Price is Right: Only a matter of time before NHL expands Stanley Cup Playoffs
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It was only a couple of weeks ago that Matt Sekeres was delivering the hot take that the Eastern Conference playoff race was over in the NHL. He actually went a step further and said the teams will all finish exactly where they are. Well, here we are into February and things are looking fairly similar, and the gaps between playoff teams and non-playoff teams aren’t exactly getting smaller.
And it’s only the All-Star break.
Now, you can argue that both ways I suppose, that means it’s very early to get that separation, or that there’s lots of runway left for teams to make up that ground. But the fact of the matter is, we all know that Ken Holland US Thanksgiving rule is a thing for a reason. The deeper you get in a season, even just past the 25-game mark, the harder it is to affect permanent change. And by permanent change, I mean more than a six-game heater that gets you above the bar for a moment.
All of this is to say, the NHL is surely taking notice. And with 32 teams now in tow, it’s only a matter of time until the league expands its playoff footprint. Likely to 10 teams in each conference, but up to 12 may even be in play, because even if 24 teams make the playoffs, you’re still chopping off the bottom third of teams for the playoffs, and that’s still a far bigger fraction than we saw in the 1980’s.
Careful what you wish for though.
While the playoffs are fun, and fully engage a city for the time that they’re on, what are the chances a 10 or 12 seed will have a chance to win the Cup?
And there will be unintended circumstances with something like this too.
Will teams get better at the trade deadline when they know they’ll be one and done? Or will they add anyway, mortgaging their future for an inherently flawed team that goes nowhere? Will the temptation be too great for that GM in the final year of his contract, because of course, “as long as you get in, you never know.”
Right?
What I do know is, the commissioner that brought you salary cap induced parity is not sitting idly by while the drama gets reduced with each passing day. And a few extra playoff games would never hurt the bottom line now, would they?
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