The current playoffs format is BROKEN

[Macheteops]

Which east teams are better than FLA and CAR? And which west teams are better than DAL and EDM?

The four teams are fine. People just crying

 

[PistolPete]

The solution is easy

BALANCED schedule
2x every other team = 62 games

Fiesr overall is the Bettman Cup Winner

Qualifying Round
4 groups of 8: 7 × 2 = 14 games

They would lose 6 games in total but the QR I s a de facto PO round do they could charge PO or near PO prices
Top 4 in each group advance to PO

Seeding done by combined records of RS and QR 1 through 16

 

[avocadosmoothie]

I hear that all the time from every fanbase that loses in the first round. Doesn't it really make difference when a team loses? At the end of the day you still lost.

not a Kings fan, so makes no difference to me, just telling it like it is

 

[nbwingsfan]

Are you not excited by the formation of rivalries that all end with the first round?

- The League, probably

And they’re not even developing good rivalries. It was such a vanilla first round.

There’s no true hatred left in the league.

 

[SimpleJack]

When was the last time we had a close, exciting game? This has been a BRUTAL stretch for the NHL, coming at a time when it should be the opposite and things should be getting tighter/closer. One blowout loss after another the past 2 rounds it seems.

 

[snag]

When was the last time we had a close, exciting game? This has been a BRUTAL stretch for the NHL, coming at a time when it should be the opposite and things should be getting tighter/closer. One blowout loss after another the past 2 rounds it seems.

does that have anything to do with seeding?

 

[KingsFan7824]

And they’re not even developing good rivalries. It was such a vanilla first round.

There’s no true hatred left in the league.

There’s no true hatred left in sports.

 

[T REX]

The only thing broken is allowing teams to not have to be cap compliant during the playoffs. We've seen enough of this over the past 5 years to show that cup championship teams greatly exploit this loophole.

3 out of the 4 remaining teams are all 10+ million OVER the cap limit and also 1-3 of the highest cap teams.

CapWages | NHL Salary Cap Data

CapWages track real-time NHL salary cap data, player contracts & team cap space for 2024-25. Analyze cap hits, retained salaries, LTIR exceptions, and compliance buyouts with interactive tools.

capwages.com

Great take...I agree. They need to close the loophole. We used it to out advantage and if you're not...that's on your GM.

But yes...No over the cap for playoffs. Agreed. Thanks.

 

[Oilking83]

Great take...I agree. They need to close the loophole. We used it to out advantage and if you're not...that's on your GM.

But yes...No over the cap for playoffs. Agreed. Thanks.

I think this is only to get worse tbh. With the significant cap increase projected over next few years I think we’re going to see less teams willing to spend to the cap and more of the contending teams with rich owners trying to spend above the cap creating even bigger disparity.

 

[PistolPete]

The only thing broken is allowing teams to not have to be cap compliant during the playoffs. We've seen enough of this over the past 5 years to show that cup championship teams greatly exploit this loophole.

3 out of the 4 remaining teams are all 10+ million OVER the cap limit and also 1-3 of the highest cap teams.

CapWages | NHL Salary Cap Data

CapWages track real-time NHL salary cap data, player contracts & team cap space for 2024-25. Analyze cap hits, retained salaries, LTIR exceptions, and compliance buyouts with interactive tools.

capwages.com

I hate to admit this but after 20 years I just learned this. Lol

Damn.

Not sure what my take is though but I suspect a lot of the cap overage is from deadline deals with contracts that are expiring that June 30th, nicht wahr?

 

[Whalers Fan]

The solution is easy

BALANCED schedule
2x every other team = 62 games

Fiesr overall is the Bettman Cup Winner

Qualifying Round
4 groups of 8: 7 × 2 = 14 games

They would lose 6 games in total but the QR I s a de facto PO round do they could charge PO or near PO prices
Top 4 in each group advance to PO

Seeding done by combined records of RS and QR 1 through 16

Sorry , but I've been watching the NHL since 1970. I don't want to see my team (Montreal) playing Utah, Dallas, Anaheim, etc. twice per year. I want to see them playing the Bruins, Leafs, etc more often. Don't give a crap about a game in LA versus the Kings in late January.

 

[PistolPete]

Sorry , but I've been watching the NHL since 1970. I don't want to see my team (Montreal) playing Utah, Dallas, Anaheim, etc. twice per year. I want to see them playing the Bruins, Leafs, etc more often. Don't give a crap about a game in LA versus the Kings in late January.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, bit they already do play all those teams twice a year.

 

[Whalers Fan]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, bit they already do play all those teams twice a year.

I know, and I don't like it. Would be happier if the inter-conference games were once per season instead of twice. Would rather see more game versus division rivals.

 

[PistolPete]

I know, and I don't like it. Would be happier if the inter-conference games were once per season instead of twice. Would rather see more game versus division rivals.

Or done away with altogether?

Never understood the obsession with all teams playing each other if it's already an unbalanced schedule anyway.

Intradivisional
7×6 =42
Interdivisional
8×5=40
Boom! 82 games

 

[PistolPete]

Or done away with altogether?

Never understood the obsession with all teams playing each other if it's already an unbalanced schedule anyway.

Intradivisional
7×6 =42
Interdivisional
8×5=40
Boom! 82 games

And I'm sure that works better for tv viewership

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

It's pretty clear that there are only two real teams in the league, Florida and Edmonton. The best team, and the best player.

Then just re-form the BCS and have their committee pick the two best teams. There were never any complaints about that system.

 

[Schnooz]

Best idea Ive heard in a long time

 

[coolboarder]

Sorry , but I've been watching the NHL since 1970. I don't want to see my team (Montreal) playing Utah, Dallas, Anaheim, etc. twice per year. I want to see them playing the Bruins, Leafs, etc more often. Don't give a crap about a game in LA versus the Kings in late January.

You might like my proposal with 4 teams division of 8 divisions with them meeting 8 times per year plus 7 more first round of in the playoffs and still get the variety of playoff match-up from round 2 and on. It depends on which team you want to group of 4 with in next few years.

 

[stealth1]

I can get behind hating the same matchups every season. What I can't get behind is the argument from certain fanbases that argue that having to play Boston Florida, Edmonton, Colorado in the first round isn't fair.

My answer to that is, avoiding them in the first round but playing them later doesn't change anything. Either way the outcome isn't likely to change other than not losing in the first round

 

[Oilslick941611]

Quick solution only the top 4 teans in the nhl make it. In reading the comments, people really hate upsets and when their team loses

There have been no upsets, What happened in each conference is that top teams are playing each other in the first round and eliminating themselves while muffins play each other and get deeper in the playoffs. This is Montreal upsetting Tampa and moving on, its Tampa and Florida, Colorado and Dallas, Edmonton and LA beating each other in the first round while Carolina plays NJ and then plays Washington to make the conference finals. Carolina didn’t upset anyone to get there, they benefited from other top teams being eliminated in earlier rounds by other top teams

 

[Oilslick941611]

As an Oiler fan I'm torn in that it's too many Kings matchups already, and it's better for the league to add variety. However, it is nice to face an opponent where you just have their number and it amounts to a soft bye to the 2nd round. I'm trying not to be insulting to Kings and their fans here, truly. I'll say that the Kings might be a much better team than the results show. Sometimes a team just owns another team for stylistic reasons or who knows....

If I never see LA in the playoff again I’m a happy man. They’ve played enough for my life time. I don’t care about the kings, i don’t consider them rivals, I don’t like their jerseys, or style of play. I want to play a different team in the first round. Rivals are not formed like this, this feels cheap and we are robbed of better series.

 

[Schennanigans]

I don’t know why we went to this format to begin with.

 

[Nasti]

I don’t know why we went to this format to begin with.

As I recall, it was a time zone thing. Divisional matchups makes it so that you never travel more than one time zone away and it makes scheduling and viewership a lot easier. The wild card was thrown in for those people who were worried some really good teams would miss the playoffs if it was strictly divisional.

 

[coolboarder]

As I recall, it was a time zone thing. Divisional matchups makes it so that you never travel more than one time zone away and it makes scheduling and viewership a lot easier. The wild card was thrown in for those people who were worried some really good teams would miss the playoffs if it was strictly divisional.

I honestly hated this excuse, If you make the schedule matrix with high volume of divisional games, you simply weed them out from the pretender rather than balanced conference-based schedule. This divisional with wild card system is kind of flawed from the start due to how the schedule matrix works.

 

[Montreal Shadow]

And you spend enough time watching it to allow yourself to acquire enough familiarity with it to come to this conclusion.

So, what's their motivation for changing things?

Always this one guy.