NHL’s proposed 24-team playoff format would be pure, concentrated chaos

In the wake of the NHL’s temporary shutdown due to concerns regarding coronavirus, the league is apparently considering a new wrinkle to the Stanley Cup playoff format.

Since NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced that the NHL season would be put on hiatus on March 12, there haven’t been many positive developments regarding a potential start date for the remainder of the season. At first, the delay was said to be two or three weeks at minimum. However, given the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recent advisory that all gatherings of 50 or more people be curtailed for the next 60 days, we may not see hockey resume until the summer (if we’re lucky).

Suggestions and solutions have been abundant, ranging from a truncated regular season, to an abbreviated playoff.

But one idea stands above all, if for no other reason than the fact that it’s pure unadulterated madness.

KHL reporter Igor Eronko tweeted that he’s heard the league is toying with the idea of a 24-team playoff, with a play-in round. NHL insider Darren Dreger piggybacked off of Eronko’s tweet, adding that he’s heard at least one team endorses this idea.

Clearly this would be a major shift in how the NHL usually handles their playoff format. Although likely a one-time thing, the idea sounds equal parts fun and absurd.

First thing’s first… who’s in?

Adding an extra eight teams to the playoffs would in no doubt cause some growing pains. Assuming that each conference were to have 12 representatives, the most basic solution is to simply go with the the three division leaders, two wild card teams and then the four teams with the highest point totals currently not in a playoff spot.

In the Western Conference, this works out rather nicely. The added teams would include the Vancouver Canucks, Minnesota Wild, Arizona Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks. Given how absolutely wild the playoff push in the Pacific has been this year, having the Coyotes and Canucks join the fray may have the Calgary Flames pulling at their collar just a bit.

This scenario also sees the Blackhawks — long thought to be dead and buried — rise from the crypt like the Undertaker, ready to exact otherworldly vengeance. It also gives the Wild, a team’s future we’ve discussed at-length, a new outlook.

In the East, things don’t fall into place as easily. As it stands, the four teams with the most points not in a playoff spot would be the New York Islanders, Florida Panthers, New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens. The first three are no brainers. Each one has been jockeying for a wild card spot — and even a division spot — for months. The Canadiens are definitely the squad that doesn’t quite feel like the others.

Also, the Buffalo Sabres and the

offseason champs

New Jersey Devils each have two games in hand on the Habs and sit just three points behind them in the standings. If the league were to arbitrarily end the season tomorrow and go with 24 teams in the playoffs, it seems mighty unfair that neither of those two teams get a shot to pass Montreal.

Could you imagine? The Sabres, whose fans have been wearing bags over their heads to games this season, could possibly be given a shot to compete for the Stanley Cup? I’d buy that for a dollar.

But let’s say that the teams will be added strictly by their place in the standings as of right now. Does this proposal create interesting, high-octane playoff matchups? In short, yes.

Muddying the waters?

If the six “wild card” teams were to all face off in a pre-first round qualifier, the intensity and desperation generated from these games would be worth the price of admission alone. Many of these teams have been toiling away the past couple months trying to gain any ground whatsoever in the standings. So to be given a shot to directly play the teams above and below them for a sure chance to make it in? The drama!

Sure, the case can be made that the pool of competition will get a bit diluted, and yes teams like the Canadiens and Coyotes offer potential duds. For a league that often gets the unfair tag that “everybody makes the playoffs” this plan would do little to correct that.

But the spoilers and storylines that would arise are just too much fun.

The Blackhawks, lead by Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, who are trying to cling to the dynasty that once was. Amid all the turmoil that the team has sloshed through with their treatment of aging vets like Duncan Keith, it could all be wiped away with one last run.

Prior to the shutdown, Mika Zibanejad was carrying the Rangers to a wild card spot. Imagine the Boston Bruins or Washington Capitals drawing the red-hot Rangers in a first round matchup. The offensive fireworks would be enthralling. David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand facing off against Artemi Panarin, Zibanejad and whoever. Tuukka Rask vs Igor Shesterkin, or better yet, Rask vs old man Henrik Lundqvist, trying to retain his title as King before he’s jettisoned from the Big Apple this offseason.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs certainly don’t need any added intrigue. The storylines often write themselves as the postseason moves along.

However, if the NHL is able to resume and finish the 2019-20 season, all eyes will be on the playoffs. What better way to get the adrenaline of every viewer racing more than a mad dash from three-fourths of the league vying for their name on the Cup?

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