The 2024 NHL Playoffs for the Stanley Cup begin on April 20 and end in mid-June, probably shortly before the 2024 European Football Championship in Germany.
16 teams will play for the Stanley Cup in four rounds of the 2023 NHL Playoffs: eight from the Eastern Conference, eight from the Western Conference.
Here you can find all the information about the 2024 NHL Playoffs: dates, schedule, teams, mode and broadcast
NHL Playoffs 2024: Schedule & all dates
The teams in the 2024 NHL playoffs: Who’s in?
When all teams have played their 82 games in the regular season, the standings of the two conferences, i.e. the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference, will be calculated separately.
Who will make the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs? A total of 16 teams will advance to the playoffs, which are played in a knockout system.
The three teams with the most points from the two divisions in each conference qualify directly for the play-offs.
In addition, each conference awards two wild cards to the teams with the most points (apart from the six teams that have already qualified).
As this allocation takes place across all divisions, it can happen that one division sends five teams to the play-offs and the other division only three. This is the case if the fifth-placed team in one division has more points than the fourth-placed team in the other division
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division:
- Boston Bruins
- Florida Panthers*
- Toronto Maple Leafs*
Metropolitan Division:
- New York Rangers*
- Carolina Hurricanes*
- New York Islanders
Wild Cards:
- Tampa Bay Lightning*
- Pittburgh Penguins
Western Conference
Central Division:
- Dallas Stars*
- Colorado Avalanche*
- Winnipeg Jets
Pacific Division:
- Vancouver Canucks*
- Edmonton Oilers*
- Las Vegas Golden Knights
Wild Cards:
- Nashville Predators
- Los Angeles Kings
NHL Playoffs Format & Schedule – the Road to the Finals
The 2024 NHL Playoffs, including the Stanley Cup Finals, consist of a total of four rounds.
These are: 1st Round, Conference Semifinals, Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals in which the new NHL Champion will be played.
However, the Stanley Cup playoffs, as the NHL postseason is also known, start off a little differently to the NFL playoffs, for example.
In the National Football League playoffs, the two best teams in the regular season have a bye in the first playoff round.
This is not the case in the ice hockey championship. Here, the best teams are involved right from the start. This means that all eight participants will enter the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. It works the same way in the NBA playoffs
1st round of the 2024 NHL Playoffs
Who will play who in the 1st round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs – as the NHL playoffs on the way to the Stanley Cup are also called?
In the first round, the division winners face off against a wild card participant (4th or 5th), as well as between the second and third-place teams from the same division.
The better team in the regular season will play games one and two (and games five and seven if necessary) at home, while the other team will have the home advantage for games three and four (and game six if necessary).
Eastern Conference: Schedule & Stand
Western Conference: Schedule & Stand
Conference Semifinals
The second round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs are the Conference Semifinals.
Who plays against whom is determined by the Stanley Cup Playoffs schedule. The winners of the first round play each other here.
Since the teams from the four divisions clash in the second round of the NHL playoffs, this round is also referred to as the “Divisional Finals.”
Eastern Conference: Schedule & Standings
Western Conference: Schedule & Stand
The following mode also applies here: The better team in the regular season has the advantage of playing games one and two (and possibly games five and seven) at home.
The other team has the right to play games three and four (and possibly game six) at home.
If a duel goes the full distance in best-of-7 mode, the better team in the regular season has one more home game
Conference Finals
The final round of the NHL playoffs are the Conference Finals.
They not only determine the winner of the respective conference – Eastern and Western – but also who will play each other in the Stanley Cup Finals for the championship title. The NHL Playoffs 2024 schedule looks like this:
The winner of the playoff games among the Atlantic Division teams will face the winner of the Metropolitan bracket. This will determine the winner of the Eastern Conference. The best team in the Western Conference will be determined from the best playoff teams in the Central Division and Pacific Division.
The winner of the Eastern Conference and the winner of the Western Conference will therefore meet in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Conference Finals of the NHL Playoffs
Stanley Cup Finals of the 2024 NHL Playoffs: Dates & Mode
The mode of the Stanley Cup Finals is identical to that of the last three rounds of the NHL playoffs.
The team with more points in the regular season has home ice in the first two games. Also in games 5 and 7, if necessary. In Games 3, 4 and 6, the other finalist has home-ice advantage.
This means that if the Stanley Cup Finals go to the decisive last game, the team with the better record in the basic round has home ice.
There is no fixed schedule for the finals in the 2024 NHL Playoffs. The start of the finals series depends on the duration of the conference finals. The Stanley Cup Finals are likely to start on June 14.
What is certain, however, is that the Stanley Cup winner will be determined by June 24 at the latest. Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs Finals is scheduled for that day
The match dates for the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals
- Game 1 on June 14
- Game 2 on June 15
- Game 3 on June 17
- Game 4 on June 18
- Game 5 on June 20 (if necessary)
- Game 6 on June 22 (if necessary)
- Game 7 on June 24 (if necessary)
