Best-Within-Range Format Example 3
One final example, showing further quirks to this playoff system:
Once again, the top and/or bottom remaining seed will draw an opponent from a range of the four teams farthest from them in the standings, with priority for selection being with the top seed by default, and priority for drawing an opponent being first a team from the same Division, then from the same time zone, then the nearest time zone:
#1 Nashville draws #16 Chicago, as both are Division rivals:
With #2 Vegas only able to draw teams from the Atlantic Division, and one Atlantic opponent entering
the upper range, #15 Florida draws their opponent instead:
Vegas again only has Eastern teams as options, while #14 Boston has one Eastern team (through from the Metropolitan Division) to match up with. This shows the importance of the Division-time zone hierarchy to deciding which teams are prioritized for matchups:
The situation remains the same for Vegas, but #13 Montreal prioritizes matching up with #3 Minnesota, due to the fact that Minnesota is only one time zone separated from the Eastern time zone, while Vegas is three time zones away as a Pacific team:
Next, Vegas continues to face a range of only Eastern teams, while the lowest seed, #12 Toronto, has Pacific and Mountain teams in their range, drawing the higher of the two Mountain teams (#6 Colorado):
The range from this point opens up, and Vegas now has a Division rival in their (#8 Edmonton), and draws them as their opponent. This is not a fair matchup, based on where they are in the standings, but possibly a preferable one, since the time zone travel, and travel in general, is less than other teams lower than Vegas will have to contend with:
For the final two matchups, all four teams are eligible to play each other, so because they have a Division rival in range, #11 NY Rangers draw #9 Philadelphia:
#7 San Jose and #10 Buffalo are the only teams remaining, so they draw each other:
Assume that the faded teams have lost their first round matchups, and the remaining 8 teams move on to the second round:
Repeat the process, but with a range of 3, not 4. #2 Vegas can only face Eastern teams again, while #16 Chicago lacks any team in range from their Division or time zone, but being in the Central time zone, they are only one time zone from the Easter teams, superseding Vegas’ priority and drawing #4 Columbus:
The next bottom seed also supersedes Vegas’ priority by matching up with a Division rival:
Next up, #12 Toronto draws a Division rival as well, as the bottom seed:
Throughout this playoff year, Vegas has missed opportunities to draw opponents lower in the standings, as a result of having few Divisional or within-time zone options. But, they have not suffered a great deal in the fairness of their matchups, and did end up getting a Divisional opponent last round. This round, they do not, but it is not overly unfair:
Assume the faded teams have lost their second round matchups, and the remaining 4 have moved on to the third round:
For the semi-finals, Vegas has a Central team in range, but Chicago takes precedent because the other team is Eastern, thus within one time zone rather than two:
Vegas draws Toronto, as they are the last two teams remaining for the semi-final:
The Stanley Cup Finals, because of how specifically matchups are determined based on the ranges and available opponents, ends up being between two Division rivals:
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