Should the NHL change its playoff formula?

Since the 1979-80 season, the Stanley Cup series has featured 16 teams invited to the spring ball.

Since then, the main change came with the 1986-87 campaign, when the first round went from a three-of-five to a four-of-seven.

Meanwhile, the League expanded from 21 to 32 teams.

From 76% of clubs participating in the playoffs, only half the teams now get a bye to the post-season tournament.

Now, according to Chris Johnston, who appeared on the Steve Dangle Podcast, there’s a lot of internal demand for the NHL to implement a Play-In tournament like the NBA has been doing since 2020.

For those less familiar with basketball, a play-in is a mini-tournament between the teams occupying positions seven to ten in each of the two conferences.

However, rather than being a two-of-three series like MLB, it’s a mini-tournament between the four teams with seventh and eighth positions at stake.

So far, the formula has appealed to fans, as it often leads to spectacular matches and is a source of additional revenue for the teams participating in the wild cards.

And with the arrival of potential expansion in a few years’ time, the NHL will have to find a way to include more teams in the post-season.

On the other hand, any major changes to the current formula will probably have to wait until after Gary Bettman’s departure.

According to Johnston, the Commissioner of the National League doesn’t want to change a winning recipe, and he believes that the current format is the best there is.

What’s more, the television networks aren’t very interested in this type of tournament.

As the saying goes: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

And let’s not forget that the regular-season schedule will go from 82 to 84 games in a few years’ time, and it’s questionable whether players will want to play even more hockey if the League adopts play-in tournaments.

On the other hand, if the owners really want a change to the current format, it’s quite possible that Bettman’s successor will be more open to the idea, but for the time being there’s no sign that the current commissioner is ready to retire.

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