The Stanley Cup Playoffs Without OT Losses

The Los Angeles Kings might force the NHL to change their rules. A team that’s heading to the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 20 regulation wins but plenty of points through overtime inflated their numbers. Along with the overtime wins, they lead the league with 19 overtime losses, which, taken away, would have them sitting at 70 points and likely in lottery position.

Every year, hockey fans wonder what the playoffs would look like if there was no point for overtime losses. What if a win was a win and a loss was a loss and that was that. What would the playoff bracket look like? Let’s take a look and rank teams solely on wins.

The Changes in the Standings

The big movers might come as a surprise. Sure, the teams at the top would remain there with the Carolina Hurricanes (53 wins), Buffalo Sabres (50), and Tampa Bay Lightning (50) are the top three teams in the Eastern Conference while the Colorado Avalanche (53), Dallas Stars (49), and Minnesota Wild (46) are the top three in the Western Conference. Then, things get interesting.

The big risers are the New Jersey Devils (42), who put themselves on the cusp of a playoff spot, and Anaheim Ducks (42) win the Pacific. Both teams were punished for playing minimal overtime games and instead, look worse record wise than they are.

The big fallers are the Kings (35) and the Pittsburgh Penguins (41) who would both miss the playoffs if there was no point for overtime losses. The Vegas Golden Knights (38) would be tied with the San Jose Sharks for the third spot in the Pacific Division.

Ultimately, the bracket looks like this:

Atlantic

Buffalo Sabres (50)
Tampa Bay Lightning (50)
Montreal Canadiens (48)

Metro

Carolina Hurricanes (53)
Philadelphia Flyers (43)*
Washington Capitals (43)*
New York Islanders (43)*

As you see, there’s a three way tie for second in the Metropolitan Division. This oddly, is where overtime losses could come back into the fold and be used as a tiebreaker. So, in this world, the Flyers and Capitals would meet up in the First Round.

Eastern Conference Wild Card

Boston Bruins (45)
Ottawa Senators (43)

This doesn’t change, especially if overtime losses were the tiebraker since the Senators have the edge.

Central

Colorado Avalanche (53)
Dallas Stars (49)
Minnesota Wild (46)

Pacific

Anaheim Ducks (42)
Edmonton Oilers (40)
Vegas Golden Knights (38)*
San Jose Sharks (38)*

The team that loses the tiebreaker between the Golden Knights and Sharks is a wild card team.

Western Conference Wild Card

Utah Mammoth (42)
San Jose Sharks (38)

Now of course, the point system isn’t the only thing fans are frustrated about with the Stanley Cup Playoffs. There’s also the bracket itself, which keeps matchups within division and doesn’t reward the best teams per se. So, let’s take this a step further.

What The Playoffs Look Like With 1-8 & The Improved Point System?

This is what the First Round matchups would be.

Eastern Conference

(1) Carolina Hurricanes vs (8) Washington Capitals
(2) Buffalo Sabres vs (7) Ottawa Senators
(3) Tampa Bay Lightning vs (6) Philadelphia Flyers
(4) Montreal Canadiens vs (5) Boston Bruins

Western Conference

(1) Colorado Avalanche vs (8) San Jose Sharks
(2) Dallas Stars vs (7) Vegas Golden Knights
(3) Minnesota Wild vs (6) Edmonton Oilers
(4) Utah Mammoth vs (5) Anaheim Ducks

From a travel perspective, the losers are the Lightning and Flyers, the Dallas Stars against the Vegas Golden Knights or Minnesota Wild against the Edmonton Oilers. Otherwise, this bracket looks just as good, if not better than the one the NHL has.

In The Big Picture, Would it Make a Difference?

If the NHl changed the rules, there might be more upsets early on. Moreover, the First Round might be better because the teams making the cut wouldn’t be propped up by overtime losses or back their way in on points. Instead, it would be the best 16 teams in the NHL.

In the long run of the playoffs, the best teams would still presumably win the Stanley Cup. The Cup winners historically have been built to win regardless of the opposition and that would remain the case even if the rules change. That said, it’s fun to think about what an alternate universe might look like.