Should the NHL Bring Back This Specific Playoff Format?
There's no doubt that the NHL has some of the best playoffs in the entire sporting world, but could the NHL postseason be even better?
Time For Change?
The �'play through your own division'' is outdated, and the 2023 playoffs are a prime example of that. For reference, some of the second round matchups:
In the West, the Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers were one and two in their conference, but are playing in the second round while the 4th place Dallas Stars play the 7th place Seattle Kraken.
And in the East, the 2nd seeded Carolina Hurricanes and 3rd place New Jersey Devils square off in one series, as the Maple Leafs (4th) get the Florida Panthers (8th).
Bringing Back the Bubble
Which brings up an intriguing question for Gary Bettman and the league:
The idea is shorten the regular season and have the top four teams from the Eastern and Western Conference automatically make the playoffs, while they play in a mini round robin.
The remaining 5 to 12 seeds from each conference then play a best-of-five to advance to play the top four teams. (5 plays 12, 6 plays 11 etc.)
Would you like this playoff format more?
| POLL | ||
Should the NHL use the bubble-style playoff format again? | ||
| Yes | 46 | 50 % |
| No | 46 | 50 % |
| List of polls | ||
