More ideas on changing NHL postseason, points
Second in a series
With COVID-19 putting all sports on hiatus, we thought it would be a good time to update and revisit our One Change in the NHL series that ran 15 months ago.
Today's topics revolve around the playoffs and the standings.
• Joel Quenneville said he would add four teams to the postseason - two in each conference.
The former Blackhawks coach would create a play-in round in which the No. 7 seed faces the No. 10 seed, and the No. 8 seed faces the No. 9 seed. He wasn't quite sure if it should be a one-game, winner-take-all scenario or a three-game series.
But he did say it would add quite a bit of excitement to the end of the regular season.
Dietz's thoughts: Hey, why not? Imagine Minnesota at Vancouver, then Winnipeg at Nashville on national television one night. Then Florida at Carolina, and Columbus at NY Islanders the next.
Those would be this season's play-in games (based on points percentage), and they'd be must-see TV.
• Nick Schmaltz of the Arizona Coyotes and Brandon Saad of the Hawks would seed the playoffs 1 through 8, rather than the way they're done now where the top overall seed plays the second wild-card team and the second- and third-place divisional teams automatically face each other in the first round.
"When I first came into the league, that's how it was. You seed 1 through 8," Saad said. "I like that where you're seeing someone new every time rather than seeing these powerhouses playing in the first round and then you see a good team go home.
"I know you're going to have to face them eventually, but being a traditionalist, I kind of like that old system."
Dietz's thoughts: Yes, yes, yes.
Basing seeding on points percentage, you would then have the following matchups in the West if the season could resume:
• (1) St. Louis vs. (8) Calgary
• (2) Vegas vs. (7) Nashville
• (3) Colorado vs. Vancouver (6)
• (4) Dallas vs. (5) Edmonton
A bit crazy that they are all cross-division matchups, but so be it. Think about the potential series in the following rounds. St. Louis vs. Dallas? Or Vegas vs. Colorado? Nashville vs. Colorado?
Yes, please.
• Former Hawks forward Marcus Kruger wanted to see teams receive 3 points for a regulation win, 2 for an overtime or shootout win, 1 for an overtime or shootout loss and zero for a regulation loss.
"If you can put up three wins in a row with 3 points, that's huge," Kruger said. "Right now it feels like both teams are so afraid. That point is huge. ... If you have a good overtime or shootout team, you might be a little more careful (at the end of regulation)."
Dietz's thoughts: Many pundits would love to see the league adopt this point system. I'm not really for it, however. Let's adjust overtime a bit and kill the shootout. Reintroduce ties. I'll get into all of this a bit more in a few days, so I'll leave it at that for now.