The NHL playoffs are quickly approaching, and it looks like the LA Kings are heading to the playoffs for their fourth straight season. Each of the past three seasons, the Kings have played the Edmonton Oilers and it seems likely it could be another season against the Oilers to start the playoffs.
This is due in large part to how the seeding is determined in the NHL, something they changed during the 2013-14 season when the NHL realigned the divisions within the conference. Prior to this shift, there was three divisions and each winner would earn a trip to the playoffs and then the next five teams with the highest point total, regardless of division, would earn a trip.
However, with the change to two divisions the NHL switched it to where the Top 3 teams within each division would make the playoffs and then there would be two Wild Cards within each conference. The division winners would each play a Wild Card team and the division winner with the most points plays the Wild Card team with the least points.
The division winners would each play a Wild Card team and the division winner with the most points plays the Wild Card team with the least points. Meanwhile the teams who finish second and third in the division play each other in the first round with the team finishing second earning a home ice advantage. This is the reason the Kings have played the Oilers the past three seasons as the Oilers have finished second in the Pacific Division and the Kings were third.
After that opening round, the winner of the series between the division winner and Wild Card would play the winner of the other series within the respective decisions. The Conference Round would then be the winner of those two series as they try to earn a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Could this playoff format change in the near future for the NHL?
The NHL and NHLPA are going to be negotating a new CBA in the near future and this usually can include discussions around things like playoff formats. However, commissioner Gary Bettman recently said he doesn't want to see any changes to the playoff format.
""I'm pretty dug in on this, I like exactly what we have and if you look at the races that we're having for the regular season, playoffs have started already. We're in our play-in tournament, " Bettman said, in reference to the NBA's addition of extra games to determine the final playoff teams. "Best team to win the Cup has got to get through the best teams. And having great matchups in the first rounds, that's not a problem, that's a great thing.""
This could mean a lot more first round matchups between the Edmonton Oilers and the LA Kings in the coming seasons.