The Blackhawks will face the highest seed available as each round progresses due to the re-seeding format.
The NHL and NHLPA have officially agreed upon the final details of the 24-team postseason format, according to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun. A few key details from the agreement emerged on Thursday afternoon, including that teams will be re-seeded after each round instead of being bracketed. As expected, the play-in series will be best-of-five, while the remainder of the postseason will be best-of-seven.
The top four teams from each conference will also play each other in a round-robin format to determine the 1-4 seeds, and regular-season points percentage will serve as the tiebreaker. In the first three rounds of the playoffs, the higher-seeded team will be awarded home ice. But in the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final, the team with the higher regular-season points percentage will be designated as the home team.
For the Blackhawks, the final 24-team postseason format didn't do them any favors. Should the Hawks upset the Oilers in the best-of-five play-in series, then they will take on the highest-seeded team from the round-robin format in the first round. The top four teams in the Western Conference are the St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights, and Dallas Stars. Here's how the Blackhawks have fared against each of those teams this season.
- St. Louis: 0-4-0, 12/2 lost 4-0, 12/14 lost 4-3, 2/25 lost 6-5, 3/8 lost 2-0.
- Colorado: 1-3-0, 11/29 lost 5-2, 11/30 lost 7-3, 12/18 lost 4-1, 12/21 won 5-3.
- Vegas: 1-1-1, 10/22 lost 2-1 (SO), 11/13 won 5-3, 12/10 lost 5-1.
- Dallas: 1-1-1, 11/23 lost 2-1 (SO), 11/26 won 3-0, 2/23 lost 2-1.
The Blackhawks struggled mightily against top teams like St. Louis and Colorado this season, but they fared well in the three meetings against both Vegas and Dallas. If one of those two teams come away from the round-robin with the top seed, then the Blackhawks could be in business. It's not going to be an easy journey through the postseason for the Hawks, but when you're the 23rd-best team in the NHL, it's not supposed to be.
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