Report: NHL 24-team playoff plan circulating

A potential plan for restarting the NHL season is circulating among NHL players, according to a report from TVA Sports' Renaud Lavoie on Saturday.

The scenario is just one of several ideas being discussed and not a concrete or final plan.

The plan involves the top 24 teams in the league standings, which as it stands already includes 12 teams from each division. Teams would be separated into four divisions for the playoffs, but since the Metropolitan and Central divisions both have seven teams in the top 24 and the Atlantic and Pacific divisions both only have five, the Rangers would be moved to the Atlantic Division group and the Wild would be moved to the Pacific Division group:

Atlantic Division: Bruins, Lightning, Panthers, Maple Leafs, Rangers, Canadiens.

Metropolitan Division: Capitals, Penguins, Flyers, Hurricanes, Islanders, Blue Jackets.

Central Division: Blues, Avalanche, Predators, Stars, Jets, Blackhawks.

Pacific Division: Golden Knights, Oilers, Flames, Canucks, Coyotes, Wild.

Lavoie reports that under this plan, each team would play five games in nine days in a round robin-style tournament. A percentage of points from the round robin games would be combined with a percentage of points from the regular season. The top two teams in each division would receive a bye, and the remaining four teams in each division would play a best-of-three series, with the No. 3 seed playing the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 seed playing the No. 5 seed.

That would result in four teams remaining in each division, who would then play normal best-of-seven series to finish the season.