Cale Makar voices his opinion on NHL's wildcard system in current playoff format

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar isn’t a fan of the NHL’s playoff format. Speaking with ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski at the NHL Media Tour, Makar said he’d like to see the league return to the old 1-through-8 seeding system instead of using wild cards.

“I feel like all the players want back to 1-to-8," Makar said.

The current format, introduced in 2013-14, takes the top three teams from each division along with two Wild Cards per conference. That setup often has teams to face tough division rivals right out of the gate.

From 1998 to 2013, however, the NHL simply seeded the top eight teams in each conference by regular-season record. Division winners locked in the top spots, while the rest of the field was slotted accordingly, ensuring the No. 1 seed got the easiest first-round matchup.

The old system gave elite teams a greater reward for finishing high in the standings.

Fans react to Cale Makar's take on 1-to-8 playoff format

The Avalanche star Cale Makar's support for a more straightforward 1-to-8 seeding system, sparking a wave of reactions from passionate fans. One fan took to social media, declaring,

"Can't name one person who likes the current format honestly."

DrMemes

@thememetist

@wyshynski Can’t name one person who likes the current format honestly

Another fan chimed in:

"Can we as fans will 1-8 to existence? It will increase travel costs or whatever, but figure that out on the net revenue side of the agreement. This is incredible, fans want it, players want it, why not?"

Kenji 🇨🇦

@RonYamauchi

@wyshynski Can we as fans will 1-8 to existence? It will increase travel costs or whatever, but figure that out on the net revenue side of the agreement. This is incredible, fans want it, players want it, why not?

Here are some fan reactions:

"All of the fans want that too. And home teams in white sweaters too." one fan wrote.

"They just signed a new CBA for next season. if all the players want it to go back to 1-8 why didn't it change?" another fan wrote.

"Couldn’t disagree more. 1-8 will means playoff races rap up with double digit games left. Boring" a user commented.

"Literally EVERYONE but Gary Bettman thinks this" another user wrote.

Despite Makar's assertion that his fellow players also support the change, the NHL and NHL Players' Association have not indicated any plans to address the playoff seeding in the next collective bargaining agreement.

The recent CBA negotiations resulted in an expansion of the regular season to 84 games, but the bracket format remained unchanged.