How does the NHL playoff seeding go?

The winner of the division faces a wildcard team. The 2 and 3 teams in the division face each other.

Since there are two wildcard teams, the team with the best record in the conference will face the weakest wildcard team.

Take the Eastern Conference for example. The Canadiens lead the Atlantic division. The two teams trailing them are the Lightning and Red Wings (in that order)

The Islanders lead the Metropolian division. The two teams behind are the Rangers and Penguins (in that order)

Wildcard teams are not in the top 3 of their respective divisions; they can be either either 4th or 5th in their division (if there is a 5th, a 4th is most certainly in the same division.

The top two wildcard teams are the Capitals and the Bruins (in that order)

If the season ended today, the matchups will be this:

Canadiens Vs Bruins (epic rivalry)

Islanders Vs Capitals

Lightning Vs Red Wings

Rangers Vs Penguins

Note: the team with the better record has home-ice advantage

They do seeding to, so in the case of the Atlantic division, Canadiens are 1, and the Bruins are 4. If there are two wildcard teams in that division, then the 5th team will be shifted to the Metropolian bracket.

In the 2nd round, the two winners of the two Atlantic series face each other (The Metropolian Final & The Atlanta Final(

In the 3rd Round, the winner of the Metropolian Bracket faces the winner of the Atlantic bracket

Then Stanley Cup final, where the EC winner faces the WC winner

In each conference, the top three teams in each division make the playoffs, as well as the two remaining teams with the best records no matter what division they're in (the two teams could be from the same division or one from each). Those last two teams are the wild cards.

Within each division, the 2nd place team plays the 3rd place team, with the 2nd place team having home ice advantage (games 1 and 2, then 5 and 7 if necessary). Of the two first-place teams, the team with the best record plays the wild card team with the worse record, even if that team is in the other division. The remaining first-place team plays the remaining wild card team.

In the second round, the two first-round winners in each division play each other. In the third round, the two remaining teams in each conference play. And finally the last two teams play for the Stanley Cup.

In a division:

It goes like this,

2nd place vs 3rd place

1st places of both divisions in a conference will face one of the wild cards: the one with the most points between the 2 will play the team with least points in the wild cards.

Top teams play low seeds.