NHL playoff format needs massive overhaul

The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs begin on Saturday, another reminder of how much the league needs to overhaul and perhaps even simplify its current playoff format. 

It has been a constant point of contention for both teams and fans, and it might be time for the league to take a page out of the playbooks of other leagues, including the NBA. 

The biggest flaw is that it emphasizes manufacturing fake rivalries instead of trying to create the best product throughout the postseason.

Under the current format, each conference sends eight teams to the playoffs: the top three teams in each of the four divisions and two wild-card teams. The top division winner in each conference plays the second wild-card team, while the second division winner plays the first wild-card team. From there, each division's second and third-place teams play each other. 

It is confusing to casual and new fans of the sport and creates an environment where a strong division with a handful of potential Stanley Cup contenders could see a top team be guaranteed to lose in the first round if it is matched up against another top team.

You expect that in the second or third rounds.

Not the first round.

Returning to the old No. 1 vs. No. 8 format is the easiest way to fix it.

However, the NHL can help make things more interesting by adopting the NBA format and adding a play-in round. 

The argument against this is that half the league's teams already make the playoffs, and by adding more, you risk devaluing the regular season. But that simply doesn't add up. 

For one, even with half of the teams making the playoffs, this is still the lowest percentage of playoff teams the NHL has ever had. In the Original Six days, you had four out of six teams. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, you had 16 out of 21 teams (76 percent). Before the expansion with Vegas and Seattle, you had 16 out of 30 teams (53 percent). Having too many playoff teams has never been a problem for the league. 

The NBA's play-in tournament has added more value to regular season games, not vice versa. There is a clear incentive for teams in the middle of the playoff field to keep winning games late in the year to avoid having to play a one-and-done game. In the NHL this season, you had teams like Tampa Bay, Nashville, Las Vegas and Los Angeles in cruise control mode for the last couple of weeks of the season because they knew they were locked into a playoff spot with no danger of falling out. Make them face the possibility of a play-in game, and they suddenly have something to play for. 

Every other major North American sports league — all of which are more successful and relevant than the NHL — is adding playoff teams. They have significantly easier-to-follow and understand playoff formats. It is time for the NHL to adapt.