Post-Olympic buzz fueling tight races for Stanley Cup Playoffs, Bettman says

MANALAPAN, Fla. -- The success of having NHL players at the 2026 Winter Olympics and the buzz coming out of the gold medal game have added even more fuel to the tight races for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Speaking on the final day of the NHL General Managers meetings, Commissioner Gary Bettman said the League was happy with the experience in Milan and how it’s generated excitement for the final few weeks of the regular season.

“On balance, because as you’ve heard me say repeatedly probably more than you want to hear, going to the Olympics is a balancing act, I think the players who participated were thrilled with the experience without regard to outcome of any particular team,” Bettman said Wednesday. “The hockey was sensational and there seems to be a post-Olympic buzz which, among other things, is driving interest in the game and our national ratings, certainly in the U.S.”

That interest will be driven by the tight playoff races in each conference.

Entering Wednesday, the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes are tied in points (90) for the No. 1 seed in the East.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders are tied for second place in the Metropolitan Division; the Columbus Blue Jackets are currently out of the playoffs but are two points behind them. The Blue Jackets are also one point behind the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings in the East wild-card race.

The Ottawa Senators are five points out of a wild-card spot but are 7-2-1 in their past 10 games and have two games in hand on Boston and Detroit.

The Colorado Avalanche have a three-point lead on the Dallas Stars for first place in the Central Division heading into their game at Ball Arena in Denver on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, TNT, TVAS2). The Minnesota Wild are third, four points behind the Stars.

The Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers are tied in points for first place in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of the third-place Vegas Golden Knights. Five teams are within four points of each other in the battle for the second wild card in the West.

“If you look at the races for the playoffs, I think it’s virtually impossible to say that the regular season has no meaning,” Bettman said. “To the contrary, every game counts.”

Bettman also said the current playoff format -- which has the two division winners play the two wild cards in each conference, and the second- and third-place teams in each division play each other in the first round, gives the NHL a spectacular start to the postseason.

“It gives us a sensational first round, probably the best playoff first round in any sport,” Bettman said. “We get more games and longer series as a result of the format. You can always pick at certain situations in any given year and say, ‘Well, I’d like it to be different that year,’ but if you look at the body of work that our playoffs represent over time, what we have now works extraordinarily well.

“It makes it exciting. It makes it entertaining. It’s about us presenting a terrific game to our fans. I don’t think there’s any debate that what we’ve been doing under the current format does that.”

The NHL schedule expands to 84 games per team next season, up from 82. The expectation from the League is the extra two games per team, each played in the division, should have an even greater impact on the divisional playoff races and first-round matchups.

“Going to 84 games, what really that does is balance off divisional play,” Bettman said. “Every team will play every other team twice at home and twice away, which I think is good so we’re not doing any rotation within the division. If anything, I think it makes it more impactful.”