NHL Playoffs Face Ratings Risks With Canadian Focus, Original Six Absence

There’s a new look to this year’s National Hockey League playoff field, leaving big implications for viewership over the next two months. 

As the NHL concludes its regular season this week, 13 of 16 available playoff slots have been clinched, and already, two major themes have emerged: the four U.S.-based Original Six teams have all failed to reach the postseason for the first time, and the Canadian presence will be at its highest level in years.

The collective absence of the Blackhawks, Bruins, Rangers, and Red Wings from the playoffs is notable on multiple fronts. Not only had it failed to happen since the league’s 1917 formation, but the Rangers were the Presidents’ Trophy winner last season, reached the conference finals, and had been expected to return as a serious title contender. Instead, New York is just the fourth Presidents’ Trophy winner to miss the playoffs the next season. The Bruins, meanwhile, missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

In Canada, the Jets, Maple Leafs, Oilers, and Senators have already secured playoff spots, while the Canadiens currently hold the last Eastern Conference wild card spot and are on the cusp of clinching. The Flames additionally remain just two standings points out of the final Western Conference playoff berth, with a game in hand against the Blues. 

A fifth Canadian team would represent the most teams from that country in the NHL playoffs since 2017. A sixth entrant from the Great White North would equal the count from 1993—the year the Canadiens claimed the Stanley Cup and remains the most recent Canadian title winner. 

The reshaped postseason field could create a rather different look for playoff viewership. Canadian markets are not measured in standard, U.S.-based Nielsen reports and have separate viewership tracking. Teams like the Jets and Senators, meanwhile, have operated further out of the limelight and don’t feature mainstream stars like other Canadian teams, such as the Oilers’ Connor McDavid. 

The NHL, however, has been building toward this situation. Last year’s Stanley Cup Final between the Oilers and Panthers featured just the second presence of a Canadian conference champion since 2011, and a historic draw of 7.7 million in the U.S. for the climactic Game 7 represented the most-watched NHL game in history without an Original Six franchise. 

This year’s Final is almost certain to show an audience decrease, with the event returning to cable on TNT Sports after last year’s broadcast aired on ABC.