The One Tweak The NHL Needs To Make To The ‘Reportedly Favored’ 24-Team Playoff Format

If the NHL is going to finish its season, the “reportedly favored” 24-team playoff format needs to be tweaked.

As the world continue to navigate the COVID-19 crisis, sports leagues across the globe have brainstormed scenarios of how to operate within whatever new frame of normalcy is left behind in the aftermath. The NHL is no different, throwing out various ideas on how play could be resumed.

“That’s why you’ve got to look at all of the options, balance them and try to make a good judgment, ”said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, according to NHL. com. “And we’re doing it with the feedback from our clubs, obviously. We’re not sitting around on our own saying, ‘This is what we’re doing, period.’ “

According to Sportsnet’s Mark Spector, the most popular candidate among return playoff scenarios is as follows:

• The top-6 teams from each division would meet in a designated city.
• The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds would play a three-game set to crown a division winner.
• The other two matchups would be No. 3 versus No. 6 and No. 4 against No. 5, each playing their own best-of-three series for the right to advance.
• This would forego any remaining regular-season games.

There’s a lot of good to unpack in this proposal. The most fundamental aspect is the return of hockey, which could be a vital distraction as society weathers these troubling times. Stakes would be high right away, tapping into a limitless well of hockey-interest.

It’s a less extreme implementation of the quarantine-bubble idea. With 24 teams spread out over four cities, it’s easier to contain. Non-competitive teams such as the Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings aren’t drawn back in for meaningless games, and with two teams going home almost immediately, it only shrinks the risk factor.

Plus, it’s worth considering being a host city for one of the divisions could be a boon for the local economy. Fans probably won’t be in the stands, but it’s revenue for hotels, restaurants and other businesses included inside of each quarantine bubble. And as a result, Spector says “between nine and 12 teams” are lobbying for the opportunity.

“It’s like bidding on an Olympics,” said one NHL executive, according to Sportsnet. “You know you’re bidding against other cities, but you’re not sure who they all are.”

However, this scenario would punish more competitive divisions. While virtually eliminated teams such as the Anaheim Ducks and Buffalo Sabers would be granted new life as No. 6 seeds, both the New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks would be shut out. The Rangers are particularly interesting because they’re only two points out of a wild-card spot.

There’s an easy fix, though. Instead of using the top-six teams in each division, the league should award three playoff spots to the top-three teams of each division and six wild-card berths to both conferences. It’s still a 24-team playoff and would work out to the best 12 point totals in the Eastern and Western Conferences qualifying. Splitting the teams up into four host cities would work out similar to if the league did so by division, but a few discretionary calls would have to be made (the Metropolitan division would have seven participants and one would have to group with the Atlantic).

Will there be a few outliers? Probably. If the Florida Panthers have to spend an extended period away from home in a place like Toronto, it does put them at a disadvantage. But these are unusual times, concessions will have to be made and teams must accept finishing the season in any capacity is a win, especially financially.

Also, the league would have to acquire a significant amount of coronavirus test kits. If testing is not widely available by then, it becomes an ethical dilemma of whether the league should be pulling tests away from the healthcare industry.

The league could offset those issues by following the lead of Italian soccer. According to The Irish Times, clubs in Italy’s Serie A have pledged to donate five coronavirus testing kits for every one they use once they start training for the resumption of the season.

The return of hockey in any capacity would be a welcomed sight, and the 24-team playoff has a lot of appealing aspects. But to before the league can settle on a fair and competitive format, the world has to make progress in fighting the ongoing pandemic.

“The decision ultimately will be made by medical people and people who are in governments at all different levels, ”Bettman said. “So, we’re not going to try and do anything that flies in the face of what we’re being told is appropriate.”