NHL's Announcement on 2020 Playoffs - Thoughts and Predictions

As the hockey world anxiously awaited Gary Bettman’s announcement on May 26th, 2020, anticipation for news on the NHL returning to play was higher than ever before. The pause has provided a simple reminder to sports fans that the games we love to watch and play should no longer be taken for granted.

With the 24-team playoff announcement, discussions have been held on whether the NHL's decision is appropriate given the ongoing global issues of the pandemic. Moreover, is there overall fairness to the format being presented to all teams? Although the average fan may be vocal about getting the game back, the NHL is a business and these decisions can have an effect league-wide. Although there is no set date for the NHL’s Return to Play phase, we can analyze the playoff matches and question whether or not this format will work for the NHL.

In terms of seeding, both the Eastern and Western Conference will be sending their four top seeds to a Round Robin in order to determine the First Round. The Eastern Conference will be represented by Boston, Tampa, Washington, and Philadelphia while the Western Conference will be made up of St. Louis, Colorado, Vegas, and Dallas. Despite not knowing the length of each series, the winner of each series is more difficult to decide as teams are entering about as equal of playing field for the playoffs as ever before.

Each side of this format need to be evaluated since the business side of the league is often placed in front of the best interests of the players. For instance, the layoff time will surely have players out of game shape and the veteran players may require more time to get back to their pace than the younger players. This could cause a team with a great chance to win – take Pittsburgh for example – to have a slower start and potentially be bounced right away. With several teams being led by veteran leadership, it’s interesting to see how the first few games will pan out. With the NHL beginning to take strides into getting players back onto the ice, we can only hope the format provides enough stability to have a successful Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Is the Format Fair?

When hockey announced its return to play plan, I was very excited to hear we might be getting some hockey later this summer. After going through the format, I am not 100% on board with the change in the 2020 playoffs. I just don’t think it’s fair for the teams who grind all year to maintain a position in the top 16. If you look at the standings, teams like Montreal and Chicago were 8-10 points out of a playoff position and had a very low percentage of moving up the standings to secure a playoff spot. It will be tough to see some of these low seeded teams move on especially when they really didn’t deserve to be there in the first place. Overall, I am happy to see hockey making a comeback but there will be a big asterisk on the 2020 Stanley Cup Champions.

- Luke Pendlebury

The NHL recently announced a plan to bring hockey back to the world and I am... tempering expectations. Going off of how 2020’s been so far by the time August comes around a meteor’s going to crash, and monkeys will take over. Okay, excluding an apocalypse thing should be pretty exciting. 24 teams, 1 Stanley Cup. They’re still working on how everything will go down but as of now the plan seems pretty great. As long as hockey’s back safely then it really doesn’t matter how to the playoffs should play out. If I had control, all 31 teams would battle for this year's Stanley cup. The only odd decision is having the top 4 seeds of both conferences have a 1-game series to decide who plays who. They should be consistent and use current standings to make the seedings. Aside from that, this is looking to be a really interesting year for hockey. If this is the year the Leafs win the cup, then so be it.

- Mike Westlake

Predictions?

Edmonton Vs. Chicago

In the first matchup, young superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl look to put the final hole into the sinking ship that is the Chicago Blackhawk’s dynasty led by Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. The intrigue in this matchup evolves around the star power and offensive flare each team can provide. Can the Oilers youth get over the hump and finally push for their long-awaited chance at another Stanley Cup or will the leadership savvy Blackhawk’s have one more kick at the can?

Jordan’s Pick: Oilers in 4.

Calgary Vs. Winnipeg

Fans north of the border will have a frenzy in the opening round as all six Canadian teams will take to the ice. The only all-Canadian playoff series of the play-in round will be played between the Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets. A match-up of size and strength, many signs point to this series being decided in a 5th and final game. Can Hellebuyck continue his stellar season into the playoffs or will Calgary’s offense come to life and go on a run?

Jordan’s Pick: Jets in 5.

Pittsburgh Vs. Montréal

The third and final series I'll be keeping a close eye on is the matchup of Pittsburgh Vs. Montréal. Former Olympic teammates Sidney Crosby and Carey Price will battle it out in a series that will have lots of eyes on it. Will the Penguins be able to find the back of the net enough versus Price or will the 2014-15 MVP show up to play? With many players hoping to return from injury, a healthy Penguins team will look to go on yet another lengthy playoff run and look to solidify themselves as a dynasty in the modern era. Montréal will look to play with nothing to lose as the Canadiens were given one of the lowest chances at making the playoffs in terms of point-percentage standings. Can the lowly Canadiens stop Crosby and the Penguins from capturing Pittsburgh’s 6th cup in Franchise history?

Jordan’s Pick: Penguins in 4.

Toronto Vs. Columbus

Columbus had one of the biggest upsets in the 2019 playoffs when they took down the Stanley Cup Favourite Tampa Bay Lightning in four games. Coming into this series, Columbus is missing a few key players from last year's playoffs. The phrase "Defense wins Championships" will need to come into play for Columbus as they are playing a highly offensive Toronto team. Toronto has one of the best offensive teams in the National Hockey League. I believe Elvis Merzlkins is going to have a hard time stopping this Maple Leafs squad. If Columbus has any chance of winning this series, they will need to keep it low scoring and be able to shutdown the likes of Auston Matthews and John Tavares.

Luke's Pick: Leafs in 4.

Carolina Vs. New York

I think a lot of people were surprised to see Carolina in the Eastern Conference Final in last years' playoffs. It's too bad they didn't make it a tight series with Boston in the East Finals because they had a tough road to the third round and played so good. Everyone knows both the Rangers and Hurricanes can put the puck in the back of the net but this series is coming down to goal-tending. The Rangers have the upper hand in goal-tending as Lundqvist has the experience to win these very important playoff games. The Rangers also have young goalies in Gerogiev and Shesterkin that can steal hockey games. Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad were on a tear going into the remaining games of the regular season. This should be a tight series but I'm smelling an upset with the New York Rangers.

Luke's Pick: Rangers in 5.

Having an outright Stanley Cup winner just feels right. With many fans suggesting this format will be a failure and the winning team will have an asterisk beside their name, it seems the NHL’s return plan will be a talking point for years to come. The game we know and love is deserving of finishing their season – without fans albeit – because the players had completed the majority of the season already. Many teams will also have the luxury of injured players returning to the roster healthy and ready to play. With the time the athletes spent away from the game, this year's playoffs should provide the hockey world a Stanley Cup Playoffs to remember given the level playing field. With training camps targeted to begin during the early parts of July, it won’t be long until the best sport on Earth is back on our television sets providing the sporting fix many of us are in search for.