Since suspending the NHL season in mid-March, the league has been working towards a resolution towards the process of returning to play in a safe environment.
On Friday, the NHL Players’ Association approved the idea of having a 24-team Stanley Cup playoffs, including 12 teams from the Eastern Conference and 12 teams from the Western Conference.
In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins are all holding onto a divisional playoff spot. Meanwhile, Carolina and Columbus are holding onto the two wild card spots. Alongside them the New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Florida Panthers and Montreal Canadians round out the 12 teams in the Eastern Conference.
In the Western Conference, the St Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche , Dallas Stars, Vegas Golden Knights, Edmonton Oilers, and Calgary Flames are all holding onto a divisional playoff spot. Meanwhile, Nashville and Winnipeg are holding onto the two wild card spots. Alongside them Arizona, Vancouver, Minnesota and Chicago round out the 12 teams in the Western Conference.
On Tuesday, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman revealed a return to play plan. The plan includes the NHL regular season canceled and resuming with the NHL Playoffs with the top 12 teams in each conference via points percentage will be in the playoffs. Boston ,Tampa Bay, Philadelphia and Washington will play each other for seeding in the East
In The West St Louis, Colorado, Vegas and Dallas will play each other for seeding. While the top eight teams play for seeding, the other eight teams in each conference will play in a best of five series to see who will qualify for the first round of the NHL Playoffs.
In The East, Pittsburgh will play Montreal, Carolina will play the New York Islanders, the New York Rangers will play Florida and Toronto will play Columbus.
Meanwhile, in the West, Edmonton will play Chicago, Nashville will play Arizona, Vancouver will play Minnesota and Calgary will play Winnipeg.
Photo Credit: Mary Altaffer
