We don't know when -- or if -- the NHL will be able to return this season.
If the season does return, nobody has any real clue what that would look like.
One idea the NHL is considering involves moving teams to up to four NHL cities, and completing the season in a centralized way. The league has already taken steps toward finding potential cities:
Can report that the NHL has provided potential hub cities with a lengthy document of criteria that must be met to host games. The Organizations will work closely with the NHL and the regional health authority to meet them. Govt will have it's own list at some point as well.
— Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) April 30, 2020
TSN's Marc Spector reported this week that one plan involves an expanded, 24-team playoff field, with one city in each division hosting six teams. Any host city would have to be able to provide accommodations for anywhere from "600-1,000 people" (players from each team, staff from each team, arena staff, league officials, broadcasters, etc.) and have enough practice rinks in the area to accommodate six teams having practices and skates.
I think a centralized plan is a fine way to finish any remainder of the regular season, in order to limit travel. But for the postseason, I don't see why the league wouldn't be able to finish the season with teams playing in their own arenas. Doing so wouldn't necessarily involve extensive travel, and would avoid a situation where any one locker room would have to be used by multiple teams and cleaned several times in one day for practices or games.
Of course, any plan the league has for finishing the season would likely involve regular testing for all players and other personnel involved, and the resumption would have to be after testing is also readily available to the entire general public. And of course, the local governments and health officials would have to approve any plan.
If the NHL were to keep a best-of-seven series format, there are still ways to limit travel. A best-of-seven series currently follows a 2-2-1-1-1 format, with the need for teams to travel up to five times if the series goes a full seven games. Series could be held in a 2-3-2 format, which would cut back on travel.
The NBA used a 2-3-2 format up until 2013, and the MLB still uses 2-3-2 in its best-of-seven series. It wouldn't be too out of the norm.
The NHL has also discussed reducing series lengths to condense the postseason if needed.
Darren Dreger reported last month that in a poll in which 24 NHL general managers participated, 20 support a best-of-five series format for the first three rounds, but still prefer to have a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final.
Dreger added that other general managers still prefer seven-game series for all four rounds of the playoffs. One general manager suggested a best-of-three first round, best-of-five second round, then best-of-seven conference finals and Cup Final. Another general manager suggested a single-elimination format for the first three rounds, followed by a best-of-three Stanley Cup Final.
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly later said that a single-elimination round "is not something we would ever go to,” so that can at least be ruled out.
A best-of-five series could still have reduced travel.
The AHL still has a best-of-five first round, with series either following a 2-2-1 format or a 2-3 format depending on building availability.
In a 2-3 format situation, the AHL has a unique system where they allow the higher-seeded team to choose whether they want to start the series at home and have just two home games, or start the series on the road and potentially have three home games, if the series goes all five games. It would be interesting to see the NHL adopt a similar idea if series do need to be reduced to five games and teams do play in their home arenas.
Some people argue that the Stanley Cup winner would have an asterisk or somehow not be legitimate if they don't play four best-of-seven rounds, but the NHL hasn't always used a best-of-seven format for every round.
From 1975-1979, the NHL postseason included 12 teams. The top team in each division earned a first-round bye, and the remaining teams were seeded No. 1 through 8 and played a best-of-three series in a preliminary playoff round. The next three rounds were then best-of-seven.
When the NHL expanded to a 16-team playoff format in 1980, first-round byes were eliminated, teams were seeded from No. 1 through 16 in the first round, and played a best-of-five series. The next three rounds were still best-of-seven.
It's still not clear what the 2020 NHL postseason will look like, if there will even be one. In determining a format, the NHL could look to other leagues or its own history for some inspiration.
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