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NHL commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed Tuesday that the NHL will stage a 24-team playoff split by conference between two hub cities, with timelines and locations to be finalized at a later date.
The top four seeds in each conference will get byes, while seeds 5-12 will battle in best-of-five series to determine who advances. The NHL and NHLPA have yet to decide whether teams will be reseeded or if the postseason will use a bracket format.
The matchups are based on points percentage in conference standings through games played until March 12. Teams with byes will all play each other once under regular-season rules to determine their seeding in the next round.
Here’s a look at how it breaks down.
Eastern Conference
Byes: (No. 1) Boston Bruins, (No. 2) Tampa Bay Lightning, (No. 3) Washington Capitals, (No. 4) Philadelphia Flyers
No. 5 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. No. 12 Montreal Canadiens
No. 6 Carolina Hurricanes vs. No. 11 New York Rangers
No. 7 New York Islanders vs. No. 10 Florida Panthers
No. 8 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. No. 9 Columbus Blue Jackets
Western Conference
Byes: (No. 1) St. Louis Blues, (No. 2) Colorado Avalanche, (No. 3) Vegas Golden Knights, (No. 4) Dallas Stars
No. 5 Edmonton Oilers vs. No. 12 Chicago Blackhawks
No. 6 Nashville Predators vs. No. 11 Arizona Coyotes
No. 7 Vancouver Canucks vs. No. 10 Minnesota Wild
No. 8 Calgary Flames vs. No. 9 Winnipeg Jets
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