How will the playoffs work?
The league will have a traditional 16-team, best-of-seven playoff format this year, though it will look a bit different thanks to the divisional realignment. The top four teams in each division will qualify for the playoffs and be placed into divisional brackets for the first few rounds of the playoffs (No.1 seed vs. No. 4 seed, No. 2 seed vs. No. 3 seed).
The four teams that advance to the Stanley Cup Semifinal (known as the Conference Final in a normal year) will be seeded by their regular season points total, with the No. 1 vs. No. 4 seed and No. 2 vs. No. 3.
This format means, in theory, this year's Stanley Cup Final could feature two teams that typically play in the same conference in a traditional season.
cbssports.com