The NHL and NHLPA are continuing to work on layouts for the rest of the season should it return, and the latest one still includes the Montreal Canadiens.
The calendar is on the verge of transitioning to May, and there has still been no NHL hockey. The Montreal Canadiens suffered from the injury bug and were on their way to another playoff-less season despite some bright lights along the way. In total, it’s been over 40 days since the last game was played with the pandemic impacting organizations around the world, but Gary Bettman and Donald Fehr are still preparing for a green light from health officials.
The question still revolves around the best way to restart the NHL. Some jokingly suggested a league-wide March Madness-like tournament while others have toggled with the idea of the regular season picking up where it left off. Time is the issue, though.
If the pause goes long enough, regular-season games could be played deep into the summer, which would delay the start of the 2020-21 season while reducing the gap between campaigns.
Hockey-related revenue is also a major topic as, well, there hasn’t been any to generate. This will likely trigger a flat cap and increase escrow costs for players, which is far from ideal. That saw the idea of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs to extend its limit of teams from the usual 16 to 24 such that hockey markets in Montreal and Chicago could get in.
The problem with that would be deciding the seeding as certain teams would get in over others when looking at overall points vs. points percentage.
Whatever the league decides on, a team is going to feel jobbed, and the latest idea from the NHL doesn’t hold back either.
This comes from Sportsnet‘s Mark Spector, who included a “popular playoff scenario” in his recent post. According to Spector, and under the assumption no regular-season games are played, the top six teams in each division would qualify and play games in an undisclosed city. The first and second-seeded team in each division would play a best-of-three series to decide who is the top team while the remaining four teams square off to continue playing.
Again, the Montreal Canadiens are included in this scenario:
Atlantic Division
- Boston Bruins
- Tampa Bay Lightning
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- Florida Panthers
- Montreal Canadiens
- Buffalo Sabres
Metropolitan Division
- Washington Capitals
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- New York Islanders
Pacific Division
- Vegas Golden Knights
- Edmonton Oilers
- Calgary Flames
- Vancouver Canucks
- Arizona Coyotes
- Anaheim Ducks
Central Division
- St. Louis Blues
- Colorado Avalanche
- Dallas Stars
- Winnipeg Jets
- Nashville Predators
- Minnesota Wild
It would be too bad for the New York Rangers who are only one point behind the Islanders, but the Montreal Canadiens would surely enjoy the schadenfreude from that scenario (shoutout to 2014).
The “win and you’re in” series for the Atlantic Division would see the Habs take on the Panthers while the Leafs take on the Sabres.
Montreal and Florida have developed an interesting rivalry over the years. Max Domi and Aaron Ekblad are at the centre of it as a scrap between them in last year’s preseason carried over to the regular season. Every game after that was firey and resembled the atmosphere of a hate-filled playoff series, so it would be very fitting for these two teams to meet up. It would also see the league’s top-paid goaltenders in Carey Price and Sergei Bobrovsky face each other (unless the Panthers choose to run with Chris Driedger).
This format looks like it could work, but there are still the logistics of it all. Players and staff would have to be away from their families to make it work, and Phillip Danault said it beautifully that many players wouldn’t be fans of it.
"It really makes no sense, in my head, to distance myself for two months from my kid. And I imagine it makes even less sense for those who would go far in the playoffs, who are on playoff teams right now. If a team goes to the Stanley Cup final, it could be three to four months. It’s inhumane to do that, as far as I’m concerned."
For now, the waiting game continues. There is a lot of money at risk here, and that could see the NHL return and play out the regular season normally. Of course, that would guarantee no playoff hockey for the Montreal Canadiens.
These alternatives appear to be the team’s only chance of making it, so it’ll be interesting to see what the NHL and NHLPA decide the best course of action is.