A Winning Habit
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How a 24-team Stanley Cup Playoffs would go for the Montreal Canadiens

By Omar L

PITTSBURGH - MAY 12: Kris Letang #56 of the Pittsburgh Penguins shakes hands with Jaroslav Halak #41 of the Montreal Canadiens in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Semifinals during the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Mellon Arena on May 12, 2010 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.(Photo By Dave Sandford/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH - MAY 12: Kris Letang #56 of the Pittsburgh Penguins shakes hands with Jaroslav Halak #41 of the Montreal Canadiens in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Semifinals during the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Mellon Arena on May 12, 2010 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.(Photo By Dave Sandford/Getty Images) /
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Montreal Canadiens
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 03: Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Johnston put out an article Monday afternoon, sharing details on how things would play out. Let’s separate them into steps.

Step 1: Seeding

Not every team went into the NHL pause with the same amount of games played. Of the 16 teams currently in a playoff spot, four have played 71 games, six have played 70 games, while the rest have played 69. Because of that, playoff teams will have to be ranked and seeded based on their points percentage instead of overall points.

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This is calculated by taking the total points a team has divided by the total possible amount of points they could’ve had based on their games played. Let’s take the Montreal Canadiens, for example.

The Habs have 71 points on the season via their 31 wins and 9 overtime/shootout losses. That is 71 out of a possible 142 points (as they’ve played 71 games). Divide those two numbers, and you get a points percentage of .500.

The same procedure would be used to rank those other 23 teams which would have an East Conference that looks like this:

  1. Boston Bruins – .714
  2. Tampa Bay Lightning – .657
  3. Washington Capitals – .652
  4. Philadelphia Flyers – .645
  5. Pittsburgh Penguins – .623
  6. Toronto Maple Leafs – .579
  7. Carolina Hurricanes – .596
  8. New York Islanders – .588
  9. Columbus Blue Jackets – .579
  10. Florida Panthers – .565
  11. New York Rangers – .546
  12. Montreal Canadiens – .500

According to Johnston, there would have to be some sort of advantage for teams in divisional spots. The Leafs would be tied with the Blue Jackets but likely get the 9th spot as they have more overall wins if we ignored the fact that they are third in the Atlantic Division.

Something similar is seen in the West Conference rankings:

  1. St. Louis Blues – .662
  2. Colorado Avalanche – .657
  3. Vegas Golden Knights – .606
  4. Edmonton Oilers – .585
  5. Dallas Stars – .594
  6. Vancouver Canucks – .565
  7. Nashville Predators – .565
  8. Calgary Flames – .564
  9. Winnipeg Jets – .563
  10. Minnesota Wild – .558
  11. Arizona Coyotes – .529
  12. Chicago Blackhawks – .514

The Oilers should really be the sixth seed, but they get the privilege of the bump up as they’re second in the Pacific Division.

Now we move on to the games.

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