Las Vegas may be hub city in 24-team NHL playoff return
The NHL hasn’t decided where it will set up shop if the season resumes. But Las Vegas is one of the cities under consideration.
Commissioner Gary Bettman revealed the 10 potential hubs for the league’s return-to-play plan on Tuesday, and Las Vegas made the cut.
“It’d be great if Vegas is one of them,” Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt said. “It’d be great for the city, not only just for us because you’re back here, but it’s good for the city. We have the capacity, we have the star amenities, the hotels, the rinks. Hopefully that’s something they lean towards.”
The league, which was paused March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic, announced a 24-team postseason format that will be played in two hub cities.
Chicago, Columbus (Ohio), Dallas, Edmonton (Alberta), Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul (Minnesota), Pittsburgh, Toronto and Vancouver (British Columbia) are also in the running.
Las Vegas holds a longstanding working relationship with the league and has several hotels on the Strip to accommodate players and staff.
T-Mobile Arena is equipped with multiple locker rooms, which would allow the NHL to have more than one game there each day.
However, if Las Vegas is selected as one of the hubs, there’s no guarantee that the Knights would play in their home arena.
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly noted that the league is considering moving clubs to prevent them from playing in their home market.
“We don’t need to make a decision today. We’ll probably need to make one in three to four weeks, and at that point we would be able to better evaluate how COVID‑19 is in a particular place,” Bettman said. “We need to make sure that there’s enough testing available, and we’ll be needing lots and lots of testing, but we don’t want it to interfere with the medical needs of the community. That has to come first.”
Bettman provided more details of the 24-team expanded postseason, including details of the round robin involving the Knights.
The Knights are one of four teams in the Western Conference to receive a bye and will play round-robin games against St. Louis, Colorado and Dallas to determine the top four seeds.
Boston, Tampa Bay, Washington and Philadelphia are the top four seeds in the Eastern Conference.
The first-place finisher in the round robin will receive the top seed, meaning the Knights could move up from the No. 3 spot despite being eight points behind St. Louis in the overall standings at the pause.
“The percentages are more in our favor (to earn the top seed),” Schmidt said. “We’re not trying to climb uphill against a team that’s a lot further ahead of us. It’s hard, but you can’t please everybody.”
The Return to Play Committee is still discussing whether the playoffs will reseed or use a bracket format after the qualifying round, meaning the Knights’ opponent for the conference quarterfinals remains undetermined.
The qualifying round will be best-of-five series, but the lengths of the conference quarterfinals and semifinals have not been determined. The conference finals and Stanley Cup Final will be best-of-seven.
Bettman did not release a start date for the 24-team postseason but said it’s conceivable games could start in late July. Training camps (Phase Three) will not begin before July 1 and could last two to three weeks.
The NHL sent a memo over the holiday weekend to teams and players outlining the framework for Phase Two, which would allow small group workouts at team facilities. The 21-page document indicated the league is “targeting a date in early June.”
Bettman estimated the league could administer 25,000 to 30,000 tests for COVID-19 once players and staff arrive at the hub cities at a cost of “millions of dollars.”
“Obviously we can’t be in a situation where we have an outbreak, and that will affect our ability to continue playing,” Daly said, “but a single positive test or isolated positive tests throughout a two‑month tournament should not necessarily mean an end to the tournament.”
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.
NHL 24-team playoff format
Western Conference
Play-in round
No. 5 Edmonton vs. No. 12 Chicago
No. 6 Nashville vs. No. 11 Arizona
No. 7 Vancouver vs. No. 10 Minnesota
No. 8 Calgary vs. No. 9 Winnipeg
Byes: St. Louis, Colorado, Golden Knights, Dallas
Eastern Conference
Play-in round
No. 5 Pittsburgh vs. No. 12 Montreal
No. 6 Carolina vs. No. 11 New York Rangers
No. 7 New York Islanders vs. No. 10 Florida
No. 8 Toronto vs. No. 9 Columbus
Byes: Boston, Tampa Bay, Washington, Philadelphia
Hub cities under consideration
Chicago
Columbus, Ohio
Dallas
Edmonton, Alberta
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota
Pittsburgh
Toronto
Vancouver, British Columbia
Source: NHL
NHL draft lottery
The NHL draft lottery consists of the seven teams that do not return to play and eight "place-holders" to represent the teams that do not advance from the qualifying round.
Phase One
* Three draws: First Draw (first overall pick), Second Draw (second overall pick) and Third Draw (third overall pick) conducted June 26.
* If all three draws are won by the group of seven teams that do not resume play, Phase Two is unnecessary.
* The remaining four teams not selected are assigned draft positions 4 through 7 in inverse order of their points percentage at the time of the pause. The next 8-15 positions will be assigned to the eight teams that do not advance from the qualifying round, in inverse order of their points percentage at the time of the regular-season pause.
Phase Two
* If any of the three draws are won by the eight teams that do not advance from the qualifying round, Phase Two will be conducted between the qualifying round and first round.
* Following each Phase Two draw, the winning team will be assigned the corresponding top-three selection.
* When the top three selections in the 2020 NHL draft are assigned, the remaining selections will be assigned to the 12 teams that did not win a draw in inverse order of their points percentages at the time of the season's pause.
Source: NHL
