The NHL is as competitive as it's ever been, and naturally, this brings up the idea of whether the NHL should implement a play-in or playoff qualification round at the end of the regular season.
Everyone knows that the NHL has competitive parity, where no game is easy, whether a team is near the bottom of the standings or the top. That was created with the salary cap, keeping every team relatively on the same level financially.
However, this year, the parity is like no other season has seen before. Ahead of the weekend, no one in the entire Eastern Conference had a losing record.
It’s still the early stages of this 2025-26 campaign, but at this rate, there will be teams in the East that miss out on playoffs, who maybe deserved some action in late April.
Naturally, this brings up the idea of implementing a play-in or playoff qualification round at the end of the regular season. This would allow more teams to prove that they belong in the post-season.
Some would say that there is a reason why the NHL season is 82 games long, and soon to be 84, and that’s a fair point.
However, even though this change may be coddling teams who just miss out, it’s an opportunity for exciting hockey to kick off the post-season, with a do-or-die, short preliminary series for teams who are dying to prove themselves.
The NBA added a play-in round in 2020 and has been using it ever since. Furthermore, the MLB has its own version called the wild-card series, which sees marquee matchups such as the Boston Red Sox against the New York Yankees that took place last October.
In the NHL, they could adopt the format the NBA uses. Instead of two wild-card teams advancing to the playoffs, they’d highlight the top four teams in the wild card in each conference, and have them compete in a short series.
For example, the third and fourth wild-card teams would face off, and the first and second wild-card teams would play against each other.
The winner of the first and second seed battle would advance to the playoffs. The loser would face the winner of the third and fourth wild-card battle. Then, the winner of that last matchup would move on to join the 16-team post-season.
Last season, that would’ve provided an opportunity for the Columbus Blue Jackets to continue their inspiring season, following the tragic death of Johnny Gaudreau. In addition, the Detroit Red Wings would’ve had the chance to break their playoff drought.
A play-in round between Columbus and Detroit would carry immense energy, especially after they faced off in the Stadium Series, drawing over 94,000 fans, as it was the second-most-watched regular-season game in NHL history.
In the West, the Calgary Flames would’ve received the deserved opportunity to fight their way into the playoffs after they tied the St. Louis Blues in points, but missed out by a tie-breaker.
The Vancouver Canucks would’ve been in the play-in mix, a chance to rewrite a disastrous season, highlighted by the Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller rift.
With this season as close as it is, the league could benefit from an extra set of post-season festivities. And sure, it’s part of the game for some teams to be left disappointed for not making the playoffs, but a preliminary round of desperation hockey would drive in casual hockey fans, and the true winner would be rewarded.
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