2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: Schedule, Standings, Bracket, Odds For Hockey’s Return To Play

Hockey is on its way back after the NHL revealed its “Return to Play Plan” to wrap up the campaign, which has been on hiatus since mid-March. The remainder of the 2019-2020 NHL regular season has been cancelled and there are some major changes in place as 24 of the league’s 31 teams prepare to to compete in a modified 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The plan technically involves four phases, although the first—which is simply to isolate—has already been in place since the NHL shut down operations back in mid-March. Phase 2 is just around the corner, however, and will allow players to return to the ice for voluntary training with their teams in small groups. Phase 3 can start no earlier than the first half of July and will allow organizations to hold formal training camps. Phase 4 is the one fans are excited for, and while it currently has no targeted date, it means meaningful hockey will finally return to wrap up what had been an exciting campaign.

When Phase 4 of the Return to Play Plan kicks in, the top four teams in each conference—based on points percentage prior to the shutdown—will compete against one another in a round robin tourney to determine their seeding for the first round of the 2020 NHL Playoffs. The eight other teams in each conference have been seeded based on points and will match up in best-of-five series with a postseason spot up for grabs. This plan gives clubs that would have missed the standard 16-team postseason a chance to make some noise and earn a spot in the proper NHL playoff bracket by winning this opening series. The league has yet to reveal if it will be making any changes to its usual playoff format for the first and second rounds, but has confirmed that both the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final will remain best-of-seven battles. All of these contests will be based in two “hub cities” that have yet to be determined by the league.

Sports bettors are amongst those most eagerly looking forward to the NHL’s triumphant return, as it appears hockey is on track to become the first major American sport to start play back up again this year. Sportsbooks are capitalizing on this by releasing a slew of lines based on the league’s big announcement, including series prices for all eight qualifying round matchups and updated title odds for each of the 24 teams that will participate in the modified Stanley Cup Playoffs. These shops are already seeing the money flow in on NHL futures bets, even without having a concrete date for the start of the postseason.

The two teams favored to lift Lord Stanley’s Cup are unsurprisingly the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning. These were the co-favorites prior to the coronavirus-related shutdown and will remain that way going into the modified playoffs. Both of these top Eastern Conference squads have seen their odds drop slightly over the last couple of months, however, as bettors can now find them at +650—a bet that would net $6.50 on each $1 risked if they win a championship—compared to +600 back in March. The Colorado Avalanche—the No. 2 team in the Western Conference—have the next best odds to win it all at +700, a rather significant shift from their +900 odds at the tail end of the 2019-2020 NHL regular season. One team that has remained steady throughout this process is the St. Louis Blues, as the defending champs were +1200 to repeat prior to the shutdown and continue to be found at that price today. No squad has risen more than the Philadelphia Flyers, who have seen their odds move from a middling +1600 all the way to +800, giving them the fourth-best odds on the board to emerge from the 2020 NHL Playoffs as champions. The Flyers will not have to worry about early elimination, as they will compete in the Round Robin portion of modified NHL playoffs as one of the top four teams in the Eastern Conference.

Some clubs went in the opposite direction as Philly during the lockdown, a list that includes the Washington Capitals, who went from having the fifth-best Stanley Cup odds of any team in the NHL at +1000, up to +1500 without playing a game. The organization that saw its odds suffer most during this layoff is the Carolina Hurricanes. The ‘Canes were thought of as a realistic contender by Vegas with +2000 odds back in March, but have since slid all the way up to a concerning +5000. Carolina—which was vehemently against the proposal that ended up passing—now has its work cut out in the qualifying round, as the No. 6 seed in the East is only a slight favorite (-120) against the No. 11-seeded New York Rangers, a fierce opponent that was just two games behind the Hurricanes in the standings when play ceased.

Below you can find the current candidates to become the hub cities for the conclusion of the 2020 NHL season, as well as all of the participants and seedings for the Round Robin and Qualifying Round events. You can also find the betting lines for each of the Qualifying Round series and a quick breakdown of how the NHL Draft lottery will work this year. Finally, don’t forget to check out updated 2020 Stanley Cup championship odds for all 24 teams and their comparison to the pre-shutdown odds.

2020 NHL Season Return To Play Overview

Hub City Candidates

• Chicago, IL
• Columbus, OH
• Dallas, TX
• Edmonton, AB
• Las Vegas, NV
• Los Angeles, CA
• Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
• Pittsburgh, PA
• Toronto, ON
• Vancouver, BC

Eastern Conference Round Robin Participants

No. 1 Boston Bruins

No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning

No. 3 Washington Capitals

No. 4 Philadelphia Flyers

Eastern Conference Qualifying Round Matchups And Odds

No. 5 Pittsburgh Penguins (-205) vs. No. 12 Montreal Canadiens (+175)

No. 6 Carolina Hurricanes (-140)  vs. No. 11 New York Rangers (+120)

No. 7 New York Islanders (-120) vs. No. 10 Florida Panthers (+100)

No. 8 Toronto Maple Leafs (-160) vs. No. 9 Columbus Blue Jackets (+140)

Western Conference Round Robin Participants

No. 1 St. Louis Blues

No. 2 Colorado Avalanche

No. 3 Vegas Golden Knights

No. 4 Dallas Stars

Western Conference Qualifying Round Matchups And Odds

No. 5 Edmonton Oilers (-160) vs. No. 12 Chicago Blackhawks (+140)

No. 6 Nashville Predators (-140) vs. No. 11 Arizona Coyotes (+120)

No. 7 Vancouver Canucks (-130) vs. No. 10 Minnesota Wild (+110)

No. 8 Calgary Flames (-120) vs. No. 9 Winnipeg Jets (+100)

2020 NHL Draft Lottery

Bob McKenzie tweeted out a brief summary of how the NHL Draft Lottery 2020 will work, which will involve the seven teams that didn’t make it into the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as well as the eight that get eliminated in the qualifying round:

You can read a full summary on how this unique draft lottery will work, including a breakdown of the multiple phases and odds, by clicking here.

2020 NHL Stanley Cup Championship Odds