The Daily Faceoff Show: Should the NHL add a play-in round to the playoffs?

Could the NHL do something to spice up its playoff format?

Frank Seravalli and Chris Gear discussed the possibility on Friday’s edition of The Daily Faceoff Show…

Seravalli: “Should the NHL look into a play-in-style tournament? Especially when you consider the Eastern Conference this year. The playoff race is boring.

"The eight teams have basically solidified themselves in playoff spots and it’s going to be hard for the Blue Jackets or Red Wings to catch the Bruins or Capitals. As poorly as someone like the Caps have played for the past two months, the way the NHL standings work with three-point games, you need to go on an incredible run in order to make up any real ground in the standings.

"If you take a look at how the NBA does it, the winner of the No. 7 and No. 8 game is the No. 7 playoff seed, and there’s the No. 9 and No. 10 game, and the winner of that goes to play the loser of the No. 7 and No. 8 game, and the winner of that play-in game gets the No. 8 spot in the playoffs.

"Basically, you end up with 10 teams in the mix. Would this be a good idea for the NHL?”

Gear: “I love this idea for the NHL. I remember last year watching the NBA playoffs more intently than I had in several years just because of this format.

"The owners are going to love this idea with the extra revenue coming after a few years where the league has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. So the opportunity to have an extra couple of games adding to the revenue of the league seems like a home run.

"These one-game, winner-take-all, they’re much like a Game 7. It’s exciting for the fans, exciting for the players, it adds intrigue in a couple of markets that thought they were out. Could you imagine a team like Detroit with all of their young stars, Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, getting their first taste of the playoffs in a winner-take-all type format? I think it would be fantastic.”

Seravalli: “Here’s a real-world example of what it could look like this year…

"The Caps and Bruins square off in the No. 7 and No. 8 game, if the Bruins win they go right to that No. 7 seed, and the Caps would then play the winner of Columbus and Detroit, the No. 9 and No. 10 game.

"I think the other part to consider about that is when you go to NBA.com and take a look at the standings, it’s bracketed off by that No. 10 spot. And all of a sudden, you begin to look at the standings a little differently.

"If you’re a fan, there’s maybe something to play for, to get in, rather than being in no-man’s-land where you’re too far away from the lottery and too far away from the playoffs. This is that middle ground that makes your season somewhat interesting.

"Could you imagine if a No. 10 seed gets in goes on to upset the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the playoffs? It would be unbelievable theater.”

You can watch the full episode here…