The NHL announced its Return to Play Plan with the Stanley Cup Playoffs that will include 24 teams.
The tournament will begin with a 16-team, eight-series Qualifying Round and a round-robin competition among the top four teams in each conference to determine seeding for the First Round.
The NHL paused the regular season March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus and it will not be completed.
The 12 qualifying teams from the Eastern and Western conferences were determined by points percentage as of that date. Seven teams did not qualify.
The qualifying round and round-robin will be held at two hub cities to be identified -- one for the 12 participating Eastern Conference teams and one for the 12 Western Conference teams - and begin at a date to be determined. Candidates for the hub cities include Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Vancouver.
The Western Conference best-of-5 qualifying round series are:
- Edmonton Oilers (37-25-9, 83 points) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (32-30-8, 72 points)
- Nashville Predators (35-26-8, 78 points) vs. Arizona Coyotes (33-29-8, 74 points)
- Vancouver Canucks (36-27-6, 78 points) vs. Minnesota Wild (35-27-7, 77 points)
- Calgary Flames (36-27-7, 79 points) vs. Winnipeg Jets (37-28-6, 80 points)