NHL playoffs will use best-of-7 format after play-in rounds

The NHL has put the finishing touches on its 24-team playoff format.

The league announced Thursday that after the best-of-five play-in rounds, the remaining four series of the playoffs will all be best-of-seven. Teams will also be reseeded after each round, instead of using the traditional bracket.

The reseeding format will ensure that the highest surviving seed will play the lowest surviving seed in the next round, and so on.

The top four seeds in each conference will be determined by the three-game round robin that teams will participate in, with regular-season points percentage acting as the tiebreaker.

The players have been pushing for both items to be implemented in the league's return in order to keep the integrity of the playoffs, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.

There is still no tentative date that the NHL is aiming to return by. The league sent out a memo to teams late in May that it hopes to transition to Phase 2 of its return to play plan in early June, which would allow players to begin voluntarily working out at team facilities.

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