The 2020 Hockey Hall of Fame induction weekend is postponed until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hall announced Monday.

The induction ceremony, originally scheduled for Nov. 16, was set to follow the rest of the weekend's festivities, including the annual Hall of Fame Game hosted by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Hall's board of directors plans to discuss rescheduling the induction events when it convenes on Oct. 29. The most probable scenario, according to chairman Lanny McDonald, is delaying the 2020 events until November of the following year.

"While it's possible, the class of 2020 could be inducted on alternative dates during the modified 2020-21 NHL season, the most likely scenario is to postpone to November 2021, either by waiving the 2021 elections or in combination with the 2021 induction class involving adjusted category limits," McDonald said.

"Since the magic of the induction from the honored members' perspective is experiencing several days of close interaction with family, friends, former teammates, and fans, the board ruled out any means of holding the 2020 inductions virtually," he added.

Jarome Iginla, Marian Hossa, Ken Holland, Kevin Lowe, Kim St-Pierre, and Doug Wilson were elected to the Hall in the class of 2020 in late June.

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Moritz Seider can pinpoint precisely when and where he fell in love with hockey. It was a Monday some 14 winters ago in the small town of Zell in western Germany. He and his kindergarten pals, all new to the sport, had been invited to the local arena for a private skate with the best adult players in the area.

"I can remember walking in with my mom and all the pros were waiting to skate with us, these little kids," Seider said in a recent phone interview. "I had no words in that moment. Since then, there's no other sport hitting me that hard in my life."

Seider, now 19 years old and listed at 6-foot-4 and 207 pounds, has developed into one of the top prospects on the planet. If not for COVID-19, the No. 6 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft likely would have made his debut on the Detroit Red Wings' blue line late in the season after getting his first taste of North American hockey with 49 games in the AHL. Back in 2006, though, nobody in Seider's extended family had played competitive hockey.

"When I first told my parents I wanted to be a hockey player, they imagined me fighting every game. They were not really happy, so they decided to buy a hockey book for dummies, like a hockey ABC," Seider said with a short laugh. "Now, they're my biggest fans and they really love the sport. They love the intensity, how fast it is."

In 2020, the perception and profile of hockey across Germany are markedly different than they were a decade ago. The nation of 83 million people has never had a bigger presence in the NHL or on the international stage. In the 24-team restart, seven Germans - including Edmonton Oilers superstar center Leon Draisaitl and Colorado Avalanche goalie Philipp Grubauer - cracked playoff rosters.

Homegrown teen Tim Stutzle is projected to go as high as second overall in the upcoming draft. Two other German prospects, John-Jason Peterka and Lukas Reichel, are potential top-50 picks. Plus, let's not forget, Germany claimed silver at the 2018 Olympics.

"The silver medal is going to be special for my whole life," Buffalo Sabres forward Dominik Kahun said of the unexpected result. "When we came back from PyeongChang, it was unbelievable how many people were waiting for us at the airport. It was a little bit like when the soccer team comes back from the World Cup."

"But," Kahun added, "after a few weeks it was like everybody forgot about it."

That's the predicament that the German hockey community faces: Is this recent progress a fleeting jolt of success and interest in the sport? Or, is it something more permanent, a sign of things to come for a country that has slowly but surely ascended to an impressive seventh on the IIHF World Ranking? Major stakeholders are trying their best to assure it's the latter.

Before Draisaitl, Grubauer, Seider, and Stutzle, there was Marco Sturm.

Sturm, Germany's all-time leading NHL scorer, appeared in 938 games from 1997 to 2012 for six franchises, most notably the San Jose Sharks and Boston Bruins. Sturm, now 41, is an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Kings as well as a vital contributor to the German Ice Hockey Federation. It was Sturm, with barely any coaching experience, who guided Germany to silver in PyeongChang.

The result was shocking despite the absence of NHLers creating a more level Olympic playing field. The German federation hadn't expected to compete for medals at major events like the Olympics and World Championship until at least 2026. "We want to play in the medal round (consistently). That was the goal of Power Play 26," Sturm said. "And then the silver medal happened, and we were laughing."

Sturm officially joined the federation in 2015, shortly after the unveiling of Power Play 26, a comprehensive plan for short-, medium-, and long-term growth. Spearheaded by federation president Franz Reindl amid a "crossroads" for German hockey, Power Play 26 prioritizes a modern approach to developing youth players. For instance, it demands kids' coaches focus on skills training rather than team tactics. The plan is aimed squarely at establishing sustainable success instead of opportunistic, one-off triumphs.

"It was a surprising 14 days in PyeongChang," said Reindl, a former forward who won an Olympic bronze in 1976. "The weather was nice, and everything was great. But this is not normal. We're being realistic. Our goal is to be competitive in the future, which means we need more high-quality players, top players. It feels like we're on a good way, but there's still a lot of work to do."

For years, six nations - Canada, Finland, Sweden, Russia, the United States, and the Czech Republic - have formed the elite echelon in international hockey. The second tier has been traditionally populated by Slovakia, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Latvia, and Norway.

"Our goal," Sturm said, "is to always be in the top eight in the world rankings. In order to do that, we've got to start with youth hockey."

There are roughly 24,000 registered hockey players in Germany, Reindl said, which is only 3,000 fewer than rival and neighbor Switzerland, according to the IIHF's website. These German players are spread out across 15 regional branches that oversee 65 local organizations. The federation ships coaches and administrators to these local hubs on a regular basis - 350 total visits a year, according to Reindl - to reinforce best practices and ensure instruction and culture is consistent in all regions.

"We're not waiting for the talent to come to us. We're not being selective," is how Reindl frames the hands-on approach. The hope is that consistency produces a certain type and quality of player.

"We have a close eye on our technique, on basic skills, on stickhandling skills, on skating skills, and as soon as we see we have a good development in those areas, we'll build upon it through our philosophy," said Stefan Schaidnagel, the federation's general manager.

"What's the definition of German hockey players? Is he tall? Is he a good defending player? Is he fast, a quick skater? Does he have clear structure? On top of our skills, we want to reach a real German hockey philosophy. That way everybody knows that when you play against Germany, you're playing against a team which is fast, which is solid on defense, which creates ideas in the offensive zone, which uses the neutral zone for good structure and good transition."

The federation receives €1.5 million in government funding each year, Schaidnagel said, a "little boost" from the amount it received prior to winning silver. The Olympic buzz also triggered an uptick in corporate sponsorship for the national body.

This government stipend, earmarked mostly for growing youth and women's hockey, seems to be having its desired effect. Registration at the youth level has increased between 8% and 10% annually, according to Reindl. It would probably be higher if hockey wasn't such an expensive sport in relation to basketball, handball, and tennis. Hockey's money problem is not unique to Germany. But it is compounded by the fact that its sporting culture is so closely tied to soccer. (Asked for a pecking order of sports in Germany, Sturm said, "There's soccer. Then there's nothing. Then there's the rest.")

"Imagine you only have to pay for two pairs of soccer boots a year, and then you need new skates, which would cost nowadays up to $1,000 or whatever, a stick, which is probably $250 nowadays," Seider said. "It's a pretty expensive sport and not a lot of families are financially ready to do that every single season. I was pretty lucky. My parents probably could have gone on way nicer vacations, but instead they sponsored a lot of tournaments for me, and I appreciate it a lot."

The federation rolled out the Five-Star Program as part of Power Play 26, wherein local clubs are judged and funded based on the professionalism of their operation. The national body distributes stars based on a rubric that grades quality of arenas, locker rooms, and other facilities. Access to goalie coaches, video rooms, and physiotherapy staff are big pluses, too. Organizations' code of conduct is also audited.

"One star could be five or six different topics. And one topic has another five or six different points under it," Sturm said of the program's depth.

This incentive system is in place to help develop players throughout Germany and not just in the traditional hockey hotbeds of Mannheim, Berlin, and Cologne. The master plan is centered around spreading the wealth between Germany's three professional leagues, not just the top flight Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).

"To get to the second star, you have to get through the first star," Sturm said. "It builds up and builds up, and then if you're at five, that's great. There's some teams who are not in the DEL - maybe in the third division - who get five stars. They make 40, 50, 60 thousand euros, and that's huge. For that, they can hire a new coach."

Distributing the wealth across each league is also key to the program's success as the federation attempts to raise standards across the country. Naturally, there's been resistance from well-run DEL teams who have deep-pocketed owners and a particular way of operating. "We don't really care about the Five-Star Program here," said Pavel Gross, head coach of powerhouse Adler Mannheim. "The program here in Mannheim is a six-star program and has been for years."

Another bone of contention in the German hockey community is playing time for teenagers in the DEL. The surefire NHL-bound prospects - such as Seider, Stutzle, Peterka, Reichel - have no gripes, but there aren't many other teens receiving ample ice time. Teams tend to favor veterans who are often imported from elsewhere over developing homegrown youngsters.

"That's probably the most important thing that we are discussing every year here in the DEL," said Kahun, who spent four seasons with Munich EHC. "Last year, they made a rule that you must have two guys of a certain age that have to be on the team and in the lineup. But there are certain coaches who will put them in the lineup but keep them on the bench for all 60 minutes. That's even worse. They should play in the second league and get ice time."

"Our goal has to be to show the (DEL) that (young German players) behind Stutzle, Peterka, and Reichel are easily able to play in the league also," Schaidnagel said. He believes there are 10-to-15 teens capable of playing in the DEL but aren't because teams are focused solely on winning.

Kahun, who like Draisaitl, Seider, and Stutzle moved to Mannheim early in his teens to play with and against better hockey players, found his big break in the DEL. He originally had tried to get noticed by NHL scouts in Canada as an import player on the OHL's Sudbury Wolves, but a move back home proved beneficial for the 25-year-old born in the Czech Republic and raised in Germany.

"Back in the day, if you were a talented guy, you probably went to the (Canadian Hockey League) and hoped to be a high pick in the CHL import draft and then walk your way through that," Seider said. "Now you can actually play in the best German league and stay in your home country. You can be on the power play, be on the PK, be a leader, and compete against men. That's a big one, a big advantage over people who are coming from, I don't know, the U.S. program or the CHL. You're competing against men."

Seider's whole family moved to Mannheim after he outgrew competition in Erfurt, the town where he grew up. "If you want to get to a better team, you have to move on," Seider said. "Or, if you want to develop a little bit more, you have to move on. I had the opportunity to play for Mannheim, and I was really happy that my family took that step."

NHL teams were heavily scouting the DEL to watch the likes of Stutzle (Mannheim), Peterka (Munich), and Reichel (Berlin) before sports around the world were shut down earlier this year. Gross calls the 2002-born trio "something special" but not necessarily a reflection of the state of the entire German development system. "I don't think we'll see some similar players next year or in two years," he said.

Stutzle, who considered playing in North America in his NHL draft year, ended up alongside Canadian center Ben Smith and Finnish winger Tommi Huhtala on Mannheim's top line. The shifty 6-foot-1, 187-pound left-winger skated for 16-17 minutes a game, including plenty of time on the club's No. 1 power-play unit, Gross said. He produced at an eye-popping rate - 34 points in 41 games - for someone who turned 18 in January and was matched up against men every single shift.

"You don't need to know much about hockey to realize how good of a player he is," Kahun said. "He was outstanding (in 2019-20) as a young kid in the DEL."

Stutzle was a fantastic soccer player growing up, showing signs of pro potential. He made a commitment to hockey around age 9, though. "My strengths are my playmaking ability and skating," Stutzle said when asked for a personal scouting report. "My hockey IQ and my work ethic I would describe (as good, too). I think I can still work on everything since I'm very young, especially staying on my feet and winning more battles; gaining more weight, more muscle is probably the biggest thing I need to work on."

Sixty-eight NHL draft picks were born in Germany, according to Elite Prospects. Draisaitl (No. 3 in 2014) is the highest selection in the expansion era. Seider is the only other top-10 pick, while Dominik Bokk (25th in 2018), Marcel Goc (20th in 2001), and Sturm (21st in 1996) round out the country's first-rounders. Goaltender Olaf Kolzig (19th in 1989) grew up in Canada but used his German citizenship to represent the country in various international competitions.

In the NHL's round of 16 - which starts Tuesday - there's Grubauer on the Avalanche, forward Tom Kuhnhackl and goalie Thomas Greiss on the Islanders, and forward Tobias Rieder on the Flames. Draisaitl and the Minnesota Wild's Nico Sturm were eliminated in the qualifying round. This group of playoff warriors, mixed with other German NHLers and the top prospects, could provide a solid roster for the 2022 Beijing Games.

The current generation of youngsters adores Draisaitl, and the NHL scoring champion and MVP finalist reciprocates the love through mentorship.

"He was reaching out during the year at least once a week to check with me, to make sure I'm doing good, that everything's going well," Seider said. "He knows how hard it is in the AHL. He went through it, and he even got sent down to juniors again. So he helped me a lot, and I'm very, very thankful for that."

Said Draisaitl, "I would love to help these kids as much as I can, if they ever need anything or have any questions. I'm always there for them and I'd love to help them, but I think these kids nowadays are so advanced, so good, their confidence is so high, that I think they'll make the right decisions and they'll be great players in their own right."

Sturm likes to compare Draisaitl's popularity in Germany now to that of Dirk Nowitzki when he was at his peak as an NBA superstar.

"There was no bigger guy than Nowitzki, athlete-wise," Sturm said. "But, when you live there, it's hard. You rarely see something on TV. You don't see too many highlights. ... You get lost a little bit in the shuffle and you lose track, and you start wondering what Leon is doing."

Exposing Germans to one of the best hockey players in the world - one of their own - is part of the equation that Reindl, Schaidnagel, and all involved in Power Play 26 are attempting to solve. A mountain of progress has been made over the past five years, but Germany can't get complacent.

"We are on the right track," Schaidnagel said. "But now it's coming to the time where we need to re-evaluate every day, every month, every year, and ask ourselves, 'Are we still on the right track?'"

Sturm's Kings own 11 picks in the 2020 draft. They have an opportunity to draft Stutzle at No. 2, as well as five more chances in the second and third rounds to possibly land Peterka or Reichel. What a capper that would be for Sturm, the country, and the kids.

"I'm very proud to be a German," Sturm said, "and they should be proud too."

John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.

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One of the longest-serving and most well-respected reporters in hockey isn't calling it a career quite yet, but his days as an insider appear to be nearing an end.

TSN's Bob McKenzie, who's covered the game for more than three decades, revealed Monday he'll begin a "semi-retirement" following the NHL's second and final phase of the draft lottery.

McKenzie joined TSN in 1986 after starting his journalism career with print publications including the Toronto Star and The Hockey News.

He's reported and provided analysis on TV and across digital platforms for events such as the NHL draft, free agency, the trade deadline, and the World Junior Hockey Championship.

McKenzie also signed on as a contributor with NBCSN after TSN lost national NHL broadcasting rights in Canada to Sportsnet in 2014.

The Professional Hockey Writers Association honored McKenzie in 2015 with the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award, bestowed annually "in recognition of distinguished members of the hockey-writing profession whose words have brought honor to journalism and to hockey."

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The Florida Panthers and general manager Dale Tallon have agreed to part ways, the team announced Monday.

The club will immediately begin a search for its next GM.

Tallon spent a decade with the Panthers, who were eliminated by the New York Islanders in Game 4 of their best-of-five qualifying-round series Friday.

The 69-year-old's contract was due to expire after this season.

He helped assemble a core that includes versatile captain Aleksander Barkov, talented playmaker Jonathan Huberdeau, and cornerstone defenseman Aaron Ekblad.

The Panthers made three postseason appearances during Tallon's tenure but failed to advance beyond the first round; they haven't done so since reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 1996.

Tallon joined Florida in 2010 after serving as GM of the Chicago Blackhawks from 2005-09. While with Chicago, he hired head coach Joel Quenneville, who ultimately led the Blackhawks to three championships. Tallon was eventually demoted to senior advisor and replaced as GM by Stan Bowman before leaving for the Panthers.

Tallon reunited with Quenneville in the Sunshine State last April, hiring him as the Panthers' head coach after Florida missed the playoffs for the sixth time in seven seasons.

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A-lex-ee La-fren-yer.

Learn how to say it, Maple Leafs fans, because having a 12.5% chance at drafting Alexis Lafreniere, the top prospect in the 2020 NHL Draft, is the only lasting positive development from this past week.

The Leafs were bounced Sunday from the NHL's 24-team playoff tournament following a 3-0 loss to the Blue Jackets at Scotiabank Arena. Columbus won the tight, roller coaster best-of-five qualifying-round series in five games, outscoring Toronto 12-10 in the process. The Leafs have now dropped all four of their postseason series since Auston Matthews entered the league in 2016-17.

Let's break down what went wrong for Toronto, and who's ostensibly on the hot seat heading into the offseason:

What went wrong

You can blame the absences of Jake Muzzin and Tyson Barrie. You can blame the tremendous performance of Blue Jackets goalie Joonas Korpisalo, who casually turned aside all 33 shots he faced Sunday. You can blame John Tavares somehow hitting the post when given an open net in the first period. You can even blame the emotional and physical letdown following an exhilarating Game 4.

But, truthfully, the Leafs flat-out didn't execute in Game 5.

They allowed the Blue Jackets to score the opening goal in a do-or-die game, which is a cardinal sin. Despite the madness that unfolded in Game 4, Columbus protects leads arguably better than any other NHL team. John Tortorella's squad specializes in clogging the neutral zone and the front of its own net. And after Friday's embarrassment, there was no chance the blue-collar, disciplined Blue Jackets were letting another lead slip away.

The result: A team with Matthews, Tavares, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and Morgan Rielly that was shut out just once in 70 regular-season games was blanked Sunday for the second time in five play-in contests. Columbus figured the Leafs out, limiting Toronto to three five-on-five goals all series.

"We had to find a way to break through," Tavares told reporters postgame, referring to Sunday's loss. "We had some good chances, some unfortunate breaks on a couple chances, and they do a really good job of clearing the net on second and third opportunities and we weren't able to find some of those seconds today."

The momentum swings in this 8-seed vs. 9-seed Eastern Conference series were wild, with the goals coming in bunches. Two tallies for Columbus, then six for Toronto, then seven for Columbus, then four for Toronto, and three for Columbus. In a battle of contrasting playing styles, the Blue Jackets' steadiness overpowered the Leafs during a five-game sample.

"A little more luck and it might have been a different result," Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe lamented postgame on Sunday. He cited Toronto shooting an awful 2% during 274 minutes of five-on-five action. (For context, the Leafs shot 8.6% at five-on-five in the regular season.)

It's not like the Leafs didn't show up during the NHL's restart. They played well enough to win Game 1 but didn't, and then they were cruising with a three-goal lead midway through Game 3. Game 5 wasn't a blowout either. Toronto held a 351-318 overall shot-attempt advantage in the series, according to Natural Stat Trick. It was theirs for the taking.

The Blue Jackets were more opportunistic, though, often capitalizing off the rush, as Pierre-Luc Dubois did twice in Columbus' epic Game 3 comeback. The Leafs responded only during their own comeback in Game 4.

"It's hard to put it all into words," Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly said. "It might take some time to digest a little bit, but it's definitely a bad feeling, a bad taste. Comparing it to the loss in Boston (last year), this one is different for sure for obvious reasons. Whether that makes it worse or easier to deal with I don't know, but right now it certainly feels like it's harder to live with."

Tortorella leaned heavily on his elite first-pairing defensemen, Seth Jones and Zach Werenski, to push back against Toronto's formidable attack. Jones averaged 29:28 of ice time per game, while Werenski - who missed the end of Game 4 because of an injury and was a game-time decision Sunday - ended up with 25:25. Both deserve credit for rising to the challenge.

Meanwhile, the unheralded goalie tandem of Korpisalo (.956 save percentage) and Elvis Merzlikins (.946 SV%) was superb all series.

It was a tumultuous year for the Leafs. Not only did they bow out before the round of 16 following a five-month pandemic-induced break, but they also played under two head coaches. Mike Babcock, the supposed savior for a Stanley Cup-starved franchise, was fired in November. Keefe's tenure started solidly with a 27-15-5 regular-season record, and his preferred style of focussing on puck possession and lineup flexibility seemed to gel with a roster of offensive dynamos.

Now, none of that matters. A team that hasn't advanced in the postseason since 2004 is once again on vacation too soon.

The hot seat

Kyle Dubas: Dubas has constructed the Leafs to overwhelm the opposition with an abundance of skill and scoring punch. Well, Columbus was undeterred. So the 34-year-old general manager should be owning this early exit as much as anybody. For starters, Toronto's defense corps isn't close to being good enough, even when Muzzin is at full health (boy, that Tyson Barrie acquisition flopped, didn't it?).

However, Dubas, who was named GM in May 2018, is probably secure in his role over the offseason. Leafs president Brendan Shanahan believes in him and his vision. It would be surprising if Shanahan made a rash decision - especially with the shorter series and five-month break. A portion of the fan base would probably be upset with that, as Dubas' name was trending nationwide on Twitter immediately following Game 5. Leafs Nation is losing patience with its GM.

Sheldon Keefe: Keefe deserves credit for not being afraid to throw Matthews, Tavares, and Marner over the boards regularly, and often at the same time. Being flexible with his lineup in general is a positive (though substituting Andreas Johnsson for Nick Robertson in Game 5, when the former hadn't played a game since February, was an odd decision).

Then again, Keefe's team was on the losing end of a colossal collapse in Game 3, and some of the blame must be placed on him. His job should be safe for some time since he was hired less than a year ago. But with a summer training camp under his belt, the new-coach shine has officially worn off. He's no longer a rookie bench boss, and the temperature will be turned up.

John Tavares: Tavares' series was frustrating. He couldn't generate much offense in the opener, but then looked fantastic in the second game while scoring a goal and recording eight shots. Then he was stripped of the puck ahead of the OT winner in Game 3, was instrumental in the Game 4 comeback, but failed to convert on several opportunities in Game 5.

Now how will he be perceived moving forward? Toronto is paying Matthews, Marner, and Nylander a combined $29.5 million per season, and Tavares another $11 million. That's essentially half the salary cap on four players, and with five years left on his deal, the captain turns 30 next month.

The chances of Tavares living up to expectations are slim. Buzz about his contract, which was once overwhelmingly positive, will start to swing the other way.

Frederik Andersen: Andersen played well (.936 SV%) in front of a shorthanded defense corps. He shouldn't be shouldering much blame here. Yet, the big Dane has now failed to advance in the postseason in six of seven career series.

A lights-out Blue Jackets tandem outplayed Andersen, who let in a weak Game 1 goal to set the tone for the series. What's the solution? That's tough because Andersen usually performs at a top-10 level in the regular season, and replacing a goaltender of his caliber isn't easy. So he's undoubtedly safe, but extra external pressure will be there next season, his final before unrestricted free agency.

Kasperi Kapanen: If there's going to be a shake-up at forward, the Leafs' stars will most likely be off limits in trade discussions. The attention then turns to Kasperi Kapanen, who makes $3.2 million per year for the next two seasons. He can skate like the wind, has some scoring touch, and, unlike contemporary Johnsson - another possible trade chip who earns $3.4 million per year for the next three seasons - Kapanen showcased himself throughout the series. Legitimate question: Has Kapanen played his final game in a Toronto jersey?

John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.

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Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe believes a couple of bounces could've changed the course of his team's best-of-five series against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

"A little more luck and it might be a different result," Keefe said postgame after Toronto fell 3-0 in Game 5, according to Sportsnet's Luke Fox.

The Blue Jackets' defense stymied the Maple Leafs' third-ranked regular-season offense, with Toronto scoring just three goals at five-on-five in the series, thanks in part to a 1.97 shooting percentage, according to Natural Stat Trick. Toronto controlled 55.1% of the scoring chances and 59.3% of the high-danger chances, all while generating 55.2% of the expected goals in the series at five-on-five.

"We had enough chances to score more goals than we did," Keefe added, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.

The Maple Leafs have now lost in the opening round of the postseason to end four straight campaigns during the Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander era.

"It's obviously very disappointing," Matthews said, according to Sportsnet. "Lots of mixed emotions kind of going through all of our heads right now. Just very frustrating."

"It's a game of inches out there," he added.

The Maple Leafs have not won a postseason series since 2004.

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With the qualifying and round-robin games finished, the NHL is moving on to its traditional 16-team playoff format.

Each series will now be a best-of-seven as usual, but instead of the normal bracket, teams will be re-seeded after every round.

Let's take a look at the eight matchups.

Eastern Conference

Philadelphia Flyers (1) vs. Montreal Canadiens (12)

*If necessary

The Flyers absolutely dominated during round-robin play, winning all three games and not trailing once. Montreal showed it's a legitimate threat after easily disposing of the highly touted Pittsburgh Penguins. Can the Canadiens keep the underdog train rolling?

Tampa Bay Lightning (2) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (9)

*If necessary

This is a rematch of last year's Round 1 clash in which the Blue Jackets pulled off one of the most stunning upsets in league history, sweeping the powerhouse Lightning. This time around, though, they'll be trying to prevail without the departed Artemi Panarin, Matt Duchene, and Sergei Bobrovsky - all of whom were fantastic in that series. The Bolts, however, could be without Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman.

Washington Capitals (3) vs. New York Islanders (7)

*If necessary

The Capitals may have finished the season with the league's fifth-best record, but after going 1-2 in the round robin, they settled for the No. 3 seed in the East. The Islanders' strong defensive play was too much for the Florida Panthers to overcome, setting up a first-round battle in which New York bench boss Barry Trotz will face his old team.

Boston Bruins (4) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (6)

*If necessary

Boston was the NHL's best regular-season squad, but the Bruins couldn't muster a round-robin win. They slid to the No. 4 seed and are preparing for a tough first-round matchup against the Hurricanes - the only team that swept its opponent in the qualifying round.

Western Conference

Vegas Golden Knights (1) vs. Chicago Blackhawks (12)

*If necessary

The Golden Knights glided through the round robin, going 3-0 to secure the top spot in the West. Meanwhile, the Blackhawks stunned the Edmonton Oilers in four games, and they'll look to keep that momentum going.

Colorado Avalanche (2) vs. Arizona Coyotes (11)

*If necessary

The Avalanche cruised through the round robin, and now they're finally fully healthy. The Coyotes managed to squeeze past the Nashville Predators in the qualifying round largely thanks to netminder Darcy Kuemper's elite play. But will they be able to contain Colorado's high-octane offense that averaged the fourth-most goals per game (3.37) during the regular season?

Dallas Stars (3) vs. Calgary Flames (8)

*If necessary

The Flames took care of the injury-plagued Jets in four games during the qualifying round, but now the stingy Stars will test them. However, Tyler Seguin and Ben Bishop are both considered day-to-day, making their Game 1 availability uncertain.

St. Louis Blues (4) vs. Vancouver Canucks (7)

*If necessary

This could be a compelling series. The Blues didn't look very sharp in the round robin, but the defending champions are battle-tested. Meanwhile, this will be the first taste of real playoff hockey for Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Quinn Hughes, and the youthful Canucks.

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2020 NHL Draft Lottery, Phase 2
When: Monday, Aug. 10, 6 p.m. ET
How to watch: NHL Network, NBSCN, Sportsnet, TVAS

Phase 1 of the draft lottery in June marked the first NHL event since play was suspended March 12. With the hockey world watching with anticipation to find out which team would land the top pick at the 2020 draft, the evening ended without an answer.

Against the odds, one of the eight losing teams from the play-in round won, leading us to a second and unprecedented phase in the draft lottery process.

Teams involved

For the first time in history, a team without one of the league's worst seven records will nab the first overall pick at the draft, per Sportsnet stats. That means a playoff-caliber club - and possibly even a Stanley Cup contender - could end up adding consensus No. 1 prospect and QMJHL sensation Alexis Lafreniere to its roster.

The Nashville Predators, Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota Wild, and Winnipeg Jets represent the Western Conference clubs with a shot at the first overall selection, while the Pittsburgh Penguins, Florida Panthers, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leafs round out the Eastern Conference hopefuls. Each of these clubs owns a 12.5% chance of winning the lottery.

The seven teams that don't win the top pick will be assigned 2020 NHL Draft picks 9-15 in inverse order of their points percentages when the regular season was suspended.

In June, we broke down what it would mean for each play-in team in the East and West to earn the first overall selection.

How we got here

When the season hit pause, every component of the NHL's calendar - including the draft lottery - became uncertain. The lottery order is typically established based on the final standings after the 82-game season, but with the halted campaign, teams had played an unequal amount of games with just under one month remaining on the schedule.

As a solution, the seven clubs that did not qualify for the 24-team play-in round, along with the eight losing teams in the qualifying round, were entered into Phase 1 of the draft lottery using traditional lottery odds. The unknown teams were enlisted as "Placeholder teams A-through-H."

Despite the Ottawa Senators owning a 25% chance of landing the top pick, and the last-place Detroit Red Wings owning a 18.5% chance, "Placeholder team E" miraculously prevailed with just a 2% chance of winning the lottery.

So, who exactly is that placeholder team? That's what we'll find out Monday night.

Draft order so far

Although they missed out on the top selection, the Red Wings will make their highest pick of the draft since 1990.

The Kings will select second for the first time since 2008, when they drafted blue-chip defenseman Drew Doughty.

The Senators own three first-round selections, highlighted by picks No. 3 and No. 5, while the Devils also own a trio of picks in the opening round.

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