The National Hockey League changed around the postseason seeding format heading into the 2013-14 campaign to provide an emphasis on early divisional matchups, but heading into the 2014-15 race to the Stanley Cup, there is still some confusion.
The NHL has essentially made four brackets out of its divisions with the top three teams in the Atlantic, Metropolitan, Central and Pacific Divisions being grouped in their own bracket.
With six teams in each conference (three from each division) in the playoffs, the rest of the teams battle it out for the two remaining wild-card spots in each conference, regardless of their division.
Using the standings in the Eastern Conference as of Thursday, we'll explain the round-by-round seeding for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
To explain further, the top three teams in each division in the NHL are automatically in the playoffs while the wild-cards are saved for the two teams with the most points that are in fourth place or lower in their division. The wild-card can belong to two teams in the same division if that's how the standings end up when all is said and done.
Here is what the playoff picture looks like as of April 9, 2015 in the Eastern Conference:
Metropolitan Division
1) New York Rangers (most amount of points, top seed in East).
2) Washington Capitals
3) New York Islanders
Atlantic Division
1) Montreal Canadiens (No. 1 in Atlantic, No. 2 in East)
2) Tampa Bay Lightning
3) Detroit Red Wings
Wild-Cards:
1) Pittsburgh Penguins
2) Boston Bruins
Round 1:
For the first two rounds of the playoffs, each division has its own bracket, so the Montreal Canadiens are the top seed in the Atlantic Division bracket while the New York Rangers are the No. 1 team in the Metropolitan and the East due to clinching the Presidents' Trophy.
The No. 2 and No. 3 seeds automatically play each other no matter what in the first round, so the Lightning (No. 2) have home ice against the Detroit Red Wings (No. 3) and same for the Capitals (No. 2) and the Islanders (No. 3)
The Rangers clinched the Presidents' Trophy, so they have home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs and the most points in the NHL, so they get to play the lowest possible seed, which would be the bottom wild-card team, thus they play the Boston Bruins. This leaves Montreal to have home ice against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the higher wild-card seed.
Note: Though the Penguins are in the Metropolitan and the Bruins represent the Atlantic, they can still end up in the opposite division's bracket depending on their wild-card position. To make it easy, if you're a wild-card team, your record determines which bracket you are in.
Now we'll simulate the first round with the higher seed advancing. This same format happens in the Western Conference with the Central and Pacific Divisions.
Metropolitan Bracket:
Rangers (No. 1 seed in East) def. Bruins (No. 2 wild-card)
Capitals (No. 2 Metropolitan Division) def. Islanders (No. 3 Metropolitan Division)
Atlantic Bracket:
Canadiens (No. 2 team in East, No. 1 in Atlantic) def. Penguins (No. 1 wild-card)
Lightning (No. 2 Atlantic) def. Red Wings (No. 3 Atlantic)
Round 2:
Now with four teams remaining in the Eastern Conference -- two in each bracket -- the teams that were already in the same bracket in Round 1 match up in Round 2. The Rangers, still being the higher seed, would host the Capitals in Round 2 while the Canadiens will have home ice over the Lightning.
If the Penguins defeated the Canadiens in Round 1, they would play the Lightning, so you still don't have to be in the same division as your opponent, just the same bracket.
Metropolitan Bracket:
Rangers def. Capitals
Atlantic Bracket:
Canadiens def. Lightning
Round 3:
Now, we're down to two teams in the Eastern Conference as the Rangers have home ice against the Montreal Canadiens while the Western Conference will also have two teams left.
Round 4:
The winner of the Rangers and Canadiens series would battle the last team standing in the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup Final and the winner of that series is the 2014-15 champion.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin next Wednesday, April 15. Check back at Sports World News for the full schedule when it is released.
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