With the NHL and NHLPA agreeing to a format for the 2020-21 season, the Montreal Canadiens will need to ensure four things are in check to make the playoffs.
The days of “rumblings” and “possibly’s” are over for the NHL. Friday may have been the beginning of a lot of winter breaks, but it was also the legitimate start of something new for the Montreal Canadiens and the rest of the league as a deal was reached to get the 2020-21 season started.
Some of the things in this deal were already known beforehand. It’s going to be a 56-game season with the 31 teams in the NHL separated into four solitary divisions. That’s not as different as usual, but teams will only face other teams in their division, and that’s it.
The Montreal Canadiens are one of seven teams in the well-anticipated Canadian Division along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks. The remaining 25 clubs had some alterations as to how they were going to be organized, but it’s going to look something like this:
East
- Boston Bruins
- Buffalo Sabres
- New Jersey Devils
- New York Islanders
- New York Rangers
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Washington Capitals
Central
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- Dallas Stars
- Detroit Red Wings
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Florida Panthers
- Nashville Predators
- Tampa Bay Lightning
West
- Anaheim Ducks
- Arizona Coyotes
- Colorado Avalanche
- Los Angeles Kings
- Minnesota Wild
- San Jose Sharks
- St. Louis Blues
- Vegas Golden Knights
Only four teams in each division will make the playoffs. That’s it. There’s no wild-card spot; either you’re in, or you’re out. The playoffs will consist of those four teams within their division playing again, and a winner of each division will move on to face teams in the other three divisions.
Therefore, a Canadian team is guaranteed to at least make the equivalent of a Conference Final and possibly all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.
Many will throw an asterisk over this, similarly to what they did with Tampa Bay’s Stanley Cup victory. But ask anyone on that LIghtning team if the grind for that championship was any “easier.” There are a lot more factors in play, and even though the Montreal Canadiens wouldn’t face another team outside of the Canadian Division unless there’s a deep playoff run, it would be the organization’s first championships since 1993.
So to be blunt: who cares!
With a shortened season, everything matters. Every game, every win, every goal, and every save matters. The Montreal Canadiens will need a game plan, and to be specific, there are four things critical for this team to qualify for the playoffs.