8	5	33	129
Pacific Top 3	Anaheim	46	25	11	103	Anaheim	39	4	3	36	128
	Los Angeles	48	28	6	102	Los Angeles	34	12	2	34	128
	San Jose	46	30	6	98	San Jose	37	5	4	36	125
Wildcard	Nashville	41	27	14	96	Nashville	35	2	4	41	113
	Minnesota	38	33	11	87	Minnesota	34	1	3	44	107
Out of Playoffs	Colorado	39	39	4	82	Colorado	33	2	4	43	107
	Arizona	35	39	8	78	Arizona	29	5	1	47	98
	Winnipeg	35	39	8	78	Winnipeg	29	3	3	47	96
	Calgary	35	40	7	77	Calgary	24	9	2	47	92
	Vancouver	31	38	13	75	Vancouver	22	4	5	51	79
	Edmonton	31	43	8	70	Edmonton	20	7	4	51	78

The Flames still end up with a pretty high draft pick (although they’re noticeably much better than the Canucks or Oilers). As for meaningful standings changes, Chicago and St. Louis switch home ice in the playoffs. That’s it.

2016-17

So it looks like the current system is actually doing a pretty good job. Yes, it could be better – that whole “reward for losing” thing remains odd – but even if you change the system to be geared more towards winning, the standings really aren’t all that affected. Maybe the on-ice games would be, but will alone can only take a team so far.

Above are all completed seasons, though. What does it look like about halfway through the season? Does the race itself look much different? The Flames are in the midst of a playoff race; this is highly relevant to my interests.

Standings up to date following the night of Jan. 6.

	2-0-1 points system					3-2-1-0 points system
	Team	W	L	OT	PTS	Team	W	OTW	SOW	L	PTS
Central Top 3	Chicago – 42 GP	25	12	5	55	Minnesota	20	3	1	13	67
	Minnesota – 37 GP	24	9	4	52	Chicago	18	5	2	17	66
	St. Louis – 39 GP	20	14	5	45	St. Louis	15	4	1	19	54
Pacific Top 3	Anaheim – 41 GP	20	12	8	50	San Jose	17	4	2	16	61
	San Jose – 39 GP	23	14	2	48	Anaheim	18	1	2	20	58
	Edmonton – 40 GP	20	13	7	47	Calgary	16	3	2	20	56
Wildcard	Calgary – 41 GP	21	18	2	44	Edmonton	16	2	2	20	54
	Vancouver – 41 GP	20	18	3	43	Winnipeg	14	3	2	22	50
Out of Playoffs	Los Angeles – 39 GP	19	16	4	42	Nashville	16	0	1	22	49
	Nashville – 39 GP	17	15	7	41	Los Angeles	11	7	1	20	48
	Winnipeg – 41 GP	19	19	3	41	Vancouver	11	5	4	21	47
	Dallas – 39 GP	16	15	8	40	Dallas	14	2	0	23	46
	Arizona – 39 GP	11	22	6	28	Colorado	8	5	0	26	34
	Colorado – 39 GP	13	25	1	27	Arizona	6	2	3	28	25

Here we go: in the middle of the race, there are way more changes:

Minnesota has taken the Central lead from Chicago.
San Jose has the lead over Anaheim.
Calgary is ahead of Edmonton, out of a wildcard spot and in the top three of the Pacific.
Winnipeg has kicked Los Angeles out of its playoff spot, and Nashville is a little closer than they actually are.
Vancouver remains further out (although one win would be enough to vault them back into things).
Colorado is apparently noticeably better than Arizona.

The playoff race still looks pretty exciting to me, though. The races are still tight, and a number of teams are still just a win or two away from getting back into the dance.

All in all? Things really aren’t all that different. Though there’s the chance for a lot of changes in the middle of the race, still – but based on what’s happened in previous systems, and how similar things look already, I’d be willing to be any differences a change in systems by season’s end wouldn’t amount to much changing.

What if the NHL had a 3-2-1-0 points system?

2013-14

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

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