The NBA’s playoffs begin Tuesday, and there’s something the NHL can and should learn from them.
Namely, the play-in portion of the post-season is again adding drama and intrigue to the playoff process. In both NBA conferences, the playoff structure initially sets up the seventh- and eighth-seeded teams to take on each other in a one-game playoff. The ninth and 10th seeds will square off as well.
The winner of the seventh/eighth matchup secures the seventh seed in the playoffs, while the loser takes on the winner of the ninth/10th game. The winner of that game will emerge as the eighth and final seed.
It’s not for everyone, but the NBA’s play-in tournament allows more teams to play meaningful games right through the end of the regular season. It provides an extra opportunity at a championship and redemption for teams that aren’t elite but aren’t terrible either. And if we use the NBA’s example in the NHL’s playoff structure, we can see that the same effect would take place in the hunt for the Stanley Cup.
While the Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers are all fighting to the end for one more playoff spot, there would still be a battle just to be part of this play-in series. In the West, there’d be a fight to avoid a wild-card series and clinch a divisional spot.
What Would It Look Like in the NHL?
As the NHL standings look before Tuesday’s games, a play-in element would look like this:
– In the Eastern Conference, the seventh-seeded Tampa Bay Lightning would face the eighth-seeded Washington Capitals. The ninth-seeded Detroit Red Wings would take on the 10th-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins. The Philadelphia Flyers would also be in the hunt for the eighth to 10th spots.
– In the Western Conference, the seventh-seeded Nashville Predators would play the eighth-seeded Vegas Golden Knights, and the ninth-seeded St. Louis Blues would battle the 10th-seeded Minnesota Wild.
Certainly, the play-in is far from perfect. But no playoff process will satisfy everyone. It may seem unfair that lower-seeded NHL playoff teams essentially have to jump through another hoop to avoid elimination from the post-season. Still, the truly elite teams should be able to overcome a late-year challenge from an opponent that wasn’t as successful as them throughout 82 games. The play-in process could ultimately weed out the pretenders to the throne while rewarding the six best teams in each conference for consistently above-average play in the regular season.
The @NHL_On_TNT desk discusses the possibility of play-in games to open the Stanley Cup playoffs 👀 pic.twitter.com/JO8Zr9Hns9
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 14, 2024
That said, there would likely be upsets in an NHL play-in round. That’s a function of a parity-filled league like the NHL. The difference between finishing in the top three of each division and the seventh-through-10th seeds is currently only two wins for the Lightning. The Capitals actually have more wins (39) than the Metro Division’s No. 3 seed, the New York Islanders (38). And the Red Wings have more wins than both of them (40) but have fewer overtime losses. Maybe they could put the loser point beneficiaries to one last test before the conference quarterfinals.
In the West, the Wild have five fewer wins (39 in total) than the Golden Knights’ 44, and Minnesota also has four fewer wins than the ninth-seeded Blues (43). That’s a razor-thin difference – less than five percent of the regular season – and that makes the whole play-in process more palatable for everyone involved. If you had a bad week or two during the regular season, a play-in element allows an opportunity to atone for it. The current playoff system does not.
We’ve said it before, but with NHL expansion on the horizon and a 34-team league likely to materialize in the next half-decade or less, an expanded post-season makes a lot of sense. Again, it’s not a perfect process, but it’s more engaging and entertaining than the current playoff setup, and it gives NHL fans more meaningful games longer into the regular season. That’s a great goal for the NHL as it evolves, and that’s why we’re hopeful a play-in portion will soon be a reality for hockey’s top league.
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News Summary:
- What Projected NHL Play-In Matchups Would Look Like If It Followed the NBA
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