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The NHL GMs’ meetings are approaching, and there is talk about expanding the regular season to 84 games to help with the condensed schedule that will be coming in the upcoming seasons. There will be best-on-best International Hockey every two years. However, there is still some pushing for an expansion of the Stanley Cup Playoffs; however, the play-in-round is the regular season.
Outside of money give me another reason why the NHL needs to add a play in round for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The regular season is the play in and these wild card races are awesome. These late season games have so much meaning. #nhl @FullPressNHL @NHLrumorsX
— Jim Biringer (@JimBiringer) March 16, 2025
Looking at the standings in the Eastern and Western Conferences, four teams in each conference are battling for the final wild-card spot. While two wild card spots are available, the Ottawa Senators are six points clear of the Montreal Canadiens and seven points clear of the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets. Ottawa is also five points clear of the New York Rangers, who currently hold the final wild card spot in the East.
No Need For The NHL To Expand the Stanley Cup Playoffs
But the Rangers are only a point ahead of Montreal and two points ahead of Detroit and Columbus. It is a tight race, and every game remaining between these clubs matters more than it normally does. Not to mention, the schedule maker will see some of these teams play each other in the final stretch of the regular season.
Meanwhile, in the Western Conference, the Minnesota Wild hold Wild Card one with 79 points. Minnesota is up six points up on the St. Louis Blues, eight over the Calgary Flames and the Utah Hockey Club. However, the Vancouver Canucks occupy Wild Card Two and are tied with the Blues and have a game in hand. They’re two points ahead of the Flames and Utah.
NHL Thought of the Day
It All Comes Down To Game 82… Tell Me Again Why Expanded Playoffs is a Good Idea #lgrw #letsgopens #allcaps #letsgoflyers
Check It Out Here https://t.co/luLm7Vxw3D
Updated Here: pic.twitter.com/LuLV4dxMeN
— Jim Biringer (@JimBiringer) April 16, 2024
It is the third season in a row that Game 82 could matter for the final wild-card spot in each conference. This is what you wanted from the schedule maker. Now, the salary cap has created this parity in the league. Whether the parity is real or not is up for debate, but these games are so exciting.
NHL Rumors: The Stanley Cup Playoffs Format Is Changing Eventually
The New Jersey Devils and Columbus Blue Jackets play each other twice in less than a week, which affects not only the Wild Card race but also the Metro Division standings. Columbus also played the Rangers along the way, while the Canadiens played the Senators, Detroit played Ottawa, and so on.
While I agree on the playoff format though if you did it this year Colorado would play Edmonton as of now.
But there is no need for a play in round. These games right now in March and April are the play in. The regular season is the play in. IMO
But we dont want a longer… https://t.co/o3hPkKuKMI
— Jim Biringer (@JimBiringer) March 15, 2025
If there were a play-in round for the final two spots in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, as Pierre LeBrun of the Athletic proposed, those games would have no meaning.
He proposes that the seventh seed plays the 10th and the eighth seed takes on the ninth seed in a best-of-three series. But if the Stanley Cup Playoff schedule is going to stay the same and the Cup will be awarded at the end of June, why does the league need to add more games when July 1st starts free agency?
Stanley Cup Playoffs: Should the NHL Expand its Playoff Format?
Is it going to be like baseball when they cram the wild card round right before the divisional round? Remember that, in MLB, the New York Mets played seven days in a row from the start of the Wild Card Round through the start of the National League Championship Series. Does the NHL really want that?
Not to mention, it takes away from the scoreboard, and we are getting late into the season. There is so much momentum for the NHL right coming out of the Four Nations Faceoff. Just look at the Stadium Series game between the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets at Ohio Stadium. When was the last time there was an outdoor game this late in the season with so much significance?
These regular-season games matter. They have to matter, or else you have March Madness, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, where everyone gets in, and the tournament championship and regular season are devalued. The NHL can’t have that happen to their games.
Bettman Still Says “No” on Expanded Stanley Cup Playoffs
These points matter and winning in regulation matters even more. If you look at it, go back to 2023, when the Pittsburgh Penguins fell off and the Florida Panthers got in and went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. Does that happen with an expanded playoff?
Nope. And who would have thought the Montreal Canadiens would be playing meaningful hockey this late into the season? Not too many. Even the Utah Hockey Club, formerly the Arizona Coyotes, are playing meaningful games for the first time in a long time.
The regular season needs to matter, and expanding the playoffs will not give the fans the same excitement they are experiencing now. There is a reason the Stanley Cup Playoffs are prestigious and the best in sports.
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