What 2026 NHL playoff bracket would look like under old 1-8 seeding format

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What 2026 NHL playoff bracket would look like under old 1-8 seeding format originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The NHL employs curious playoff formatting, especially in comparison to its sister leagues.

Whereas MLB, the NFL and the NBA have embraced more common-sense approaches to seeding postseason-bound teams, the NHL's playoff methodology is distinctive. The Eastern and Western Conference are cut into two, with divisional positioning proving more important than overall rank.

Postseason berths are intuitive; 16 teams -- eight from both conference -- punch their ticket to the playoffs, taking their place based on their points tally. Their matchups are dictated by their rank in the divisional standings, however, causing uproar amongst NHL fanbases.

That hasn't always been the case. From 1993-2013, the league embraced a conference-based, 1-8 playoff structure. Things changed ahead of the 2013-14 season. Complaints have swirled ever since.

The 2026 postseason has proven especially contentious, with seeding being the subject of plenty of scrutiny in recent months. But just what would the Eastern and Western Conference playoff brackets look with the postseason format of old? Here's what you need to know.

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What 2026 NHL playoff bracket would look like with 1-8 seeding format​

Eastern Conference​

Matchup
No. 1 Carolina Hurricanes vs. No. 8 Philadelphia Flyers
No. 2 Buffalo Sabres vs. No. 7 Pittsburgh Penguins
No. 3 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. No. 6 Ottawa Senators
No. 4 Montreal Canadiens vs. No. 5 Boston Bruins

The Eastern Conference postseason slate would look a fair bit different, with the Hurricanes -- the East's best side -- taking on the Flyers as opposed to the Bruins. The Sabres would host the Penguins to start their first postseason series since 2011, a rematch of their seven-game epic in the 2001 Eastern Conference semifinals.

The bizarro playoffs would see the Lightning take on the Senators, while the No. 4 Canadiens would joust with the No. 5 Bruins. The final four Eastern Conference seeds are separated by two points between them, so the margins between the current Eastern Conference matchups and the 1-8 format shouldn't prove too different -- save for Tampa's joust with Montreal, of course.

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Western Conference​

Matchup
No. 1 Colorado Avalanche vs. No. 8 Los Angeles Kings*
No. 2 Dallas Stars vs. No. 7 Anaheim Ducks*
No. 3 Minnesota Wild vs. No. 6 Edmonton Oilers*
No. 4 Vegas Golden Knights vs. No. 5 Utah Mammoth

Under the 1-8 format, things get a lot wackier in the West. The Avalanche would retain their place at the top of the Western Conference's totem pole. They would take on one of the Kings, Ducks or Oilers, depending on how the final day shakes out.

The Stars and Wild would also have to wait until the end of Thursday's slate of games to see who they'd take on in the first round of the postseason. A matchup against Los Angeles or Anaheim seems preferable -- Edmonton possesses Connor McDavid, Leon Draisatl and Evan Bouchard, three of the best players in the league. The Kings and Ducks, meanwhile, will finish the season with a negative goal differential.

Lastly, the Golden Knights and Mammoth would remain unchanged; Vegas' 39-26-17 might be underwhelming, but it was enough to earn the Golden Knights an outright Pacific Division crown, giving it the second No. 1 seed in the West.

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2026 NHL playoff bracket​

Here's a look at the current playoff bracket ahead of the final day of the NHL regular season:

Eastern Conference​

Matchup
(A1) Buffalo Sabres vs. (WC1) Boston Bruins
(A2) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (A3) Montreal Canadiens
(M1) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (WC2) Ottawa Senators
(M2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (M3) Philadelphia Flyers

Western Conference​

Matchup
(C1) Colorado Avalanche vs. (WC2) Los Angeles Kings
(C2) Dallas Stars vs. (C3) Minnesota Wild
(P1) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (WC1) Utah Mammoth
(P2) vs. (P3)

The Kings, Wild and Oilers could see their seeding wax and wane depending on their results in their final matchups.

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