06.26.25: The June Issue, Sports
Ladies, gentlemen, and otherwise, I have been inspired—not from any sort of philosophical epiphany, but due to an X post from NHL insider Pierre Lebrun outlining the changes he would make if he were NHL commissioner. I think the hockey world could benefit from my thoughts as well. LeBrun worked for 13 years as an NHL reporter for the “Canadian Press,” then another nine at ESPN, before joining TSN in 2011, where he has remained since. After 30 years as a professional hockey journalist, working through the NHL’s highest and lowest moments, LeBrun is certainly qualified to suggest major changes to the sport and league as a whole.
As you may have guessed, I have not been a professional hockey journalist for thirty years. In fact, I have not been a professional hockey journalist for any period of time. I am, however, a religious hockey fanatic to an unhealthy degree, which I think qualifies me to opine on how to reform and improve the NHL. So, with that, here’s what I would do if I were commissioner of the National Hockey League.
For those who do not watch hockey, the NHL playoffs consist of 16 teams, with the top three from each division (Pacific, Central, Atlantic, and Metropolitan) and two wildcard teams from each conference (West and East). The playoffs are split and seeded by conference, so the best team in the East plays the second Eastern wildcard, the second team in the Metro plays the third team in the Metro, and so on. There are four rounds of best-of-seven series, with the last being the Stanley Cup Final between the Eastern and Western conference champions.
This is already the best playoffs in sports. Teams are playing their hardest right from puck drop of Game 1. Many players succumb to injury quickly, making playoffs a battle of sheer will, endurance, and perseverance until the bitter end. It is also deeply flawed in its design. The best-of-seven format results in an absurdly long playoff period, usually around two months; this year the playoffs lasted from April 13 to June 17. It’s too long for players and fans, inevitably turning the most exciting sport on earth into a spectacle you’re just waiting to end.
Instead, I propose teams enter a best-of-five format. Fewer games means each game matters more, resulting in more exciting and intense games overall. That should, in turn, make viewers feel like they have to tune in to every part of every series, increasing league revenues and creating a more riveting playoffs experience overall. As for the seeding, in round one of this new playoff format, the number one team would always play the number 16 team regardless of conference, number two would play number 15, and so on. From then on, you’d just go through the bracket like normal.
This in turn would allow for far more diversity in matchups in every round. The lack of conference requirement could create some incredible Stanley Cup Final rivalries that we’ve never seen before (Rangers/Bruins, Avalanche/Stars).
LeBrun wanted to move the opening of free agency to within 48 hours of the draft, shorten camp and preseason, and drop the puck on the regular season around September 15. I completely agree. Going right from the Stanley Cup finals into the draft and, subsequently, free agency would make for one of the most exciting weeks in professional sports. Furthermore, it would keep fans engaged in a way that the end of the NHL season currently lacks. If implemented, it would only make sense to move up the start of the season to keep timelines roughly the same.
In recent years, the NHL trade deadline and the three weeks prior have become a focal point of the season, with deadline rumors and trade talks filling the early months of the season. Entire team rosters have been shaped at the deadline, but some less-than-fair competitive shenanigans have begun to appear. Teams who know they are going to make the playoffs use the trade deadline as a way to circumvent salary caps, benching high-paid players in the last quarter of the season. By doing this, teams can trade for players that would, ordinarily, make the team exceed its cap limit. When the cap disappears during the playoffs, teams that use this strategy have an unfair advantage.
Moving the trade deadline to the halfway mark of the season decreases the amount of cap space teams can accrue before disincentivizing teams from trying to circumvent their salary cap. Sitting a star for that long could have major negative ramifications on a team’s success. Spending half the season without one of your top players could result in a team missing the playoffs entirely. Even if they do make it, the months off the ice might make that player relatively ineffective in the postseason. A new trade deadline might also be beneficial for moving players as they have more time to get used to their new team.
All-star games are pointless. Fans know it, insiders know it, broadcast networks know it, and most importantly, players know it. Every sport has, historically, suffered from the same issue here. Players simply don’t try during All-Star games, and a week that should be best-on-best competition turns into a slog. This past season, the NHL found a solution.
In lieu of an all-star game, fans witnessed a face-off between the four nations most represented by player nationality (excluding Russia), giving us some of the most electric hockey we have ever seen. Every game was great because each player cared deeply about representing their country. The USA-Canada final was the most-watched hockey game on ESPN in history, with 9.3 million viewers. For the first time in my life, hockey was at the forefront of every sports fan’s mind.
It’s hard to get into a sport if you didn’t grow up with it, and it’s hard to grow up with hockey since the majority of the country can’t realistically play. It’s really easy to tune in for a week and watch the best players in the world battle each other to the bitter end. It’s even easier to watch 22 men in red, white, and blue literally bleed on the ice for our country. In short, this is how you grow the game.
This last one isn’t necessarily solving a problem; it’s just pure chaotic fun. Currently, in the NHL, there can be trades between two teams. Sometimes trades will bring in a third team, usually to supply some trade piece in exchange for taking on part of a player’s salary. Why limit it to three? The NBA did away with the three-team limit several years ago resulting in some of basketball’s biggest blockbuster deals, including the Harden and Lillard trades in the 2023-24 season. In fact, from 2019-2023, each NBA season averaged eight three-or-more team trades. It’s time for the NHL to get wild with this as well. Maybe Connor McDavid decides he’d rather play in New York than Edmonton. But New York can’t afford his $12.5 million AAV? No problem, get four other teams to each take $1M for draft picks and prospects, and now the best player on earth is putting up 140+ points per season at only $6.5 million. Hockey needs more drama, and this is a way to do it.
The NHL is renegotiating their Collective Bargaining Agreement soon, so if any general managers or league officials are reading this, maybe bring it up when you all get together? Realistically, what’s the worst that could happen from listening to me?
Jordan Wasserberger ’27 (jwasserberger@college.harvard.edu) would love to see the “Wasserberger Rules” implemented for the 2025-26 NHL season. They don’t necessarily have to be called that, but it would be cool.
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