Since the 1926-27 season, the NHL champion has been awarded Lord Stanley's Cup, one of the most prestigious trophies in sports. The long, arduous journey to become the last team standing makes the Cup arguably the most difficult to win in North American sports.
The Stanley Cup playoffs has always been a tough road to navigate. What has changed repeatedly over the decades is the format that determines the NHL's postseason winner.
Current Stanley Cup Playoffs Format
Sixteen teams qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs. The first 12 are determined by the top three finishers in each division—Atlantic and Metropolitan in the Eastern Conference, and Central and Pacific in the Western Conference. The last four spots are filled by wild cards—the two teams in each conference with the highest point totals among the remaining clubs regardless of division.
The Stanley Cup playoffs comprise four rounds with winners determined by best-of-seven game series. Teams with the higher regular-season point total have home-ice advantage. Each series is contested in a 2-2-1-1-1 format with the home-ice advantage holder hosting Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 and its opponent hosting Games 3, 4 and 6.
In the first round, the division winner with the best record in each conference faces the wild-card team with the worst record. The wild card with the better record takes on the other division winner. The second- and third-place finishers in each division meet within the bracket headed by their respective division champion.
First-round winners advance to the second round. Second-round winners move on to the conference finals. The conference champions meet in the Stanley Cup Final.
Home-ice advantage in the first two rounds goes to the team that finished higher in the regular-season standings. Home-ice advantage in the conference finals and Stanley Cup Final goes to the team with the better regular-season record regardless of division finish.
In the event two teams are tied in regular-season points, the following tiebreakers will determine the order:
1. Superior points percentage: The fewer number of games played.
2. Regulation wins (RW): Most victories excluding games won in overtime or by shootout.
3. Regulation plus overtime wins (ROW): Most victories excluding games won by shootout.
4. Total wins: Most games won by any manner.
5. Head-to-head points: Most points earned in games against each other among two or more tied teams. In the event two or more clubs have not played an even number of games with one or more of the other tied teams, the first game played in the city that has the extra game (i.e., the "odd" game) will not be included. When more than two clubs are tied, the percentage of available points earned in games among each other (not including any "odd" games) will determine standing.
6. Goal differential: The greater difference between goals for and goals against during the regular season, including goals scored in overtime or awarded for prevailing in shootouts.
7. Goals scored: The greater goal total during the regular season, including goals scored in overtime or awarded for prevailing in shootouts.
Qualification for the Stanley Cup Playoffs
The NHL comprises 32 teams with each club playing a regular-season schedule of 82 games. As mentioned, 16 teams—eight in each conference—qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Below is how the 16-team tournament played out for the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, which concluded with the Florida Panthers defeating the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in a thrilling seven-game series.
Outside of the modified 2020 and 2021 tournaments due to COVID-19, the NHL has used the same Stanley Cup playoffs format since 2013-14 when it introduced its current postseason setup.
Over the years, the league has frequently altered how it determines the Stanley Cup champion. The playoffs configuration underwent multiple iterations and tweaks due to the league's changing number of teams.
In 1938, the withdrawal of the Montreal Maroons prompted a switch from a two-division system to a one-league, seven-team format. In 1942, the NHL was reduced to the "Original Six"—Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs—with clubs battling to finish in the top four for postseason qualification.
In 1967, the league doubled in size to 12 teams and brought back a two-division competition with the top four finishers in each division advancing to the playoffs.
In 1974, a completely new format was introduced after the NHL grew to 18 teams with the addition of two expansion franchises, the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts. Old-school NHL fans will fondly remember the creation of the Wales Conference (comprising the Adams and Patrick Divisions) and the Campbell Conference (consisting of the Patrick and Smythe Divisions).
A preliminary round pitted the No. 2 and No. 3 teams in each division with the winners advancing to the quarterfinals against the division champions that had opening-round byes. For the first two rounds, clubs were seeded one through eight based on regular-season record.
In 1979, with the NHL at 21 teams, the number of playoff qualifiers was increased to 16 clubs. In 1993, the playoff field changed from division-based to conference-based with the top eight teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences qualifying for the postseason.
In 1998, the league grew to 27 teams with the expansion Nashville Predators and realigned into two conferences with three divisions. The 16-team playoffs awarded berths to the six division winners and each conference's next five best clubs based on regular-season point totals. The three division winners were seeded first through third by highest season points, and each conference's remaining five qualifiers were ordered fourth through eighth by highest season points.
The current Stanley Cup playoffs format was built to leverage division rivalries and reduce travel time. One growing argument against it is teams not being sufficiently rewarded for their regular-season success outside the top seed in each conference.
One recent example is the 2023-24 Winnipeg Jets. They amassed 110 points, fourth-highest in the league, but finished second behind Central Division winner Dallas Stars and had to face the 107-point Colorado Avalanche in the first round. Winnipeg was ousted in five games.
Cries over a flawed postseason system will likely grow with more change to follow.
"You see L.A.-Edmonton every year in the first round," Jets forward Gabe Vilardi told the Winnipeg Sun in March. "Is that really good for the league?”
“You can’t make rivalries," he added. "They just happen naturally."
Memorable Rule Changes Impacting the Playoffs
In 1921, the NHL introduced overtime, and the sudden-death drama of OT has long been the characteristic that makes the Stanley Cup playoffs so compelling.
A postseason game tied after the regulation 60 minutes is decided by the very next goal in a 20-minute extra period. OT is played until a winning goal is scored. Often, deadlocked contests can become intense, drama-filled battles of attrition over multiple OTs before finally being decided.
The NHL has enhanced the postseason by welcoming modern technology to assist on-ice officials.
In 1991, the league followed the NFL's lead by voting to have video replay help determine goal calls. In 2015, the NHL added the coach's challenge to allow head coaches to have calls undergo video review.
In 2019, several officiating controversies in the playoffs prompted the league to increase the scope of video review and the coach's challenge. Before the 2024-25 season, the coach's challenge rule was expanded to include more calls.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: Format, Teams, Rules & Changes Through the Years.
