The playoff format, which was agreed upon by teams and the players union, will be based on the standings as of March 12, when the regular season was put on hold due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Per the format, the top four teams of the East — the Washington Capitals, the Boston Bruins, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Philadelphia Flyers — and the top four in the West — the St. Louis Blues, the Vegas Golden Knights, the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars — will play a round-robin competition to determine seedings for the next round.
Simultaneously, the remaining 16 teams, seeded by conference, will be paired into best-of-5 elimination series, producing four survivors in each conference to meet the eight seeded teams.
The rest of the season will then participate in a traditional 16-team Stanley Cup playoff bracket.
The NHL is currently in Phase 1 of its Return to Play Plan, meaning the teams are still required to follow CDC guidelines and self-isolate as much as possible. Any player who tests positive for COVID-19 will not be able to return to training. The league expects to enter Phase 2 in early June when teams can return to their individual practice facilities.
Phase 3 of the plan will mark the opening of formal training camps. Once the league reaches Phase 4, they can report to their respective hub cities and resume play.
Bettman said the overall goal is being able to hold a regular 82-game season in 2020-2021 they anticipate getting back on the ice over the summer and hoping to play until the early fall.
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