NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on Tuesday officially declared the regular season to be over, ending the year for the Sharks and six other teams who will not be allowed to participate in a reconfigured postseason the league is hoping it can begin this summer.
Bettman said the NHL will straight into the playoffs with 24 teams if it able to resume play.
The top four teams in each conference ranked by points percentage — Boston, Tampa Bay, Washington and Philadelphia in the East and St. Louis, Colorado, Vegas and Dallas in the West — will play separate round-robin tournaments to determine seeding.