2022 NHL Playoff Bracket: Teams, Seeds & Schedule

NHL Playoff Bracket as of May 15th, 2022.

The 2022 NHL Playoffs are heading into the second round. The Eastern Conference semifinals see the Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers and New York Rangers vs Carolina Hurricanes. The Western semis feature the St Louis Blues vs Colorado Avalanche and Edmonton Oilers vs Calgary Flames in the first postseason Battle of Alberta since 1991.

Thanks to a thrilling seven-game series victory over Toronto, Tampa Bay continues on its quest for a third straight Stanley Cup title. No team has won three straight Stanley Cups since the New York Islanders won four from 1980-1983, when the league only contained 21 teams.

NHL Playoff Schedule

How Is the NHL Playoff Bracket Set Up?

With the NHL playoff structure reverted to its regular format in 2022, this is how the seeding will work. There are eight teams from both the Eastern Conference and Western Conference that will make it to the postseason.

The Eastern Conference will  have the top three teams from the Metropolitan Division and Atlantic Division, along with two wild card spots. The Western Conference playoff schedule will feature the top three teams from both the Pacific and Central Division, along with the two best teams outside of those six as the wild cards.

The top two seeds in each division in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference will play the Wild Card teams in Round 1. Meanwhile, the other #2 and #3 seeds in each division will play each other in the first round. That’s why even though the Bruins are ahead of the Penguins in regular season points, they’re in the Wild Card spot because the Lightning, Leafs, and Panthers are all ahead of them in the Atlantic Division.

With the Avalanche leading the way in the NHL standings and the Stanley Cup odds, they will take on the bottom feeder in the West. As of right now, that’s the Dallas Stars. Here’s what the Stanley Cup schedule would be right now.

 How Many Teams Make the NHL Playoffs?

NHL Playoff Matchups as of May 1, 2022.

As mentioned above, the NHL playoff schedule has not been set in stone yet. We do know there will be four rounds – First Round, Second Round, Conference Championships, Stanley Cup Final. Each series in all rounds will be a best-of-seven series. 16 total teams make the Stanley Cup playoffs, eight from the East and eight from the West.

When Do the NHL Playoffs Start?

This is obviously a little bit of a different format than last year’s playoffs. That being said, most teams will play a seven game series against a team from their division. Although that was the case last year as well, the divisions were realigned, so that is something to factor in when looking at the opening NHL odds for series prices.

Final NHL Regular-Season Standings

Final regular-season NHL standings.

The Arizona Coyotes are officially unable to clinch a Stanley Cup playoff bracket spot, along with 16 other teams. However, the Montreal Canadiens were the first official team to be eliminated from the NHL Playoff Picture and finished last in the regular season standings.

Sneaking into the Eastern Conference playoffs were the Washington Capitals, while the Nashville Predators hold that eighth spot in the West. Canadians looking to wager on some of their favorite local teams; can now do so by checking out these Ontario sports betting apps.