NHL and Gary Bettman facing calls to change Stanley Cup playoff format

The playoffs can sometimes feel like you're stuck in a time warp, that the result is just all the same from year to year. The NHL's current playoff format, designed to create parity, might be the true culprit.

The league's format locks the top three teams from each division into playoff spots, leaving four wildcard spots to round out the field. It pits powerhouse teams like Toronto, Tampa Bay, and Boston against each other early, giving fans some intense first-round action but robbing these teams of deeper runs reflective of their dominance during the regular season. Often, this set-up can make these series feel like Conference Finals in disguise, like that 2016 tilt between St. Louis and Chicago that really could have easily been for the Western Conference title.

We could return to a fairer system that allows Cinderella matchups and underdog stories if the league returned to its pre-2013 format. For one thing, the bracket was so much more balanced: #1 seed versus #8, for example. That greatly increases the opportunities for those Cinderella runs to happen.

Teams like the 2006 Edmonton Oilers or the 2002 Carolina Hurricanes would have unexpectedly found their way to the Finals under that system, adding an element of excitement and unpredictability. Who can forget the Cinderella run by J.S. Giguere and the Anaheim Mighty Ducks? Situations like those are few and far between today, unfortunately.

Since 2013, playoff repeats have considerably increased to the extent that in 2023, 13 out of the 16 playoff teams were once more returning from the previous year. This predictability is what eliminates the excitement of new competition. If the NHL is looking for a more varied and exciting set of match-ups, they really should strongly reconsider reverting back to the older format, a system that worked well for over 25 years.

Fans want Gary Bettman to make the change back to what it used to be ASAP. Clearly Sidney Crosby, the face of the NHL, agrees too!