On the NHL’s plan to return with the 24-team playoff format.
Sportsnet: Play-in matchups will be as follows.
Eastern Conference
• 5) Pittsburgh vs. 12) Montreal
• 6) Carolina vs. 11) Rangers
• 7) Islanders vs. 10) Florida
• 8) Toronto vs. 9) Columbus
Western Conference
• 5) Edmonton vs. 12) Chicago
• 6) Nashville vs. 11) Arizona
• 7) Vancouver vs. 10) Minnesota
• 8) Calgary vs. 9) Winnipeg
It’s still undecided if there will be re-seeding after the play-in round.
The play-in round will be a best-of-five. It’s undecided if the first and second rounds will be best-of-five or best-of-seven.
There are no hard dates for the next steps according to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. Training camps won’t open before July 1st.
“At this time we are not fixing dates because the schedule of our return to play will be determined both by developing circumstances and the needs of our players.”
They are still determining which two hub cities will be used. Interested cities include Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Vancouver.
On the NHL draft lottery
Bob McKenzie: “Draft lottery stuff sounds really complicated but not really. Same odds as past years. Nothing changes for bottom 7 teams. The eight mystery teams are the losers of play-in series. They’ll get a shot at the Top 3 picks but failing that, points percentage used for picks 4-15.”
Bob McKenzie: (thread) The NHL announced that the 2020 NHL draft lottery will be held on Friday, June 26th.
“The Nos. 1, 2 and 3 picks will be up for grabs. Fifteen teams — the seven who are no longer playing plus 8 more currently identified as Teams A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H — will be in the lottery. Same lottery odds as prior years.
Teams A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H will be the eight losing teams from the best-of-five play-in or qualifying round but assigning actual teams to the letters will come in a Phase 2 lottery, to be conducted after the qualifying round but before the playoffs.
If the winner of the No. 1 pick draw comes from the bottom 7 seven teams (DET, OTT, SJ (belongs to OTT), LA, ANA, NJ, BUF), that team is awarded No. 1. If the winner of the No. 1 pick draw comes from the other 8 teams, the No. 1 pick will be awarded in the Phase 2 lottery.
If the winner of the No. 2 pick draw comes from the bottom 7 seven teams (DET, OTT, SJ (belongs to OTT), LA, ANA, NJ, BUF), that team is awarded No. 2. If the winner of the No. 2 pick draw comes from the other 8 teams, the No. 2 pick will be awarded in the Phase 2 lottery.
If the winner of the No. 3 pick draw comes from the bottom 7 seven teams (DET, OTT, SJ (belongs to OTT), LA, ANA, NJ, BUF), that team is awarded No. 3. If the winner of the No. 3 pick draw comes from the other 8 teams, the No. 3 pick will be awarded in the Phase 2 lottery.
Once the top three picks have been awarded in Phase 1 or Phase 2, the remaining 12 spots will be assigned to the teams that didn’t win a draw and based on inverse order of their regular season points percentage at the time of the pause.”
