The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America, comprising 32 active teams, 25 of which are based in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is widely considered the premier professional ice hockey league in the world and is watched by millions of fans globally.
The NHL season typically spans from October to April, during which each of the league's teams competes in 82 games. Once the regular season concludes, the top 16 teams advance to the Stanley Cup playoffs, a four-round tournament that extends into June to determine the ultimate league champion. Moreover, the Vegas Golden Knights are the reigning champions, who emerged victorious after defeating the Florida Panthers in the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals.
NHL Playoff Seeds
In the NHL playoffs, teams are seeded based on their regular season point totals. The top three teams from each division and two wild card teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs. The seeding determines the matchups in each round of the playoffs, with higher-seeded teams facing lower-seeded teams. This seeding structure ensures that the highest-performing teams have a home-ice advantage in each series.
Here's a breakdown of how teams are seeded and how the playoff format works:
1. Automatic Qualification: The first, second, and third-place teams in each of the four divisions qualify for the playoffs automatically.
2. Wild Card Teams: Two additional teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs as wild cards, regardless of divisional alignment. These teams have the highest point totals among the remaining teams in the conference.
3. First-Round Matchups: In the First Round, teams are split into two separate brackets by conference. Each bracket consists of the top three divisional qualifiers and one of the wild cards. The lower-seeded wild card plays against the division winner with the best record, while the other wild card plays against the other division winner. The other two series match the second and third-place teams from the divisions.
4. Advancement to Second Round: The winners of both First Round series advance to the Second Round.
5. Re-seeding: In the previous format, re-seeding ensured that the top seed would play the lowest remaining seed. However, this practice has been discarded.
6. Home-ice Advantage: In the first two rounds, the higher-seeded team has a home-ice advantage regardless of point record. Thereafter, it goes to the team with the better regular season record. If there's a tie, the league's standard tie-breaking procedure is applied.
7. Tiebreaker Protocols: Tiebreakers include the greater number of regulation wins, regulation and overtime wins, total wins, points earned in games between tied clubs, goal differential, and goals for. If tiebreakers still result in a tie, a one-game playoff is played under Stanley Cup playoff rules.
8. Overtime Rules: In the playoffs, overtime periods are sudden-death, 20-minute, five-on-five periods until one team scores. There are no shootouts, and the game could theoretically last indefinitely. The only break during overtime is to shovel away the loose ice shavings at the first stoppage after the period is halfway finished.
FAQ's On NHL Playoff Seeds
A. NHL playoff seeds are determined based on regular season point totals, with the top three teams from each division and two wild card teams from each conference qualifying for the playoffs.
A. In the NHL playoffs, teams are split into two separate brackets by conference, with each bracket consisting of the top three divisional qualifiers and one wild card team. The lower-seeded wild card plays against the division winner with the best record, while the other wild card plays against the other division winner.
A. Re-seeding in the NHL playoffs ensures that the top seed plays the lowest remaining seed. However, this practice has been discarded in recent years.
A. Tiebreakers in the NHL playoffs include the greater number of regulation wins, regulation, and overtime wins, total wins, points earned in games between tied clubs, goal differential, and goals for. If tiebreakers still result in a tie, a one-game playoff is played.
A. In NHL playoff games, overtime periods are sudden-death, 20-minute, five-on-five periods until one team scores. There are no shootouts, and the game could theoretically last indefinitely, with minimal intermissions for ice maintenance.
