Is it time for NHL to expand number of playoff teams?

Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

Maybe it’s our proximity to the stuck-in-the-middle Vancouver Canucks, but I find myself waffling on whether the NHL should expand the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

For years, I’ve been in lockstep with commissioner Gary Bettman (not a phrase I say or type regularly) about having no appetite to expand the 16-team field. For me, that’s already half the league, there are no Cup contenders among the teams finishing 17th to 20th, and the season is already too damn long.

Bettman is right when he says it would dilute the regular season and the playoffs, and that the first round of the NHL postseason is already great.

As he said: “You’re looking to fix a problem that doesn’t exist.”

Gary Bettman continues to have no interest in adding a play-in/wild-card round to the Stanley Cup playoffs: "You're looking to fix a problem that doesn't exist."

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) December 13, 2022

Again, he’s spot on.

But here’s where I find myself more sympathetic to a play-in than ever before.

The Canucks have played well since an 0-5-2 start to get back in the race, but we were staring at a second straight season where they were out of it by Christmas. That’s too much to bear if you want to retain season-ticket holders.

The season is so long, it needs to stay compelling as long as possible.

Expanding playoffs is on-trend for other leagues, which are often a step ahead of the NHL on business matters like digital, sports gaming, and audience engagement.

Baseball’s September stretch run has more eyeballs on it now with three wild cards and six playoff teams per league.

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The NBA, which has not historically been as competitively balanced as the NHL so perhaps it’s an apples to oranges comparison, has added a play-in tournament so that the seventh and 10th teams get their moments in the sun. Also, there’s actually an incentive to finish not just top-four for home court, but top-six to avoid the play-in round.

I watched those play-in games last year, and they were gripping theatre. You could argue it was contrived drama — and I have — but it’s good TV nevertheless.

So as much as the sporting purist in me wants to altogether dismiss expanding the hockey playoffs, I find myself sympathizing with the it’s-all-about-entertainment crowd, and giving fans what they want. They want their team in the playoffs, or at least contending deep into the schedule.

Besides, if the play-in existed this year, the Canucks would be tied with Nashville for the final play-in berth, losing the tiebreaker on games played.

We could finally be talking about a successful play-in (if not playoff) push.