2020 Stanley Cup playoffs

The 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs is the forthcoming playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL). The playoffs were originally scheduled to begin in April 2020, a few days after the 2019–20 NHL season, and end with the Stanley Cup Finals in June, to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup. However, on March 12, 2020, the regular season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1][2]

2020 Stanley Cup playoffs
Tournament details
DatesTBD
Teams24
Defending championsSt. Louis Blues
← 2019
2021 →

A 24-team playoff format was announced on May 26, 2020, by commissioner Gary Bettman. Due to the fluidity surrounding COVID-19, the starting date will be announced at a later time. The playoffs will be held in two hub cities, with each city hosting all of the games for a conference. The current cities in the running to host games are: Chicago, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Toronto.[3]

The Boston Bruins made the playoffs as the Presidents' Trophy winners with the most points (i.e. best record) during the regular season. The Pittsburgh Penguins increased their postseason appearance streak to fourteen seasons, the current longest streak. For the first time since 1996, all California-based teams, the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks, missed the playoffs. Six Canadian-based teams made the postseason this year, the most since 1993. It also marks the first time since 1986 that all four teams in cities based in Western Canada made the playoffs. In addition, it marked the first time that both the Winnipeg Jets and Arizona Coyotes (the successor of the original Jets) qualified for the playoffs in the same season, as well as the first time the Coyotes made the playoffs since 2012. For the first time since 1999, all former WHA teams (Edmonton Oilers, Arizona Coyotes, Carolina Hurricanes, and Colorado Avalanche) made the playoffs.

Playoff format

As announced on May 26, 2020, 24 teams (12 per conference) advance to this special conference-based playoff format based on the points percentage at the time the regular season was suspended on March 12. The top four teams in each conference will play in separate Seeding Round Robin tournaments to determine the seeding in the first round. These games will be played with regular season overtime and shootout rules, with the clubs accumulating points like the regular season, and any ties in the round-robin standings will be broken by the regular-season points percentage. The eight lower seeded teams in each conference will play in the Qualifying Round, a best-of-five series with playoff overtime rules. The winners of this qualifying round will then advance to face one of the round-robin teams in the First Round.[4]

On May 28, the NHL stated that both the round-robin tournament and the qualifying round will also count under playoff records, on the same day that the league declared the winners of the stats-based regular-season NHL awards.[5] The league then announced on June 4 that all series after the qualifying round will remain a best-of-seven series, but will be re-seeded after each round.[6]

Hub cities

The playoffs will be held in two hub cities, with each city hosting all of the games for a conference. Health and testing protocols will be implemented at these sites. On May 26, the league released a shortlist of possible cities: Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Pittsburgh, Toronto, and Vancouver.[4] At the beginning of this process the NHL stated that the Canadian government's 14-day quarantine restrictions for anyone entering that country would have to be relaxed in order for a Canadian city to be selected as a hub city.[7] The league came to terms on an agreement with the Canadian federal government on June 19, to use a cohort quarantine system to allow the candidacy of the three Canadian cities to continue.[8]

On June 23, the list of hub cities was shortened to Chicago, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Toronto and Vancouver.[3] Two days later on June 25, Vancouver dropped out of consideration to be a hub city after health officials in British Columbia and the league were unable to agree on a contingency plan if a player tested positive for COVID-19.[9]

Playoff teams

The following teams qualified for the playoffs:[10]

Eastern Conference
Seeding Round Robin
  1. Boston Bruins, Atlantic Division champions, Eastern Conference regular season champions, Presidents' Trophy winners – .714
  2. Tampa Bay Lightning – .657
  3. Washington Capitals, Metropolitan Division champions – .652
  4. Philadelphia Flyers – .645
Qualifying Round
  1. Pittsburgh Penguins – .623
  2. Carolina Hurricanes – .596
  3. New York Islanders – .588
  4. Toronto Maple Leafs – .579 (28 RWs)
  5. Columbus Blue Jackets – .579 (25 RWs)
  6. Florida Panthers – .565
  7. New York Rangers – .564
  8. Montreal Canadiens – .500

Western Conference
Seeding Round Robin
  1. St. Louis Blues, Central Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions – .662
  2. Colorado Avalanche – .657
  3. Vegas Golden Knights, Pacific Division champions – .606
  4. Dallas Stars – .594
Qualifying Round
  1. Edmonton Oilers – .585
  2. Nashville Predators – .565 (28 RWs)
  3. Vancouver Canucks – .565 (27 RWs)
  4. Calgary Flames – .564
  5. Winnipeg Jets – .563
  6. Minnesota Wild – .558
  7. Arizona Coyotes – .529
  8. Chicago Blackhawks – .514

Seeding round robin
Note: All times listed are in EDT (UTC−4).

The top four playoff teams in each conference will play in a round-robin tournament against each other to determine the final playoff seeding. These games will be played with regular season overtime and shootout rules, with the teams accumulating points like the regular season, and any ties in the round-robin standings will be broken by the regular-season points percentage instead of regulation wins.

Eastern Conference seeding round-robin
Pos Team GP W L OTL PCT GF GA GD Pts
1 Boston Bruins 0 0 0 0 0.714 0 0 0 0
2 Tampa Bay Lightning 0 0 0 0 0.657 0 0 0 0
3 Washington Capitals 0 0 0 0 0.652 0 0 0 0
4 Philadelphia Flyers 0 0 0 0 0.645 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played on TBD. Source: NHL Eastern Conference Points percentage
TBDTampa Bay LightningvBoston Bruins
TBDWashington CapitalsvBoston Bruins
TBDPhiladelphia FlyersvBoston Bruins
TBDWashington CapitalsvTampa Bay Lightning
TBDPhiladelphia FlyersvTampa Bay Lightning
TBDPhiladelphia FlyersvWashington Capitals

Western Conference seeding round-robin
Pos Team GP W L OTL PCT GF GA GD Pts
1 St. Louis Blues 0 0 0 0 0.662 0 0 0 0
2 Colorado Avalanche 0 0 0 0 0.657 0 0 0 0
3 Vegas Golden Knights 0 0 0 0 0.606 0 0 0 0
4 Dallas Stars 0 0 0 0 0.594 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played on TBD. Source: NHL Western Conference Points percentage
TBDColorado AvalanchevSt. Louis Blues
TBDVegas Golden KnightsvSt. Louis Blues
TBDDallas StarsvSt. Louis Blues
TBDVegas Golden KnightsvColorado Avalanche
TBDDallas StarsvColorado Avalanche
TBDDallas StarsvVegas Golden Knights

Qualifying Round
Note: All times listed are in EDT (UTC−4).

The bottom eight playoff teams in each conference will play in a best-of-five series to determine which four teams will advance to the First Round. These games will be played with Stanley Cup playoff overtime rules. Seeding was determined by regular season points percentage.

Eastern Conference Qualifying Round

(5) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (12) Montreal Canadiens

Pittsburgh finished fifth in the Eastern Conference with 86 points in 69 games for a points percentage of .623. Montreal gained 71 points in 71 games for a points percentage of .500 to finish twelfth in the Eastern Conference. This will be the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with Montreal winning both previous series. They last met in the 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinals, which Montreal won in seven games. Pittsburgh won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.

Start date TBD

(6) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (11) New York Rangers

Carolina finished sixth in the Eastern Conference with 81 points in 68 games for a points percentage of .596. New York gained 79 points in 70 games for a points percentage of .564 to finish eleventh in the Eastern Conference. This will be the first playoff meeting between these two teams. New York won all four games in this year's regular season series.

Start date TBD

(7) New York Islanders vs. (10) Florida Panthers

New York finished seventh in the Eastern Conference with 80 points in 68 games for a points percentage of .588. Florida gained 78 points in 69 games for a points percentage of .565 to finish tenth in the Eastern Conference. This will be the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 2016 Eastern Conference First Round, which New York won in six games. New York won all three games in this year's regular season series.

Start date TBD

(8) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (9) Columbus Blue Jackets

Toronto finished eighth in the Eastern Conference with 81 points in 70 games for a points percentage of .579 and 28 RWs. Columbus had the same points percentage, but with 25 RWs they finished ninth. This will be the first playoff meeting between these two teams. These teams split their two-game regular season series.

Start date TBD

Western Conference Qualifying Round

(5) Edmonton Oilers vs. (12) Chicago Blackhawks

Edmonton finished fifth in the Western Conference with 83 points in 71 games for a points percentage of .585. Chicago gained 72 points in 70 games for a points percentage of .514 to finish twelfth in the Western Conference. This will be the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with Edmonton winning three of the four previous series. They last met in the 1992 Clarence Campbell Conference Finals, which Chicago won in a four-game sweep. Chicago won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.

Start date TBD

(6) Nashville Predators vs. (11) Arizona Coyotes

Nashville finished sixth in the Western Conference with 78 points in 69 games for a points percentage of .565, winning the tiebreaker against Vancouver with 28 RWs. Arizona gained 74 points in 70 games for a points percentage of .529 to finish eleventh in the Western Conference. This will be the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 2012 Western Conference Semifinals, which Arizona won in five games. These teams split their two-game regular season series.

Start date TBD

(7) Vancouver Canucks vs. (10) Minnesota Wild

Vancouver finished seventh in the Western Conference with 78 points in 69 games for a points percentage of .565, losing the tiebreaker against Nashville with 27 RWs. Minnesota gained 77 points in 69 games for a points percentage of .558 to finish tenth in the Western Conference. This will be the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous meeting was in the 2003 Western Conference Semifinals, which Minnesota came back from a 3–1 series deficit to win in seven games. Minnesota won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.

Start date TBD

(8) Calgary Flames vs. (9) Winnipeg Jets

Calgary finished eighth in the Western Conference with 79 points in 70 games for a points percentage of .564. Winnipeg gained 80 points in 71 games for a points percentage of .563 to finish ninth in the Western Conference. This will be the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This will also be the first Stanley Cup playoff meeting between these two cities since 1987. Winnipeg won the only game in this year's regular season series, which was played outdoors.

Start date TBD


Television

To be announced is the television coverage for the qualifying round, particularly whether regional rights holders, both in Canada and the U.S., will also be allowed to televise the extra round for this year. Because the regular season ended prematurely, some local broadcasters did not reach their contractually required minimum of 70 games.[11]

This will mark the ninth postseason under NBC Sports' current 10-year contract for American television rights to the NHL. All national coverage of games will be aired on either NBCSN, the NBC broadcast network, NHL Network, USA Network, or CNBC. During the first round, excluding games exclusively broadcast on NBC, the regional rights holders of each participating U.S. team will produce local telecasts of their respective games.

In Canada, for the sixth postseason under Rogers Media's current 12-year contract, coverage will be broadcast by Sportsnet networks and CBC Television under the Hockey Night in Canada brand, and streamed on Sportsnet Now, CBCSports.ca (for games televised by CBC), or the subscription service Rogers NHL Live.

References
  1. "NHL pauses regular season because of coronavirus". NHL.com. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  2. Gaydos, Ryan (March 12, 2020). "NHL suspends 2019-20 season over coronavirus outbreak". Fox News. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  3. "Source - NHL hub choices down to just six cities". ESPN.com. June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  4. "NHL plans to return with 24 teams competing for Stanley Cup". NHL.com. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  5. Wyshynski, Greg (May 28, 2020). "From the Dept. of "Is The Qualification Round a Playoff Round?"". ESPN.
  6. "NHL playoffs will re-seed after each round, qualifying to be best-of-five". June 4, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  7. "Canada's quarantine restrictions significant hurdle for 3 cities hoping to be NHL 'hubs'". CBC.ca. May 27, 2020.
  8. "Federal government approves NHL cohort quarantine proposal for hub city in Canada". CBC.ca. June 19, 2020.
  9. "Breakdown in talks leaves Vancouver out of running as NHL hub city". June 25, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  10. "2019–2020 Standings by Points Percentage". NHL.com. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  11. "The NHL's coronavirus pause: What the playoff format means for all 31 teams, updates on testing, more". ESPN. May 25, 2020. [S]ources told ESPN that the majority of play-in rounds will likely be aired on local regional sports networks as a way to satisfy contractual requirements that haven't yet been met. For some teams, that minimum threshold is 70 games
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