NHL NHLPA reportedly agree to extend current Stanley Cup playoff format through

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Anyone hoping for a revision of the Stanley Cup playoff format will have to wait at least another year.  Ever since the NHL reverted to a divisional postseason system for the 2013-14 season, there has been regular backlash by fans of teams in especially competitive divisions -- standings races that have sometimes more quickly pushed superior regular-season teams out of the playoffs. Even so, with the 2018-19 Stanley Cup playoffs right around the corner, that the NHL and NHL Players A Angus Crookshank Jersey  sociation have agreed to extend the current format through the 2019-20 season.  "The matter will continue to be discu sed between the two sides moving forward," LeBrun said Wednesday via Twitter. "So earliest change would be for 2020-21 if/when there is change."  Since realigning to a four-division format in 2013-14, the NHL has sent the top three teams from each division to the playoffs, with an additional two wild-card teams from each conference. As part of the bracket, the second- and third-place teams from each division play each other to open the postseason -- a requirement that potentially eliminates top competition from a crowded division right at the start of the playoffs.  Many fans and media outlets have suggested the NHL adopt a simpler system that would seed each conference's top eight teams exactly as they finish. But , this wouldn't nece sarily account for the travel logistics of playoff series. Then, as far as a future reformatting goes,  -- an expansion that might dictate an entire realignment in its own right. In other words, even if the NHL were to reformat its system for 2019-20, it might have to do it all again a year later.  Nikolas Matinpalo Jersey