NHL reveals format for 24-team playoff, qualifying round bracket, round robin

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So the NHL's 24-team playoff format is set and here is a look at what the playoff bracket looks like.

Western Conference:

The Blackhawks are the 12th and final seed in the Western Conference, and are already a favorite among pundits for a potential upset of the 5th seeded Oilers.

Eastern Conference:

That 7-vs.-10 matchup between the Panthers and Islanders is also very intriguing, with Joel Quenneville's Florida squad a dangerous team capable of making a run.

Per the NHL's announcement, the qualifying round between seeds 5 through 12 is not "technically" the playoffs, but instead a play-in round to make a customary 16-team playoff format.

In addition, the Top-4 teams in each conference will play a round robin to determine which teams will earn the Top-4 seeds. Commissioner Gary Bettman clarified that any ties in the round robin would be broken by giving the edge to whichever team had the higher points percentage in the regular season.

The league also declared that the regular season has concluded and the remaining 189 games that were left on the league schedule will not be played.

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