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Playoff formats that would and wouldn’t work for the Vegas Golden Knights

By Andrew Steele-Davis

SAN JOSE, CA - APRIL 23: Paul Stastny #26 of the Vegas Golden Knights skates with the puck against the San Jose Sharks in Game Seven of the Western Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at SAP Center on April 23, 2019 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
SAN JOSE, CA - APRIL 23: Paul Stastny #26 of the Vegas Golden Knights skates with the puck against the San Jose Sharks in Game Seven of the Western Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at SAP Center on April 23, 2019 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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Paul Stastny of the Vegas Golden Knights skates with the puck against the San Jose Sharks in Game Seven of the Western Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at SAP Center on April 23, 2019.
Paul Stastny of the Vegas Golden Knights skates with the puck against the San Jose Sharks in Game Seven of the Western Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at SAP Center on April 23, 2019. /

It has been nearly four weeks since the Vegas Golden Knights saw their season come to an abrupt halt due to the coronavirus crisis.

With our country and the rest of the world still grappling with COVID-19, the sporting world has rightly taken a backseat, including the Vegas Golden Knights.

There is a hope, however, that hockey could return this year with the NHL desperate to crown a Stanley Cup Champion.

That is understandable for a number of reasons, including the fact that sports is a welcome distraction and a source of hope for many people.

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Furthermore, a cancelled season including no playoffs would severely hurt the NHL’s bottom line and could impact future seasons, starting with 2020-21.

And days like today hammer home the fact that the NHL is on lockdown with the Stanley Cup Playoffs slated to start tonight.

It should have been Christmas today but, instead, Commissioner Gary Bettman will continue to try and come up with a number of contingency plans.

Speaking to NBCSN’s Mike Tirico, Bettman stressed again that the NHL hopes to complete the regular season, a plan many a high-profile player is in support of, although he did admit that it may not be possible due to the ongoing nature of COVID-19.

One other option that has been discussed has been the possibility of jumping straight into the postseason, although that would of course throw up a few logistical nightmares.

The NHL has to be fair to a number of teams and, as a result, a bevy of potential formats have been proposed, although some are sheer madness.

However, due to the fact that we are in uncharted territory right now, everything has to be on the table.

As a result, we are going to take a close look at a few and assess whether they would or wouldn’t work from a Vegas Golden Knights perspective.

Let’s delve in…

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