The 2020-21 NHL Season format is starting to be announced as we have received four geographically reformed divisions. Both the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning will be playing in the Central Division. Included in this division, will be a familiar team for the Panthers and Lightning to face, the Detroit Red Wings. The Panthers and Lightning will also play a couple teams who were in the Eastern Conference but from the opposing division, the Carolina Hurricanes and the Columbus Blue Jackets. Unfamiliar teams included in this division, will be the Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars, and Nashville Predators. This will be an interesting new division, because of a mix of teams who do not play each other often.
The new format will include a total of 56 games while teams will play their division opponents 8 times. Although they have announced this type of schedule, they are yet to announce the full schedule. The top 4 teams from each division will make the playoffs. The first two rounds of the playoffs will be interdivisional play, followed by reseeding for the semifinals, and the Stanley Cup final. January 3rd will be the start of training camps followed by the season beginning on January 13th. The trade deadline will occur on April 12th followed by the season end on May 8th. Playoffs will begin May 11th with the Stanley Cup Final occurring in Mid July. The offseason will begin shortly after, as the NHL hopes to return to a normal schedule and format the following season.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The new Central Division will help the Lightning in multiple ways. The first way it will benefit the Lightning is the amount of travel they cut from their road schedule. They will no longer have to travel across the border to play 3 Canadian teams, as well as not traveling north to Boston and Buffalo. In the classic Atlantic Division, the Lightning have to travel 7,067 miles to other divisional cities. The furthest they would have to travel for a single opponent, would be Montreal, which is 1,305 miles away. The closest of course would be Florida counterpart, the Florida Panthers. With the realignment the Lightning cut 1,939 miles of divisional travel off their schedule. Tampa Bay now only has to travel 5,128 miles, with the furthest city being Chicago, 1,003 miles away. Travel certainly does take a toll on players and this change will definitely help the Lightning.
Another positive the Central Division brings the Lightning is the new teams they will face. Yes, the Lightning will have to face their 2020 Stanley Cup Final opponent of Dallas in division play. However, you remove top teams such as Boston and Toronto from the division. Although, you do add playoff teams with the Hurricanes and Blue Jackets. Applying the previous season’s standings to this division, Tampa Bay would win the division. The closest team to the Lightning would be the Hurricanes followed by the Dallas Stars. The playoff battle should have a secure top 4 in the Hurricanes, Stars, Blue Jackets, and Lightning. The only argument would be a matter of where these teams will fall in this top 4. Although that top 4 will be a battle it is far better than the former Atlantic division.
Florida Panthers
Travel will also benefit the Panthers as they are another team in the south with no teams nearby apart from the Lightning. In the Atlantic Division, the Panthers travel a total of 7,892 miles to divisional opponents. Boston is the furthest city from Sunrise in the Atlantic with a distance of 1,488 miles. The revised alignment will replace Boston with Chicago as the furthest place to travel. Chicago will be 1,161 miles away, which is closer than 4 locations in the Atlantic Division. Rather than traveling over 1,000 miles to any place outside of Florida, 4 central division locations are within this distance. Apart from Tampa Bay, the closest city will be a 669 mile flight to Raleigh to play the Hurricanes. The cut of 1,907 miles of travel will be helpful for veterans such as Keith Yandle and the entire roster.
A new mix of teams will be a problem for the Florida Panthers this season. Last year in the Atlantic, the Panthers finished 4th which is enough in this season’s format to make the playoffs. However, if you apply last season’s standings to this year’s Central division that would not be the case. Florida would miss the playoffs and tie for 5th in the division with Nashville if that was the case. The additions of Duclair and Wennberg will not likely pick up what Hoffman and Dadonov leave behind. They will not have to worry about Detroit but Nashville and Chicago could put up a fight for that 4th spot. Also, the ability to obtain that 4th seed in the playoffs relies on Columbus’ performance. These new additions to the division will provide Florida a challenge in the push for the playoffs. Obviously, the way the Panthers perform lies on Sergei Bobrovsky. Bobrovsky was expected to be a top goalie last year, and that didn’t turn out so well. If Bobrovsky becomes a Top 5 goalie once again, the Panthers may make the playoffs.