NHL Playoff Bracket Maker - 16-Team Stanley Cup Format
Build a Stanley Cup playoff bracket. The NHL postseason features 16 teams across 4 rounds. Eight teams qualify from each conference, split between the top 3 in each division and 2 wild cards.
NHL Playoff Structure
16 Teams, 4 Rounds, Best-of-7 Series
- -16 teams: 8 from the Eastern Conference, 8 from the Western Conference
- -Within each conference: top 3 from each division (Atlantic and Metropolitan in the East; Central and Pacific in the West) plus 2 wild cards
- -First Round, Second Round, Conference Finals, Stanley Cup Final
- -Every round is a best-of-7 series (first to 4 wins)
- -Home-ice advantage goes to the higher-seeded team in each series
Series Count
Divisional Bracket Format
The current NHL playoff format brackets the first two rounds within each division. The two division winners face the wild cards in Round 1; the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in each division meet in the other Round 1 series. Round 2 produces a divisional champion from each of the four divisions. The two divisional champions in each conference then meet in the Conference Finals.
This locked-bracket format is different from the NBA, where higher seeds always face the lowest remaining seed after each round. The NHL approach can produce earlier matchups between strong teams from the same division.
Stanley Cup Office Pool
Pick the Champion + Per-Round
Tiebreak
Most NHL pools use total goals scored in the Stanley Cup Final-clinching game as the tiebreak. Predict the total goals (closest without going over wins).
Some pools add a Conn Smythe predictor (the playoff MVP) as a secondary tiebreak.