DALLAS, TEXAS (WSAU-WRN) — NHL players and owners are negotiating a restart to the season that would involve 24 of the league’s 31 teams moving directly to an expanded Stanley Cup Playoff.
Stevens Point native and current Dallas Stars center Joe Pavelski says if that does indeed come true, the league could be in for a wild ride.
“If we get there, it’s going to be entertaining I would say,” Pavelski told Madison’s The Mike Heller Show on 1070 The Game.
As it is currently written the plan would have the top four teams in each conference receive byes into the round of 16. Teams seeded 5-12 would play a best-of-five series, with the winners advancing to take on one of the top four.
Seedings would be based on playoff points when the league shut down its regular season in March. Meaning seven clubs would have their seasons come to an end.
Pavelski’s Stars would have one of the four byes in the Western Conference, but they would still play a few games against the other three clubs at the top of the table (St. Louis, Colorado, Vegas) to get back into game shape before beginning their next series.
“It takes a bit to get back into game shape,” added Pavelski. “In a normal season, you are looking at three months of just skating lightly and just building up. [So] I would think a good month, just to work out and get back into shape. But, we will deal with that when it comes,” he added.
Series would return to the traditional best-of-seven format from the second round through the Stanley Cup Finals.
Details on the bracket are currently being negotiated between the league’s Board of Governors and the player’s association. Reports indicate the idea of re-seeding the teams after each of the first two rounds has been brought up, while some prefer a fixed bracket with no re-seeding.
The NHL did re-seed the bracket after the first-round playoffs until the league expanded to 31 teams in 2017 and split into four divisions. That format was scrapped in favor of the current plan which has an emphasis on divisional rivalries until the Conference Finals.
It also remains unclear if the games would be played in home arenas or if one or two “hubs” would be utilized. Either way games would likely be played without fans.
