The PWHL announced a unique rule for its inaugural postseason beginning May 6.
The top four teams in the league will make the playoffs beginning with two best-of-five series featuring a traditional 2-2-1 series format with the higher seeds owning home-ice advantage. Any games needing overtime will be decided in the traditional sudden-death format by playing five-on-five periods until a goal is scored.
PWHL senior vice president of hockey operations Jayna Hefford explained the added benefit of finishing as the top seed in the league for this season’s playoffs on a conference call with the media.
“We’re also introducing an innovative new rule as we continue to grow and be creative in how we build this league,” Hefford said. “… We are implementing a rule where the No. 1 team after the regular season will have the opportunity to choose either No. 3 or No. 4 as their first-round opponent.”
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The first-place team will have a 24-hour window to select its semifinal opponent.
“I think it’s pretty cool,” PWHL Boston goaltender Aerin Frankel told NESN.com in a phone interview. “It gives the coaches the opportunities to look at matchups heading into the playoffs.”
Frankel’s teammate Megan Keller is equally excited about the new format, especially playing in a best-of-five series.
“A lot of us (across the league) haven’t played in a five-game series in a long time,” Keller told NESN.com. “Regardless of what seed you are, you have to play your best hockey to win. It’s going to be fun.”
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Along with the unveiling of the playoff format, the PWHL also released its adaptation of how the league will determine the draft selection process.
The system proposed in the late-2000s by statistician Adam Gold will begin once a team is mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. That team will then begin earning “draft order points,” which will follow the PWHL’s regular season point system: three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime win, one point for an overtime loss and zero points for a regulation loss.
The team with the most “draft order points” at the conclusion of the regular season will earn the first selection in each round of the draft. The non-playoff team with the fewest points will have the second pick in each round.
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If two non-playoff teams tie for the most points, the first pick in each round will be awarded to the team with the most regulations wins after elimination. Picks three through six will be determined by the regular-season standings with the final pick going to the top team in the league. The franchises will have the opportunity to trade draft picks after the completion of the season.
The draft will be held in mid-June with dates to be determined, and will consist of seven rounds and 42 selections.
Hefford also added the trade deadline for the PWHL’s inaugural season is March 17 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Featured image via Andrea Cardin/Freestyle Photography/PWHL
