Kudos to Greg Wyshynski for asking the questions that matter at the NHL Media Tour.
The event, held annually often in Vegas, is nowhere close to as big as it was even a decade ago, but there are still some pretty solid stories that come from it. Of course, the Hughes brothers sort of turned the NHL world on its head earlier this week. And Connor McDavid’s comments about his impending contract negotiations took it to the next level.
But the Avalanche’s representative at the event also things to say. I’m talking about Cale Makar, and his opinion of the NHL’s divisional playoff format. It sounds like Colorado’s superstar defenseman is not a fan.
And who could blame him? Before resting many of their top guys in the final week of the regular season, the Avs had a chance to finish with one of the four or five best records in the league. Despite doing so, they still would’ve started the playoffs on the road because two of the teams ahead of them, the Winnipeg Jets and Dallas Stars, were also in the Central Division.
The Avs went on to lose in seven games to the Stars and were sent home by their divisional rival for the second straight season. You could understand why he’s probably not a fan.
But he wasn’t just speaking for himself.
“I feel like all players want back to 1-to-8,” Makar told Wyshynski.
Am I reading too much into this? Maybe. But I don’t think he’s inaccurate with that statement. Many of the league’s top stars have said for years that they’d prefer to go back to a 1-to-8 playoff format. It seems like the one person that doesn’t want to is Gary Bettman.
If anything, the top two seeds in each conference should be the four divisional winners. And the rest of the seeds should be a mix of both divisions.
With this change, Colorado would’ve faced the Los Angeles Kings in the first round last year.
With all the changes coming in the new CBA, I was surprised that players didn’t push harder for the playoff format to go back to 1-to-8. Perhaps more comments like this on a more consistent basis from the league’s top stars could eventually inspire change.
