Wide World of Women

Earlier today, Gary Bettman announced the NHL's comprehensive plan to return to action, and it is as follows:

The NHL's regular season is over. They will go straight into the playoffs with a 24-team format; the format being made official today. Only the NHL's seven lowest teams (Detroit, Ottawa, Buffalo, New Jersey, and all three California teams) will see their season end and will enter the draft lottery. The top 12 teams in each conference qualify for the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the matchups will be conference based, and not division based like it has been since the 2013-14 season.

The top four teams in each conference will get byes straight to the first round of the traditional 16-team playoffs, while the other eight will participate in the Qualifying Round, played in a best-of-five format. The teams are ranked due to point percentage by the time the league paused in March 12. The matchups are:

Eastern Conference

(5)Pittsburgh vs (12)Montréal
(6)Carolina vs (11)N.Y. Rangers
(7)N.Y. Islanders vs (10)Florida
(8)Toronto vs (9)Columbus

Western Conference

(5)Edmonton vs (12)Chicago
(6)Nashville vs (11)Arizona
(7)Vancouver vs (10)Minnesota
(8)Calgary vs (9)Winnipeg

The playoff format results in six of the seven Canadian teams qualifying for the playoffs, and even with the extended format, there is no California representation.

While the top four teams in each conference will avoid the Qualifying Round, they will be playing round robin games to determine seeding. Here are the Top 4s:

Eastern Conference

1. Boston
2. Tampa Bay
3. Washington
4. Philadelphia

Western Conference

1. St. Louis
2. Colorado
3. Vegas
4. Dallas

Each team will play three games, one each against the other three. For example, in the West, Colorado will face STL, DAL, and VGK. In the East, Boston will face TB, WSH, and PHI. In the Round Robin, a point system will determine seeding, and the games will feature regular season OT and a shootout. If teams finish with the same three game record, regular season point percentage will be the tiebreaker.

As stated before, the Qualifying Round will be played in a best-of-five format. However, it is not yet determined if the first two rounds after that will be best-of-five or best-of-seven, but the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final will be best-of-seven. The East and West teams will play in two different hub cities, which have yet to be announced; though ten cities were selected as candidates: Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Pittsburgh, Toronto, and Vancouver.

If all goes well regarding phases and protocol, the NHL will be back in action sometime in July.

Update: it was announced earlier today that after the Qualifying Round, all of the following playoff rounds will be best-of-seven. In addition, teams will be reseeded after the Qualifying Round and Round 1.

Earlier today, the NHL and the NHLPA have agreed to a new CBA deal and their Return to Play plan, and it includes the announcement of a full schedule for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Here are the details:

After increased cases in many of the American cities on the list, it was announced days before that all of the games will take place in Canada. The Western Conference will play in Edmonton, while the Eastern Conference plays in Toronto; the format covers the Round Robin, Qualifying Round, and the first two rounds.--the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final will be played in Edmonton. The Qualifying Round will start on August 1, the first Round Robin games will take place on the following day, August 2. The RR and QR will take place from August 1-9, with the 10th being the set day for Stage 2 of the Draft Lottery, which will feature the eight eliminated teams from the Qualifying Round.

The opening round of the traditional Stanley Cup Playoffs will kick off on August 11. Round 2 will begin on August 25, the Conference Finals on September 8, and the Stanley Cup Final on September 22, with the latest end date being October 4. The Draft is set for October 9-10, and the beginning of the 2020-21 season is set for a December 1 opening date, but those dates following the first round are tentative.