Stanley Cup Playoffs: 68 game rollback format works well
There are several proposed formats for the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. One of the more interesting ones is one that would roll teams back to 68 games.
The NHL season has been suspended since March 12 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. This has resulted in confusion from league officials, as well as players, on how the season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs would continue if it were to start back up in the summer time.
Many questions remain, one being how the remaining regular season, as well as the playoffs will work. Last week, TSN’s Frank Seravalli proposed an interesting idea. Could the NHL do a 68-game rollback? And would it be fair?
More from Puck Prose
- Detroit Red Wings 2023 Rookie Camp Has Plenty of Ups and Downs
- This Columbus Blue Jackets rookie doesn’t want to be forgotten
- 2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley Cup
- 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024
- This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings
At the time of the NHL suspending play, all teams were between 68 and 71 games played. Of course, there are 82 games over the course of a regular season but it is unlikely those games will be finished out as there will not be enough time to do so.
If the league were to keep the standings as are currently, it would be unfair to certain teams. An example of this would be the New York Islanders, who sit one point behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final wildcard position in the Eastern Conference yet have two games in hand.
Seravalli’s proposition is that any team who has played over 68 games would have those games negated, as if they never happened at all. There are some flaws with this, which I will go over after, but this is an unprecedented time, and there likely won’t be a plan that pleases everybody.
If this were to be how the situation worked out, the standings would look like this.
"View post on imgur.com"
With this, there are some changes in seeding, as well as some teams who would be in the playoffs that are not currently standings wise. Here are what the standings looked like at the time of the NHL suspending play.
NHL free agency: Top 10 available free agents in 2020. light. Related Story
This obviously would have impacts on each division, as well as playoff match ups. Below is a breakdown of how it affects each division.
Metropolitan Division
A few things would be different in the Metropolitan. The first, although more minor than others, is that the Philadelphia Flyers would slide ahead of the Washington Capitals for first place. The more controversial move however, is that the Blue Jackets would get bumped out of their current wild card position in favour of the Islanders.
Atlantic Division
As far as the Atlantic Division goes, this doesn’t change anything. The seedings would remain the exact same, however the Boston Bruins would be matched up against the Islanders first round rather than the Blue Jackets. One team in the Atlantic who would not be a fan of this is the Florida Panthers, who were only three points out of a playoff spot before the pause.
Central Division
The Central Division would have some controversy as well, as the Winnipeg Jets would be bumped out of the playoffs in favour of the Vancouver Canucks. This would certainly seem unfair to both Jets players and fans as they had been playing good hockey prior to the pause.
It would also change the seeding, as the Nashville Predators would slide into the top wild card position, while the Colorado Avalanche slide ahead of the St. Louis Blues for first place.
Pacific Division
You wouldn’t find any teams in the Pacific arguing this format. In fact, the Canucks would welcome it with open arms as it would give them their first playoff berth in five seasons. The team who would be most frustrated by this would be the Arizona Coyotes, who gave up a ton to acquire Taylor Hall in order to make a playoff push.
Next. Every NHL Team's Greatest Player Of All-Time. dark
Of course, there are going to be fans that love this idea, and others that hate it. It likely has a lot to do with whether or not your team would be in the playoffs. Regardless, it is certainly an interesting consideration as it becomes less likely by the day that the regular season gets completed.