The NHL has announced its plan for returning to play this season, although no dates have yet been announced.
The Regular Season has been ended and play will resume with a modified play-off format with twelve teams from each conference (Western and Eastern).
The top four in each conference will play a round-robin tournament against each other to determine seedings one to four, and the next eight will play in four "best of five" series with the four winners facing the top seeded teams.
It's a reasonably fair solution. In the East, perhaps the Montréal Canadiens can consider themselves fortunate in making the twelfth spot despite being only three points ahead of both the Buffalo Sabres and the New Jersey Devils having played two games more, while in the West, the Dallas Stars make the top four despite being a point behind the Edmonton Oilers courtesy of their two games in hand.
The games will be hosted by two cities, yet to be determined, so there will be no home advantage unless one of the chosen cities has a team playing which seems unlikely, and likely in front of empty seats. With all three California teams (Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks) eliminated, I wouldn't be surprised to see that state hosting the Western matches.
Presumably one this Qualifying Round is complete and the seedings determined, the playoffs will resume in the traditional format.
From the Eastern Conference, the four teams seeded into the first round are the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers. They will be joined by the winners of the following ties:
(5) Pittsburgh Penguins v (12) Montréal Canadiens
(6) Carolina Hurricanes v (11) New York Rangers
(7) New York Islanders v (10) Florida Panthers
(8) Toronto Maple Leafs v (9) Columbus Blue Jackets
(6) Nashville Predators v (11) Arizona Coyotes
(7) Vancouver Canucks v (10) Minnesota Wild
(8) Calgary Flames v (9) Winnipeg Jets
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