The NHL is currently experiencing a thrilling race to the playoffs. The wild card in the west is seemingly changing every single day. The East on the other hand is going through something completely different. Within the Eastern Conference every single team vying for a playoff spot is gaining points… every single night. It’s so bad that there are currently two teams on pace for 99 points that would miss the playoffs, the Islanders and Senators. That is insane and simply shouldn’t happen. There’s a legitimate chance that a team misses the playoffs and reaches the 100-point plateau. For reference, no team has ever missed the playoffs when obtaining 97 (or more) points.
The 3-2-1 point system for games is not some new idea I have come up with. As a matter of fact, I never really banged the drum for this change until this season. However, as a Penguins fan there’s a real chance they get 100-101 points and finish in 9th place, that should be criminal. Now, the Penguins do hold the tiebreaker amongst all of the teams in the race with them, remember regulation wins are rewarded in this manor, but if the 3-2-1 system was instituted their playoff outlook would look significantly better.
Conversely, if the Penguins had any ability to win in overtime, or shootouts, they would also have no trouble qualifying. As a matter of fact, if the Penguins were only average during extra play they would be fighting for the top of the conference, not a playoff spot. I don’t care about any of those hypotheticals though. What I do care about is the integrity of this great league. No one wants to see Columbus in a playoff series over Pittsburgh. Nor do they want Ottawa or Philadelphia. If Matthew Schaefer didn’t exist no one would want to watch that team either. The Penguins, Bruins, and Red Wings are ratings gold for the league. Buffalo being a lock is good for the league too. Imagine a world where Detroit and Pittsburgh fall out of it though. Two of your biggest markets replaced by the likes of Ottawa and Columbus. The fans of Ottawa hate their captain so much they’re probably rooting for their team to miss the playoffs. Columbus has absolutely nothing intriguing going for them. Sure, Columbus has been hot since getting a new coach but really who in their right mind would want to see Boone Jenner in a playoff series over Sidney Crosby? Absolutely no one with a fully developed prefrontal cortex.
One other idea that would still allow for the sewer rats to get into the playoffs would be a 1-16 seeded playoff format. For me, that’s where some real juice can be squeezed. It will never happen because of travel logistics, but it is a wonderful thought. Not only would it effectively kick McDavid out of the playoffs, but it would also allow for some fascinating matchups. You lose the regionality that creates intense rivalries, see Pittsburgh vs. Washington every year in the 2010s, but you gain some matchups fans fantasize about. Imagine back in the day if Chicago and Pittsburgh met, it was everyone’s dream final. The two dynasties could have went head-to-head in this format. Again, this is nothing new in terms of an idea but I think it would be significantly better than the current format. Also in years like this year you wouldn’t have to worry about extreme disparity in terms of conference strength. Currently, 12 of the top 16 teams in league by points percentage reside in the Eastern Conference. Having a format that essentially screws four, possibly more, teams out a playoff spot you have a gigantic problem. In this hypothetical situation travel would only be cumbersome for three series which isn’t too bad in my opinion. Another thing floated around is allowing the seeds to pick their matchups which I absolutely love. This scenario would cause chaos and immediately create significant rivalries. Imagine a scenario where Dallas decides they would rather play Pittsburgh in round one instead of Philadelphia. It would be amazing theatre and it would create a spectacle for TV programming, something the NHL definitely needs. The NHL is horrible at marketing the game and this would be a clear win for them. As a matter of fact, the league is terrible at most things including the current playoff format so why not change it? Gary Bettman is likely retiring soon and Bill Daly will be taking over maybe Gary is waiting on making any of these changes so Bill has a clear cut easy win when he takes the position. God I hope so because it’s incredibly frustrating going through a season needing 102 points to ensure you make the playoffs in a conference while in the other conference you can clinch a spot at 98 points. There will be significant hell raised by me if Pittsburgh misses out on the playoffs due to this asinine playoff bracket and point system.
