The NHL and NHLPA are making ground on having a plan in place for the playoffs should the season resume amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. According to The Athletic, there would be games played before a 24-team playoff would take place. After the return-to-play committee settles on a format, 31 NHLPA player reps would have to vote on it for approval. Twelve teams from each of the two conferences would gather in four hub cities, six teams per city.
There are some teams and players not interested in continuing the season.
Each of the four divisions would be gathered in one city with a couple of exceptions based on winning percentage at the time of the pause. A number of GMs have indicated they don’t think teams would be able to play in their own city if it was chosen. So, for instance, if Toronto was a hub city, as might be the case, the Leafs and the Atlantic Division teams would play in one of the three other cities.
The Eastern Conference could look something like this:
Atlantic Division Hub: Boston, Tampa, Toronto, Florida, New York Rangers and Montreal.
Metropolitan Division Hub: Washington, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Carolina, New York Islanders and Columbus Blue Jackets.
In the Western Conference, it could look like this:
Central Division Hub: St. Louis, Colorado, Dallas, Nashville, Winnipeg and Chicago.
Pacific Division Hub: Vegas, Edmonton, Vancouver, Calgary, Minnesota and Arizona.
The NHL, meanwhile, has a 2 p.m. CT Board of Governors meeting scheduled for Monday.
