From the Rafters: The No. 3 Seed—an NHL Rule That SHOULD Be Re-Visited

Let me first go on record to say that, I am a No. 3 seed skeptic. Have always been, likely always will be. Unless they fix it.

My premise is simple. Why do we prop up a team with fewer points ahead of another team who has scored more points? Typing it feels wrong, repeating it in my head sounds wrong.

This article looks to discuss how we got here, what it all means, and what I think we should do about it. Then you can decide.

First, let’s look at how the regular season finished up.

East

1. Montreal 104
2. Pittsburgh 102
3. Washington 94
4. New Jersey 99
5. NY Rangers 97
6. Philadelphia 95
7. Ottawa 94
8. Boston 94

West

1. Detroit 115
2. San Jose 108
3. Minnesota 98
4. Anaheim 102
5. Dallas 97
6. Colorado 95
7. Calgary 94
8. Nashville 91

Result here is first round matchups in the East of

Montreal (1) vs Boston (8)
Pittsburgh (2) vs Ottawa (7)
Washington (3) vs Philadelphia (6)
New Jersey (4) vs NY Rangers (5)

And in the west, the first round is as follows:

Detroit (1) vs Nashville (8)
San Jose (2) vs Calgary (7)
Minnesota (3) vs Colorado (6)
Anaheim (4) vs Dallas (5)

Now without the No. 3 seed factor, here is how it previously WOULD have been played out before the changes were implemented

East

1. Montreal 104
2. Pittsburgh 102
3. New Jersey 99
4. NY Rangers 97
5. Philadelphia 95
6. Ottawa 94
7. Washington 94
8. Boston 94

West

1. Detroit 115
2. San Jose 108
3. Anaheim 102
4. Minnesota 98
5. Dallas 97
6. Colorado 95
7. Calgary 94
8. Nashville 91

This would have resulted in the following first round matchups in the East

Montreal (1) vs Boston (8)
Pittsburgh (2) vs Washington (7)
New Jersey (3) vs Ottawa (6)
NY Rangers (4) vs Philadelphia (5)

And in the West, it would have looked as follows

Detroit (1) vs Nashville (8)
San Jose (2) vs Calgary (7)
Anaheim (3) vs Colorado (6)
Minnesota (4) vs Dallas (5)

In an effort to reward a team for winning it’s division, the seeding rules changed such that at the very least, if your team won it’s division crown, you were guaranteed to at least be a No. 1, 2, or 3 seed, even if your point total was abysmal. So it is plausible, something like the following could indeed occur:

East

1. Montreal 100 pts
2. Pittsburgh 99 pts
3. Washington 70 pts
4. NY Islanders 88 pts
5. NY Rangers 87 pts
6. Buffalo 84 pts
7. New Jersey 82 pts
8. Ottawa 80 pts

And that ladies and gentlemen just should NOT be allowed to happen.

This years Eastern conference is a perfect example of what is wrong about the current arrangement. Washington, prior to the revised approach, would have finished in the seventh spot, a significant drop from the No. 3 seed they own now.

Not only do they get to begin the playoffs against a weaker team, they are the proud beneficiaries of home ice advantage. Make no mistake about it, home ice advantage is a statistical benefit.

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